Baseball thread No. 7: Somebody slip the pinstripers a Mickey

In 2008, Kotchman hit .287/.327/.448, 12 HRs, 54 RBI in 100 games before he got traded.
In 2008, Teixeira hit .358/.449/.632, 13 HRs, 43 RBI in 54 games.
In 2008, Morales hit .213/.273/.393, 3 HRs, 8 RBI in 27 games.

In 2007, Kotchman hit .296/.372/.467, 11 HRs, 68 RBI in 137 games.
In 2007, Morales hit .294/.333/.479, 4 HRs, 15 RBI in 43 games.

In 2006 Morales hit .234/.293/.371, 5 HR, 22 RBI (56 games at 1B).
In 2006, Quinlan hit .321/.344/.491, 9 HR, 32 RBI (54 games at 1B.)
In 2006, Kendrick hit .285/.314/.416, 4 HR, 30 RBI (44 games at 1B.)

Morales didn't "deserve" shit. He got outplayed every year. Your hatred of Scioscia is completely blinding you.

 

Until they traded for Teixeira, who exactly was blocking him? Kotchman? Minimal power and trouble staying in the lineup. Not that much of a block. They could have found the at-bats for him, but chose not to until now.

A large part of the blame goes on Morales for not showing more when he did get a chance, but it probably would have helped if they had used him better before now. Not letting the guy play regularly could definitely have been part of his problem.

Or maybe he just wasn't ready to put it all together until this year.

 

Well, I would typically blame management, but again, Scioscia is pretty clearly The Man in Anaheim. The only guy management really deserves blame for is Anderson, who literally began to fall apart the moment he signed that four-year extension in '04.

But there is no reason, none at all, why Morales shouldn't have gotten an extensive audition at first base before Scioscia--err, the Angels--had no choice but to do so. In 2006, Angels first basemen hit .255 with 11 homers. 61 RBI and 44 XBH in 611 ABs. In 2007, they hit .289 with 13 homers, 84 RBI and 58 XBH in 592 ABs. In 2008, when Teixeira arrived July 31, they hit .303 with 25 homers, 93 RBI and 65 XBH in 610 ABs (Teixeira: .358-13-43-27 in 193 ABs).

Morales always showed good power potential (35 XBHs in 377 ABs). Even if he only topped out in the 15-18 HR range, are you telling me he would have been worse for the Angels than Kotchman and the other flotsam and jetsam they trotted out there before Teixeira?

The guy hit .332 with 127 XBH in 1,220 minor league ABs. Admittedly, he did a lot of that in the hitter-friendly PCL. But still. Why did it take Scioscia so long to give him a shot?

 

Probably because Scioscia was doing the union's work, trying to get richer contracts for Kotchman, Anderson and Teixeira.

 

Look at that, oop and I are in almost complete agreement while Bucky and Oz and I are at completely opposite ends of the spectrum. The entire world has been turned upside down!

Again, I need a lot more than 377 ABs spread out over three seasons (sorry, thought he got a cup of coffee in 2005) to believe Morales wasn't playing b/c he was outplayed. There aren't a whole lot of guys establishing themselves as big leaguers averaging less than 130 ABs a season for three years.

 

Thanks, as usual, for contributing nothing.

 

It's enlightening to find out that Scioscia has been holding back the Angels.
But I guess the proof is he has won only four division championships in the past five years.
Damn slackard.

 

Look, I know I'm in the minority on the guy. That's fine. And even if they somehow miss the playoffs this year, I was way wrong for declaring that team finished in April. He's done a helluva job under terrible circumstances this year and he's got to be on the very short list of Manager of the Year candidates.

But I see him, every October, manage a 95- or 100-win team into a first-round exit. At some point, you have to stop figuring it's bad luck in a short, anything goes series and more about Scioscia. I have never seen as awful a call as Scioscia calling for the squeeze against the Sox in Game Four last year. We disagreed about it last year and that's fine, but I look at him and see a guy with a terrible case of the smarter than everybody elses, and it really fucked them last year.

 

Wait a minute. A dickhead who loves Bobby fucking Valentine is accusing Scioscia of having a case of "the smarter than everyone elses."

 

Not Valentine's fault he is.

Let's see what Scioscia could do with Derek Bell, Benny Agbayani and Jay Payton, OK?

 

- He led Angels first basemen in at-bats in 2006, hit .234 and drove in 22 runs in 56 games, and you're saying he didn't get an extended audition?
- He drove in 15 runs in 43 games in 2007, and you think he deserved more time?
- He hit .213 last year and it's SCIOSCIA's fault he didn't play more and/or develop better?

When, IN ALL THREE YEARS, he had one or more teammates who had better performances than he did?

Crazy talk. Just crazy.

 

--

Critics can always find something wrong with everyone:
-- The AngryGreenGirl's tits are too small
-- Tebow is too nice
-- They made me pay for a two-page roster at a prep game.
And on and on and on ...
The Angels have always gotten production from their first basemen, even when they were forced to move Darin Erstad there. A lot of fans didn't want them to trade Kotchmann.
So you're knocking Scioscia because a guy who is a good bunter botched a bunt in a crucial spot. I didn't like the squeeze call either because it was obvious it was coming, but Scioscia's mistakes are rare.