Sept. 18, 2012; Anaheim, CA, USA; Los Angeles Angels starting pitcher Jered Weaver (36) during the game against the Texas Rangers at Angel Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-US PRESSWIRE

Scioscia on Weaver’s Cy Young chances

Finally, well, at least kind of, Scioscia is touting an Angel for an award.

Money Quote:

Weaver is first or tied for first in the AL in winning percentage (.826), wins (19), WHIP (1.00), third in ERA (2.74) and he’s holding hitters to a .213 batting average, best in the American League. Weaver, however, has probably dropped behind Justin Verlander, Hernandez and David Price in the Cy Young conversation but his 2.10 ERA in September has him right back in the conversation and the Angels right back in playoff contention.

I so heart Jered Weaver.

Zack Greinke will be Angels’ top offseason priority

I wouldn’t say “Top Priority,” but it’s definitely something that Dipoto shouldn’t let fall to the wayside. The bullpen on other hand, should be the number one priority.

Santana could work relief in last series

I 100%, disagree with this decision. It is great that Scioscia is maximizing the use of both Weaver and Greinke since they have been dominant of late. But, Ervin Santana has been quietly consistent as well. I would have skipped C.J. Wilson and used him as pen help (especially since he has more recent bullpen experience), considering how maddeningly inconsistent he has been.

Angels’ playoff race pretty hard to avoid

It is a nice change of pace to here even Scioscia say that he’s paying attention to the other teams’ games down the stretch. It would be detrimental to the team to not be aware of what’s going on just one spot ahead of them in the Wild Card standings.

Money Quote:

Angels manager Mike Scioscia plays a season-long game of ‘pretend’ – pretending he doesn’t know his team’s win-loss record or its place in the standings. Recently, though, he admitted “it’s relevant now” to be aware of those things.

Take this in folks, Mike Scioscia did not use a pre-fabricated quote:

WHAT WILL IT TAKE TO RE-SIGN TORII HUNTER?

I am way to sentimental to be a General Manager. I would re-sign Torii Hunter tomorrow if given the chance.

Money Quote:

The problem is Hunter has been too good, something I don’t think anyone anticipated as a potential outcome to this season. With a fWAR value of 4.3 and rWAR value of 4.8, the approximate valuation of $5 million per WAR win suggests that Torii should be set to receive a contract somewhere in the neighborhood of $20 million for 2013. That’s obviously preposterous given his age and performance the two years prior to this season, but it shows you just how far down Hunter will have to come to “meet the Angels halfway.”

Like I said, Waaaaaaay to sentimental to be a GM.

Market Fresh: Dan Haren

I’m sure, that with the recent blog enrty from Alden Gonzalez, teams are chomping at the bit to get a bounce back Dan Haren into their rotation for next season. Of course, this all hinges on what the Angels actually intend to do with Zack Greinke, and what they deem to be the most important part of the team to improve.

Money Quote:

I’d imagine he would look to sign a deal that would at least average $16 million a year. For context, last December, Mark Buehrle signed a four year deal with Miami for $58 million. At the time of the signing, Buehrle was 32 years old. Haren’s 32nd birthday was on September 17. He’ll have about 500 innings less in the big leagues (as he debuted in 2003 which was Buehrle’s third full season in the majors).

Yeah, if Mark Buehrle can get paid, Dan will do just fine on the market.

THE ANGELS FAN GUIDE TO ROOTING FOR THE TEXAS RANGERS

I admit that I did, in fact, kind of root for the Rangers the other night. It was not my proudest moment, but I did do it.

Money Quote:

Step 1 – Acceptance

Through no small coincidence, “acceptance” is also one of the stages of grief. Just make your peace early and remind yourself that this is only going to last another few days.

Woosah.

OK, I lied. I just cannot go an entire post without not only mentioning Mike Trout, but also enjoying how completely awesome he is. Here you go, bask in the awesomness that is Michael Nelson Trout.

September 5, 2012; Oakland, CA, USA; Los Angeles Angels first baseman Albert Pujols (5) on deck against the Oakland Athletics during the seventh inning at O.co Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Kelley L Cox-US PRESSWIRE

Today’s Major League schedule features only five games, including the Yankees vs. the Orioles and the Rays vs. the Rangers. The Orioles are tied with the Athletics for the Wild Card lead with Rays a game and a half behind them and the Angels two and a half games out. If The Orioles win, the Angels remain two and a half games back since the A’s are idle today. If the Orioles lose, they pick up a half game while getting massages and go in to this weekend’s series against the Tigers.

The Tigers currently sit a half game behind the Angels in the Wild Card, but are only a game behind the Central’s front running Chicago White Sox. Detroit is still very much playing for it’s division, but after sweeping the White Sox, the Tigers come in to town after losing two of three from the Indians.

Schedules

The Orioles start a four game set with the AL East leading Yankees. Sitting one game back in their division, the O’s can take a big bite out of that lead. The Orioles come in to the series winning seven out of their last ten, while the Yankees are in a mini slump losing six of their last ten. This series could either help the Yankees cement their lead in the East while pushing the Orioles down in the Wild Card, or, could cause a serious shake up in the standings.

Predicition:
Orioles take three of four, because I am biased like that, and because I want to see ESPN freak out.

The A’s start a three game set against the Mariners tomorrow. Nothing like an easy opponent after getting your brains bashed in amirite? Or aminot? The A’s have to face Felix Hernandez in the first game of the three game set, Then Hisashi Iwakuma who has only allowed one earned run in his last four starts followed by Jason Vargas Who is 2-0 with a 1.98 ERA against the A’s this year. The A’s are second in runs scored since the All Star break, but that’s three pitchers who have been very good the last few weeks.

Prediction:
A’s take two out of three. Good pitching beats good hitting, unless that good pitching has terrible hitting and runs into another team that possesses good pitching. Still with me? Oakland’s offense has been better than expected since July, but their pitching has also been top notch. Felix wins, but the rest of the series belongs to the A’s.

The Rays start a three game set against the Rangers stating tomorrow. Well hot damn, this pennant race can get real fun, real quick after this weekend. First, this series is taking place in Tampa, not that bandbox in Arlington. Second, the Rays have Jeremy Hellickson, David Price and James Shields slated to go this series. Third, The Rangers aren’t playing at home (I know I said it, I was there when I did it, but it bears repeating because of the home road splits the Rangers have). The Rangers counter with a very mortal looking Derek Holland, a version of Yu Darvish that has been very good of late, and Matt Harrison who is 0-2 with a 9.00 ERA his last two starts (one that came against the Rays).

Prediction:
Rays take two out of three, and all hell breaks loose. This would bring the Rangers closer to the pack in the AL West as well as tightening up an already claustrophobic AL East Race.

Angels and Tigers go head to head for a three game set starting tomorrow (Of course, you already knew that, why else would you be at an Angels blog). As of right now the Tigers are lined up with Max Scherzer, Justin Verlander and Anibal Sanchez. Jered Weaver is supposed to pitch on Saturday, but as of now his availability is unknown thanks to a Dustin Ackley line drive (I’m watching you Dustin). The expected rotation is Ervin Santana, C.J. Wilson and then Zack Greinke in the finale.

Oh Boy:
Our offense is running into a buzz saw of pitching, and our pitching is set to go up against a dangerous offense.

Oh Baby:
Our offense leads the AL in runs scored since the All Star break, and our pitching staff has looked the pre All Star break version the last couple weeks.

Prediction:
Seeing as I am incredibly superstitious and don’t want to (spell it) J-I-N-X anything (you didn’t spell it did you), I’m not predicting this series, but I will reiterate what I said last week by saying that for every series to be a true “win,” a sweep is a must. Our boys aren’t facing a bottom feeding team unfortunately, but with each team ahead of them (sans the Athletics) playing division leaders, they have a very real chance to make up serious ground this weekend.

This is going to be a fun weekend of baseball for the American League, and for the Angels, a very important weekend with the A’s coming in for a four game set immediately following the Tigers series. They control their own destiny at this point, and with the way they’ve been playing, fans are starting to get confident about this teams playoff chances (which currently stand at 45.9%, up 21.1 points from a week ago per baseballprospectus.com).

This weekend is guaranteed to have fans glued to their TV, Desktop, Laptop, Blackberry, iPhone, iPad, Nook, Kindle Fire or whatever electronic device it is that you possess. I also expect sales of Maalox, Mylanta, Tums etc. to spike this weekend. I, personally, am already prepared. Cheers.

Torii Always Keeps It Real

The Angels lost 8-3 to Tommy Hunter and the Baltimore Orioles Friday – wasting an opportunity to pick up a game on Texas who lost to Seattle later in the night. It was an abysmal performance on all accounts.

Tommy Hunter he of the 5 ERA entering the game shut the Angels out across seven Verlander like innings. Dan Haren was at his worst allowing 6 earned runs in just five innings pitched. Mike Scioscia was also again a culprit. Not only was Jeff Mathis starting behind the plate but Bobby Abreu was again hitting third in the lineup. Simply put the lineup Sosh walked out to home plate didn’t give the Halos their best chance to win. At this point in the season that should never happen. Hank Conger – who homered after coming in much too late was the only bright spot on the night,and he’ll be back on the bench tonight with a lefty on the mound. All the Angels mishaps caused their leader (Torii Hunter) to astutely proclaim:

“We lost. It’s very concerning,” said Torii Hunter, who was 2 for 3. “We didn’t play like a team that is in the pennant race.”

Ervin Santana takes the mound tonight looking to right the ship for the Halos.The Angels should be in must win mode, now lets see if they act like it.