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If you knew nothing about Nick Maronde before his last two appearances, you’re going to learn a bit about him today. Also, The Angels do their part in the community to help out a local High School and, could Dan Haren be on the trading block this offseason? A sweep of the A’s always puts me in a good mood, especially when we outscore them 21-5 over a three game set. A sweep was absolutely needed, and the Halos delivered. Thanks, in part, to a huge relief appearance in the final game by…..

Lefty Maronde could be intriguing component

Nick Maronde. Super duper incredibly small sample size alert. He has only faced four batters. He has struck out, all. Four. Batters. His fastball has been as billed at 91-93 MPH and his slider showed excellent break on his strikeout of Seth Smith yesterday. I fell hard for Mike Trout, but we had an offense. I’m falling harder for Nick Maronde because I can see him being K-Rod Ver. 2012.

Money Quote:

"Maronde was among those called up the first day rosters expanded on Saturday and made his Major League debut two days later in Seattle, taking over for Jered Weaver with one out, two on and a one-run deficit in the sixth inning, promptly striking out the lefty-hitting Carlos Peguero with three straight fastballs.Said Maronde: “I was pretty jacked up.”"

Please stay jacked up Nick.

Maronde’s three strikeouts

Speaking of strikeouts. Here’s Nick having his way with Coco Crisp, Seth Smith and Josh Reddick. And he did it, not just as some rookie call up brought in to clean up a starters mess. The Angels had a two run lead and he was brought in with one out and men on first and third and proceeded to snuff that rally out. This is how man crushes are started.

Angels sweep A’s

Oh yes, we did, and it was incredibly important that we did. We picked up three games on the A’s in the process, and coupled with a loss by Baltimore, we no longer just trail Oakland by two and a half games, the Angels are now two and a half games out of a wild card spot.

Greinke might be ‘ace’ the Angels need

If Jered Weaver goes down, and misses his next start, Zack Greinke absolutely has to step in to fill Weaver’s role as Ace, at least for the one start that Weaver will miss. Lately Greinke has pitched as advertised allowing only four earned runs in his past 21 2/3 innings spanning three starts. If Zack keeps it going, then Weaver getting hurt will not even be a speed bump this month. If Zack reverts back to the other Zack, this could be bad.

Money Quote:

"But he has turned it around. He is mixing up his pitches, staying ahead of hitters and keeping his walks down. There was no comparison between this start and his last one against the A’s on Aug. 8 when he gave up four runs in five innings of a 9-8 Angels loss."

Just, you know, keep doing that stuff Mr. Greinke.

BP Unfiltered: Nick Maronde’s Debut

Hey, hey, hey. We’ve got more on Nick Maronde. This is a non subscription article from Baseball Prospectus, so you can all read it. Although, you really should get a subscription. You can go, we’ll be here waiting.

All done? Smart choice, let’s move on.

Money Quote:

"Maronde is the fifth player that Baseball-Reference can find with a line exactly like Maronde in a major-league debut: 1/3 IP, 1 K, 3 pitches. Sure, pitch counts on B-Ref only go back a couple decades. Sure, most pitchers aren’t brought in for just one batter in their debuts. Sure, the previous four are only Dan Runzler, Lucas Luetge, Jesse Carlson and Tim Young. But whatever. Maronde did it and now you know he did it."

And that third pitch was total paint.

MLB Trade Rumors: Will Dan Haren Be On The Trade Block This Winter?

I’m saying no. Simply because, at $15.5M, one season of Dan Haren next year for any team would be risky. I understand that there is no such thing as a bad one year deal, but would you want to give up young cost controlled players (and even though they wouldn’t be top prospects, rest assured they’ll have value) after the season that Haren has had? Not even a tit for tat contract swap makes sense. The only position that we could stand to upgrade is third base, but with us getting above average offensive production from positions that normally aren’t expected to deliver offense (and Alberto Callaspo doing a good job defensively as well as not striking out often), there is really no need. The premium for quality starting pitching is always a high price, and I personally would rather hang on to Haren.

A true save opportunity

This is cool, and not just because the Angels got involved.

Money Quote:

"A local lawyer, who asked to remain anonymous, wanted to donate $4,000.“I called him back and told him the Angels wanted to donate,” Maltby said. “I didn’t want him to donate $4,000 just because. I didn’t think he needed to send that much if other people in the community are helping us out.”Maltby said the lawyer still made a contribution."

Well played sir, well played.

Bring on the Robots! As well as Ryan Howard’s at bats being played in fast forward!