AngelsWin.com's Hot Prospect List May 31, 2011

Hot Prospects May 30th, 2011

By David Saltzer, AngelsWin.com Senior Writer

Wow! As far as we can recall, Sunday was the first time this year that the entire Angels organization won at every level. More importantly, it was a rare week where the entire organization posted a winning record, going 17-12. The Triple-A Salt Lake Bees were the only affiliate not to post a winning record as they went 3-5 for the week. The Double-A Arkansas Travelers had 2 more games canceled due to weather, but, managed to finish the week with a 4-2 mark. The Single-A Inland Empire 66ers managed to post their first winning weak for the month going 5-2. Finally, the Single-A Cedar Rapids Kernels rounded out the winning ways as they went 5-3.

1. Casey Haerther, 1B, Single-A Inland Empire 66ers

Overall: .292/.414/.416 with 1 HR and 0 SBs

What’s Up: It’s been a rough month for the 66ers, no doubt about it. They had back-to-back weeks of horrid records. But this past week, Haerther caught fire and helped fuel the 66ers into their first winning week of the month. He finished with week with 4 multi-hit games, and went 12/26 (.462) with 4 doubles, 1 home run and 6 RBIs. After getting off to a slow start in April, Haerther has heated up for the month of May posting a .337/.384/.538 line. The former Bruin doesn’t have the prototypical power for a first baseman—he has gap power (17 doubles in 188 ABs), but then again, neither did Mark Grace. Without the HR power, Haerther will have to prove that he can hit at each and every level in the organization before earning a promotion. So, far, with a career .317/.362/.444 line, he’s definitely shown that.

2. Andrew Taylor, LHP, AA Arkansas Travelers

Overall: 2-2, 0 Saves, 3.93 ERA, 36.2 IP, 34 H, 16 BB, 25 K, 1.36 WHIP, .248 BAA

What’s Up: The Angels don’t have a lot of lefty arms. One of the few who has really flown under the radar has been Andrew Taylor. He’s pretty much done all the Angels could ask of him: he’s gone out and consistently gotten outs. Originally a reliever, since joining Double-A last year, Taylor has been converted into a starter. For the week, Taylor went 1-0 in 2 appearances (1 relief), pitching 10.0 innings of shutout baseball, allowing only 6 hits. Taylor seems to be more effective as a reliever than as a starter, so, we at AngelsWin.com won’t be surprised if he gets moved back to the pen. But, we also know that Taylor is also the kind of guy who will do whatever it takes to make the Majors, and will fit into whatever role he’s asked to perform.

3. Mike Trout, CF, AA Arkansas Travelers

Overall: .308/.415/.538 with 6 HR and 9 SBs

What’s Up: It usually takes a bit more than a 6/21 (.286) week for a player to land on the Hot Prospect List. And, that’s just what Trout has. Add in his 4 walks on the week, and that lifts his OB% to (.400) for the week! In 4 out of the 6 games that the Travelers played this week, Trout stole a base. A lot of talk has been made about bringing Trout up this year or that he will be blocked by Abreu if his contract vests. Most likely Trout won’t be ready until the middle of 2013. But, when he is, he’ll be a younger, faster version of Abreu (high OB and good power) and will fit in nicely with the Major League lineup.

4. Darwin Perez, SS, AA Arkansas Travelers

Overall: .292/.414/.416 with 1 HR and 8 SBs

What’s Up: Something has clearly clicked with Darwin Perez. Not only has his hitting dramatically improved, so has his fielding. On the season, he’s only made 1 error, giving him a .993 FLD%. A switch hitter, Perez is performing nearly identically from both sides of the plate. He has an .844 OPS vs. right handers and an .801 OPS vs. lefthanders. The big difference between the sides has to do with his only homerun coming against a righthander. It’s still too early to tell if last year was an aberration for Perez or if this year is a sign of good things to come, but, it’s exciting to watch his development either way.

5. Daniel Tillman, RHP, Single-A CR Kernels

Overall: 3-1, 1 Save, 2.75 ERA, 39.1 IP, 35 H, 21 BB, 41 K, 1.42 WHIP, .235 BAA

What’s Up: There’s a special something about an elite closer that makes them able to take the pressure situation and thrive. There’s a special something about an ace pitcher that makes him want the ball every fifth game and go out there and throw like a bulldog. Sometimes a pitcher can move from one role to another, sometimes they can’t. This year, the Angels tried Daniel Tillman as a starter after he dominated as a closer. But, according to Abe Flores, that experiment is now over. Tillman has returned to the bullpen where he should excel. For the week, he earned his first save throwing 2.0 scoreless innings in two appearances. With the move back to the pen, AngelsWin.com expects big things again from Tillman.

6. Garrett Richards, RHP, AA Arkansas Travelers

Overall: 5-1, 1 Save, 3.90 ERA, 57.2 IP, 48 H, 23 BB, 40 K, 1.27 WHIP, .232 BAA

What’s Up: Watching the way that Chatwood has emerged in the Majors gives hope that the next wave of Angels pitching talent will have similar success. For the week, Richards won his only start, giving up 2 runs in 7.0 IP. He limited the opposition to 5 hits and 3 walks. The only concern for Richards so far has been the drop in strikeouts on the season. But, Chatwood also experienced a similar drop in Ks when he moved up to Double-A and has still found success in the Majors. What is very encouraging with Richards is that in 9 starts on the season, 6 have been quality starts.

7. Jeremy Moore, OF, AAA Salt Lake Bees

Overall: .274/.303/.458 with 3 HRs and 5 SBs

What’s Up: It’s been a while since Jeremy Moore has appeared on this list. That’s because he’s been having feast or famine days, as is typical with free swingers. Take this past week for example: he had a 5 for 5 day and a 3 for 4 day. But, he also had an 0 for 3 and two 0 for 4 days to go with it. For the week, he finished up 12/30 (.400) with 2 doubles, 1 triple, and 1 homerun. Until he becomes more disciplined at the plate (so far he has 8 walks and 49 Ks in 190 ABs) he’ll continue to struggle. When he does figure it out, though, watch out!

8. Kole Calhoun, OF, Single-A Inland Empire 66ers

Overall: .287/.377/.536 with 10 HR and 7 SBs

What’s Up: If Jeremy Moore earned a spot on here with his 5 for 5 game, Kole Calhoun earned a spot on here with his 1 for 3 performance with 4 walks. For the week, Calhoun finished with 7 walks and went 5 for 12 (.429 OB%) with a homerun. As the homerun leader for the 66ers, Calhoun has had to shoulder a lot of the weight for the team. So far he’s driven in 34 runs and scored 33 in 47 games. Like the parent club, the 66ers don’t have an overwhelming amount of power in their lineup. That Calhoun is doing so well with such little support says a lot about his skills.

9. Andrew Romine, SS, AAA Salt Lake Bees

Overall: .288/.345/.363 with 2 HRs and 13 SBs

What’s Up: Romine is putting together a solid season that should warrant a call up at some point. The problem is that he’s stuck in the Angels organization, which is filled with MIF candidates. His slick glove is ready, it’s just a matter of time. For the week, he went 6/19 (.316) with 3 SBs. With Amarista showing that he needs a little bit more seasoning at Triple-A, it’s likely that Romine could get the call the next time the Angels need some MIF depth on their Major League roster.

10. Robert Fish, LHP, AA Arkansas Travelers

Overall: 3-1, 1 Save, 2.75 ERA, 39.1 IP, 35 H, 21 BB, 41 K, 1.42 WHIP, .235 BAA

What’s Up: Last Wednesday, Robert Fish came back from Extended Spring Training and picked up right where he left off. The lefthander struck out the side in his first appearance for the Travelers since May 3rd. With a career 9.3 K/9 IP ratio, this hard thrower just needs to stay healthy to earn a shot at the Majors.

Angels Thumbs Up & Thumbs Down (Twins Series)

By Jeff Flinn - AngelsWin.com Contributor

Thumbs Up

*Weaver pitched his best game since April, 9 innings of 2-hit shutout baseball against a team that may finally be emerging from its' season long funk. Haren was dicey, but did induce 15 GBs and allowed just 3 runs in 6+ innings. Chatwood was also dicey in 5 2/3 innings, but did keep it just close enough for the Halos to start their best rally this season.

*Downs continues to pitch stellar baseball, needing just 16 pitches to get 5 outs this weekend and getting out of Haren's 2nd and 3rd & 0 out jam with just one run scoring on a ground ball out. Rodney actually had a clean 8th inning on Sunday, and touched 100 MPH on the radar gun. Now if only he could ever be consistent for any stretch of time. Walden pitched well Friday night.

*Hitting wise, the Halos took advantage of a weak Twins' bullpen on Friday night to stage a great comeback, the first one in quite some time where they were down at least 4 runs in the 7th inning or later (down 5 runs for good measure and tied it with a 5 run 8th inning). The RISP BA was at .250 for the series (5-20).   It's slowly improving. Aybar was the hitting star with 5 hits in the 3 games, a HR and a triple, and 6 RBI's. Abreu and Hunter each had 4 hits in the 3 games. Callaspo had 3 hits on Friday night. Bourjos had 3 hits with the key triple in the 9th inning on Friday night.   Even better news, he K'd just twice in the 3 games, an improvement over his May-to-date stats. Trumbo had a big 9th inning HR that traveled some 435 feet. Mathis had another 2 hit game on Sunday and scored 2 runs.

Defensively, the Halos had mixed results although they had some good plays, including Bourjos stealing a possible HR from Thome.

Newest Halos' player Russell Branyan had his first Halos rbi on a sac fly and his first Halos hit. Kendrick should be available by Saturday finally. Wells may finally be available by the last series of the next home-stand.

All in all, it was good to take that series because the Twins may be starting to come to life finally in 2011.

Thumbs Down 

*Haren had one big hiccup in walking the weak hitter on 4 pitches to start the 7th inning. Walden walked two batters including a weak hitting utility player on 4 pitches on Sunday, and made it too much of a Don Stanhouse like adventure.  

*Jepsen is HORRIBLE so far in 2011, and gave up three straight hits to end Saturday's game. He's allowed 16 hits in 8 2/3 innings, has a 4/7 Ks/BBs ratio, a 2.65 WHIP and 10.38 ERA.
   
*The offense struggled for the most part against the Twins' starting pitchers, only doing ANYTHING against the mediocre Pavano. You STILL just never know what this offense is going to do from game to game.

*Can someone please tell me why Thompson was not brought in instead of Jepsen on Saturday night?? Why would Mike trust Jepsen more in that spot (runner on 1st and 1 out)?? Thompson's stats since 2010 up here = 43.1 innings, 29 hits, 42/11 K's/BB's, 0.92 WHIP, 1.88 ERA. Just what has Jepsen done since 2010 to earn getting that key spot before Thompson? Thompson has pitched just ONCE in the past EIGHT days, while Jepsen had just pitched on Friday night (albeit 5 pitches)! What does Mike see in Jepsen????   He NEVER, EEVER pitches tight to hitters, and thus they know to only look for pitches middle of the plate and out!!

AngelsWin.com Podcast - Episode Three

Check out our AngelsWin.com Podcast - Episode Three which was recorded Saturday, May 28th, 2011 at 10:30 AM PST with host Adam Dodge and AngelsWin.com Founder and Executive Editor Chuck Richter.

Listen to internet radio with AngelsWin on Blog Talk Radio

The Game We Play

By David Saltzer - AngelsWin.com Senior Writer

I know that this is a baseball message board, not a political one. But, baseball is a microcosm of America idealized, and sometimes that means that baseball and politics collide in ways that require commentary. Take the Bryan Stow case for example. What that horrible tragedy says about the society that we’ve created should make all of us upset.

We all know what happened. And, we all know that there was an arrest made. While the alleged perpetrator claims to have an alibi, and legally should be presumed innocent until proven otherwise, what should get us all upset is his past criminal history and what that says about the society we’ve made.

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Angels Thumbs Up & Thumbs Down (As Series)

By Jeff Flinn - AngelsWin.com Contributor

Thumbs Up

*Weaver and Santana each had solid 6 inning outings, only affected by the A's driving up pitch counts.  Santana has pitched like even numbered year Santana in his past 2 outings. Here's to his continuing that. Joel Pineiro was a little better than he was on Saturday, only really hit hard on Andy LaRoche's two-run double.

*Scott Downs pitched two more scoreless innings, and now has a 0.61 ERA. Walden had two more saves. Rodney finally had a scoreless inning for seemingly the first time in a while. Thompson had 1 2/3 scoreless innings to keep the Halos in the game on Thursday.   

*Hitting wise, the Halos had a decent showing given that the A's lead the AL in team ERA.  The RISP BA was just below .250 for the series (7-29). Hunter continues to hit much better than he was earlier.   His and Callaspo's back-to-back HRs were huge Wednesday night. Trumbo hit a big three-run home run to make today's game close in the 9th inning. Conger might be coming out of his slump with 2 hits on Wednesday night. Mathis had 2 hits Monday night, including a key 2 run single to give the Halos breathing room in the 8th inning. Willits finally had a power-hitting moment with a double on Wednesday night to give the team an important insurance run.

*Defensively, the Halos were rock solid, committing 0 errors in the series and only having 24 errors in 52 games so far (2nd best in the AL). Hunter had a key putout at home plate on Monday night. Amarista made several great plays in the series, after struggling last Saturday night.

Welcome to newest Halos' player Russell Branyan, and thank you for nearly tying up Thursday's game in the 9th inning. Please feel free to supply some SORELY needed power-hitting!

Thumbs Down 

*Haren was shaky for the first time this season, giving up two home runs to Halos nemesis David DeJesus (career OPS around .900 against the Halos). Coco Crisp also continues to be a pest against the Halos.
Andy LaRoche?  Andy LaRoche?  Really? Really?
   
*The offense, save for Trumbo's HR on Thursday, disappeared for 2 of the 4 games. You just never know what this offense is going to do from game to game.

*It's not a great thing to split with the division rival A's at home, after being swept in two games on the road by them.

*Kendrick goes on the DL. This is frustrating, after Mike said he could play this past weekend.

*Second base umpire Kerwin Danley denied Aybar his 13th straight stolen base on Wednesday night, on a call that wasn't even close!

Los Angeles Angels Prospect Report - May 25

• Salt Lake: All eyes were on Scott Kazmir yesterday, but his start for the Bees didn't go so well as he didn’t make it through the second inning, walking four and allowing six runs in the second inning before he was relieved with two outs. He hit a batter and struck out three, including the first two batters of the game. From our Salt Lake Bees rep, Rick Dykhuizen had this to say about Kazmir's start: Kazmir started out doing really well in the first, he had a few balls in the first, but the batters were swinging at them and Kazmir was cruising. Then came the second inning. He couldn't locate, had a lot more balls in the dirt and seemed frustrated. His velocity ranged from 76-88 MPH with him topping out at 91 (that I saw).  Michael Kohn (4.19) struck out two over two innings of work, giving up a run while walking a batter. Jeremy Moore (.259) singled and walked in the contest. The Bees lost the game 8-1.

• Arkansas:  The entire Texas League was off on Tuesday.

• Inland Empire: The entire California League was off on Tuesday. (Catcher, Carlos Ramirez was promoted to the 66'ers before last Friday's game and is hitting .500 after three games)

• Cedar Rapids: Tyler Kehrer (3.00), the Angels' 2009 first-round pick returned from injury this week and in his third appearance of the 2011 season he struck out the only batter he faced on Tuesday. Max Russell (2.41) pitched seven solid innings, striking out out eight, allowing just two runs. Russell notched his fifth quality start in a row and currently sports an ERA of 1.26 in that stretch. Donn Roach gave up three runs in an inning of relief work. Travis Witherspoon (.239) went 0-4 and has struck out eight times in his last three games. The Kernels lost the game 7-1.

AngelsWin.com's Hot Prospect List May 23, 2011

(Arkansas Travelers OF, Mike Trout)

Hot Prospects May 23rd, 2011

By David Saltzer, AngelsWin.com Senior Writer

Better. After two brutal weeks in the Minor Leagues (and for that matter, the Major Leagues) things are starting to turn around. The Triple-A Salt Lake Bees turned in their second week of .500 baseball going 3-3 for the week. The Double-A Travelers flipped their record from last week and went 4-3 to get into the winning ways. The Single-A 66ers won their first back-to-back wins in the month and went 3-4 on the week. And the Single-A Cedar Rapids Kernels limped along at 1-5. Still, there were plenty of standout performances. Here are 10 of the best.

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Angels Thumbs Up & Thumbs Down (Braves Series)

By Jeff Flinn - AngelsWin.com Contributor

Thumbs Up

*Santana and Chatwood were outstanding.  Santana looked like even numbered year Santana with by far his best outing so far in 2011 as he shut out the Braves. Chatwood's command was really solid, as he walked just 2 and struck out 6 and allowed just 1 run in 7 innings. Joel Pineiro was a little shaky, but shut the Braves out until imploding in the 7th inning.

*Downs pitched 2 rock solid innings, and is very important going forward. Walden did so as well, and seems to be getting back on track again. Rodney finally had an outing, albeit just 1 batter, where he got the job done. Even Jepsen had a scoreless inning.

*Hitting wise, the Halos scored 17 runs in three games, a far departure from the road trip and great given that Kendrick was out of the lineup. Hunter may FINALLY be coming out of his long funk, as he had five hits and drove in five runs in the three games and finally broke the 29 game HR drought. Abreu is showing signs as well of hitting the ball harder as well, as he finally hit his 2nd HR on the season and had a pair of doubles as well, along with four RBI's and five BBs. Trumbo continues to show some flashes of brilliance, with a three-run homer Friday night, and did walk three times in the last two games of the series. It was nice to see the 6 run explosion in the 3rd inning on Friday night.   When was the last time that happened?

*Defensively they were solid, save for Amarista on Saturday night. Though he did make an outstanding play on Martin Prado's grounder on Friday night.

Thumbs Down 

*Amarista made two errors on Saturday night along with a bad bunt that traveled maybe half a foot and would have easily been doubled up at first base even if running from the start instead of arguing with the home plate ump that it was a foul ball. He also has to learn to slide in front of tough groundballs, instead of kicking them into the outfield and giving the runner an extra base. That cost the Halos a critical run on Saturday night.
I like his makeup and potential, but he is hitting just .125 and likely needs more work at AAA.  He is just twenty-one years old though.
    
*Hitting with runners in scoring position in this past series yielded a mediocre 6-31 result, although they were 4-14 on Friday night. In what has been a somewhat recurring theme, they went soft at the plate after the 5th inning Saturday night, being held hitless for 7 innings.

*Peter Bourjos is 2 for his last 40, while Conger is 2 for his last 22.
 
*Lastly, Joe Mather????? Joe Mather???? Who the heck is Joe Mather????? He drives in 5 of the 6 runs for the Braves in the series, and pretty much single handily won Saturday night's game for the Braves. Does Willie Bloomquist have a long lost brother?????

Matt Palmer & Ranking Angels’ Hitters with Advanced Stats

By Andre Castillo - AngelsWin.com Feature Writer

Matt Palmer, and Ranking Angels’ Hitters with Advanced Stats

Hey everyone. The girlfriend’s parents were in from Norway last week so I had to take a brief hiatus from the column. The timing worked out well, as the Angels also took the week off, it seemed; they are now 2-8 in their last 10 games.

This week is a two for one. First thing I want to talk about is a roster move the stats tell us the Angels should make, specifically with the bullpen. Then I’m going to discuss the Angels hitters using a shiny new stat called wOBA.

Sabermetric Roster Move of the Week – Call up Matt Palmer

The Angels’ bullpen is not looking good. They now lead the American league with 11 losses. Seven (!) relievers used by the Angels this year have produced negative WAR this year, according to Fangraphs’ WAR stats, which isn’t just below average – that puts them among the worst relievers in baseball.

So far, only 4 Angels relievers have produced positive WAR: Jordan Walden, Rich Thompson, Scott Downs and – wait for it – Matt Palmer.

Matt Palmer? He has a 5.74 ERA! How can that be?

Well, looking at the numbers it looks like Matt just had some bad luck. If you look at the three most telling stats of a pitcher’s skill, K/9, BB/9, and Home runs over Fly balls (HR/FB), Matt had pitched very well this year before being sent back to Salt Lake. When you translate those numbers into what a pitcher’s ERA should be using advanced analysis, you get something called FIP (Fielding Independent Pitching). What’s Matt’s FIP been? 2.98. That’s pretty good.

Since WAR uses FIP, it makes sense that Matt has a positive WAR. Why does WAR use FIP? Because the defense can often screw up a pitcher’s ERA, and, as a result, our interpretation of his skill. FIP takes out the variables of defense and just looks at the skills that we can measure independent of defense – K/9, BB/9, and HR/FB.

So what’s FIP’s track record? It’s been proven to be much more successful at predicting the future success of a pitcher than ERA has.

Now look at who’s ahead of Palmer on the Angels roster: Francisco Rodriguez (FIP: 4.89), Fernando Rodney (FIP: 4.61), Kevin Jepsen (FIP: 6.39), and Hisanori Takahashi (FIP: 5.70). Certainly one of them should be sent down in favor of Palmer, but really, the Angels should be looking to replace most, if not all, of them.

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AN ANGELIC PHENOMENON

AN ANGELIC PHENOMENON

A Historical Perspective on Mike Trout

By Jonathan Northrop - AngelsWin.com Columnist

The Phenom

If you don’t know the name “Mike Trout” then you very soon will. He was the 25th pick in the 2009 Amateur Draft, a compensation pick for the loss of Mark Teixeira. He quickly impressed in 44 minor league games at age 17, hitting .352/.419/.486, mainly in Rookie ball. But it wasn’t until the following year that he began to turn heads. In 81 games in low-A Cedar Rapids, he hit .362/.454/.526 and was promoted to A+ Rancho Cucamonga where, in 50 games, he hit .306/.388/.434, finishing the year with an impressive .341/.428/.490 line, plus 56 stolen bases and 73 walks – superb numbers for any player at any level, but moreso for an 18-year old against pitchers usually 3-4 years older.

By the end of 2010, Trout was considered one of the very best prospects in baseball, the best by some (including Keith Law), and compared to players such as Grady Sizemore by Baseball Prospectus’s Kevin Goldstein and, by one anonymous scout, Mickey Mantle (!). Expectations were somewhat tempered when the Angels decided to start him in AA, a lonely 19-year old in the high minors. The general view was that he would start slow, struggle, and then do well and maybe earn a late season promotion to AAA. I for one would have been happy to see him produce similar numbers to his performance in Rancho Cucamonga – certainly impressive for a player of his age in AA.

Mike Trout has, once again, exceeded expectations. Through 35 games played he is hitting .313/.409/.565 with 18 extra base hits (including 6 HR, more than half his 2010 total), 9 stolen bases, and 19 walks.

I knew this kid was special but what I wanted to know was how special, so I posed the question: How many 19-year olds put up a .900+ OPS in the high minors (AA and AAA)? And of those that do, how many go on to be stars, quality regulars, or end up flaming out? Not knowing where to turn, I eventually stumbled upon Baseball-Reference.com’s Minor League Batting Leaders and quickly realized that I was going to have to do some leg work. So I sorted each year by OPS, then by age, and looked for any teenager who had a .900+ OPS in AA or AAA, going back 25 years. Why 25 years? I wanted to make sure that I included any players that might be playing in the major leagues now or in recent memory – so I went back to the early minor league careers of Ken Griffey Jr and Gary Sheffield, but not much further.

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Angels Thumbs Up & Thumbs Down (M's Series)

By Jeff Flinn - AngelsWin.com Contributor

Thumbs Up

*Weaver and Haren only allowed 4 runs in 14 innings, although each was a little wild.

*Downs made one bad pitch to start the 9th inning, but otherwise made all of his pitches and only got beaten by a high sky. Takahashi pitched 2 solid innings on Wednesday night.   The Halos need a lot more of that out of him.

*Hitting wise, only Kendrick is again deserving of any real praise as he had the team's ONLY run scored and RBI in the series plus three other hits on Thursday. Conger did have a hit and a walk on Thursday too. 

*The defense was really solid on Thursday, until the last play. Callaspo made a great snag of a ground ball and also a long running catch on a foul ball. Amarista made another great snag of a ground ball. Hunter made a great catch today at the wall.

Thumbs Down

*The defense continues to slump some, with 2 errors on Wednesday night and Hunter's lost in the sun fly-ball that won the game for Seattle on Thursday.
   
*RISP spots for this series yielded a 1-9 result, and the team ended up 5-47 on this road trip with RISP. Even Timmy Lupus, Oglivie, and Rudy Stein think that's bad.

*Hunter is 1-30, Bourjos is 1-29, Aybar is 0-15, and even Izturis' BA is sliding down. Trumbo has K'd 15 times in his past 28 at bats.

*This road trip was a joke, as they went just 1-6 after playing well on the road the first month of the season.   

*I refuse to say anything else, because this team's offense makes me sick to my stomach right now! Except one thing. Is the problem with the Angels hitting with RISP hitting a mental thing now that has gotten into their collective heads that in those spots they try a bit too hard, press a bit? Many of the Angels hitters are swinging at some pitches that are a foot outside and taking others with two strikes right down the middle.

Los Angeles Angels Prospect Report - May 19

• Salt Lake: The entire PCL had the night off.

• Arkansas:  Orangel Arenas (5-1, 3.59) was the star on the night as he pitched a solid 8 2/3 innings of shutout baseball on just 96 pitches. Mike Trout (.313/.409/.565) didn't notch a hit on the night, but he walked twice, was HBP and stole two bases giving him nine on the season.

• Inland Empire: Kole Calhoun (.295/.364/.562) hit his organizational leading ninth home run in a losing effort, as Ryan Chaffee (6.62) was shelled, giving up seven runs in under six innings.

• Cedar Rapids: The Cedar Rapids Kernels were no-hit by the Kane County Cougars pitchers Sugar Ray Marimon and Chas Byrne.

Angels Thumbs Up & Thumbs Down (A's Series)

By Jeff Flinn - AngelsWin.com Contributor

Thumbs Up

*Joel Pineiro has been rock solid so far in every one of his starts, and Monday night was no exception as he allowed just one earned run in seven innings. Downs continues to get the job done every time out so far in 2011.

*Hitting wise, only Kendrick is deserving of any praise as he had one of the team's very few clutch hits on this road trip, a two-run single to give the Halos the lead on Monday night. Trumbo nearly had an extra base hit that could have scored two runs on Monday night.

That's all folks. You didn't think I'd put much in this section did you? The Angels stunk it up in Oakland.

Thumbs Down

*Callaspo's defense had some holes in it, as he committed two errors, including a critical one on Monday night. Earth to Callaspo, you know the routine in that stadium, having played in the AL since 2009. Throws  need to be on target because of the spacious foul ground there.   

*Chatwood's luck unfortunately ran out on Tuesday as he left FAR TOO MANY pitches up in the zone, much like he did in his first start against the Indians. Chatwood needs to keep the ball down and quit getting behind in the count.

   
*Rodney needs to be demoted to where he never appears when the game margin is less than four runs. Can you say MOP UP ROLE? And as for Butcher working with Rodney to fix his release point, you've been having to do this for 1 1/4 seasons now. It isn't happening folks!

*Jepsen continues to make us wonder why he's still pitching up here. Has he even had a clean relief appearance so far this season? Thompson did make Jepsen's outing last night even worse, walking in 2 of Jepsen's baserunners. What has happened to a pitcher who walked virtually no one before Sunday in Texas?   He now has 4 BBs in his past less than 2 innings of work.

*The hitters laid a big group egg in Oakland, save for one critical hit from Kendrick. Abreu, Hunter, and though DL'd Wells have all laid another big egg so far this season, except for Abreu's walks.  In 460 cumulative at bats so far, those 3 SUPPOSED middle of the order hitters have a whopping TWENTY-SIX XBHs (15 doubles, 2 triples, 9 homers) and a whopping 48 RBI's. Considering how Aybar, Kendrick, and Izturis have set the table so far, those totals are so bad in fact that Dean Wormer would have said it best, "they STINK!" Hey Abreu, Hunter, and Wells, what do you think this is?  The dead ball era of the early 1900s??

That series was a joke!   This road trip is a joke so far! That's all.

A look at the Offseason Mega Contracts (thus far)

By Jonathan Northrop - AngelsWin.com Columnist

We're now a quarter of the way into the season and it is time to look at the mega-contracts that were signed this off-season; I'm going to include Wells, as his trade was effectively signing him to a four-year deal.

CLIFF LEE (5/$120MM)

2-4, 3.84 ERA, 13:68 BB:K in 58.2 IP; 1 WAR.

Lee is "only" making $11 million this year, although his contract averages out to $24 million a year. Ignore the win-loss record - that's more a factor of luck and how his team's offense has done while he's pitched. His ERA isn't great but his peripherals are, which means his ERA will probably drop. A His Baseball Reference WAR ("brWAR") over the last three years has been 7.3, 5.0, and 4.3 - some decline, but I would think he'll finish in the 4-5 range, which is star-caliber for a pitcher. Lee was somewhat over-rated due to his great postseason performance, but this is still a top 20 starter - maybe even top 10 - just maybe not the top 5 starter that many thought he was.

ADRIAN BELTRE (5/$80MM)

.258/.313/.503, 10 HR, 34 RBI, 121 OPS+, 1.6 WAR

Beltre's got a nice 1.6 WAR so far - which puts him in the top 20 in the AL, I believe. Furthermore, his BABIP so far has been .225, well below his career average of .292, which means that his batting average and overall numbers are likely to sky-rocket. Good news for the Rangers but bad news for Angels fans: It looks like Beltre's 2010 performance was not a mirage. expect him to finish with numbers around .290/.330/.540, 30+ HR and 6+ WAR. Whether he'll be that good in three or four years remains to be seen, but right now he's well worth the money and will only get better throughout the year.

JAYSON WERTH (7/$126MM)

.238/.333/.422, 6 HR, 14 RBI, 108 OPS+, 0.6 WAR

So far, not good. He is looking like a typical "quality regular" - a player average or slightly above for his position. Actually, for a right fielder he might be below average, but we'll give him the benefit of the doubt. He's been disappointing but not terrible, and should improve, maybe even earning his contract for 2-3 years, but things could get ugly in a few years and the Nationals will be looking to deal Werth to the Angels.

CARL CRAWFORD (7/$142MM)

.208/.241/.283, 1 HR, 6 SB, 44 OPS+, -0.7 WAR

Ouch. He is showing some signs of coming out of it as he has hit .290/.302/.371 in May, but he's hit .190 (all singles and no walks) in his last five games, so who knows. It is obviously too soon to tell, but Crawford's performance so far supports my fears during the off-season when it looked the Angels were the front-runners: that he's not a superstar, maybe not even a star except at his very peak; Crawford looks more like a borderline star, that is, assuming his numbers improve. And they will - in fact, I expect he'll return to star level and learn to utilize the Green Monster. But we're looking at an .800 OPS player with excellent speed and defense - a very good player, just not a great one, and not one that will come close to earning his contract.

ADRIAN GONZALEZ (8/$159.5MM)

Contract includes $5.5MM remainder of current contract and 7/$154MM extension)

.327/.384/.583, 9 HR, 37 RBI, 162 OPS+, 2 WAR

This is exactly what the Red Sox hoped for: MVP-caliber performance from their new first baseman. Gonzalez's numbers were good in San Diego, but Petco is one of the worst hitter's parks in baseball. These numbers are for real - expect more of the same for at least the next few years.

VERNON WELLS (4/$81MM - subtracted $5MM paid by Toronto)

.183/.224/.303, 4 HR, 13 RBI, 48 OPS+, -1.0 WAR

 I can't say I'm surprised, especially when you look at his atrocious road numbers last year. Well, no one thought Vernon would be this bad and he really shouldn't be - even a pessimistic outlook would expect league average performance and maybe a .750 OPS and 20-25 HR. Is that what $20+MM a year gets you these days? I suppose the best-case reasonable scenario is that he comes back and mashes and ends up with an OPS close to .800 and 20 HR. But if he continues to struggle, what do the Angels do? Given his contract they almost have to give him another chance in 2012, but if he struggles, what then? One interesting aspect of his contract is that he can opt out of it after this year. Now given that he'd still be owed $63 million, there is a fat chance that he'd do that, but would the Angels consider buying him off, maybe offering him a $20-30 million settlement and release, and then Wells could try to re-start his career elsewhere, maybe sign a one-year deal in the hopes of having a good year and signing a multi-year contract? Of course this is unlikely and I suspect that the Angels will give him at least another year no matter what, but if he's bad in 2012 as well than we might see sort of interesting arrangement. 

FINAL NOTE

Looking at those six contracts, it is interesting to note that exactly half of them are looking good so far (Lee, Beltre, Gonzalez) and half of them are looking bad (Werth, Crawford, Wells). Obviously it is too soon to make a definitive statements on any of the players, but if you look at large multi-year contracts handed out to players in their late 20s or 30s, only about half of them that end up working out. The obvious question is: Is it worth it? Do you drop $100-150 million on a player if there is a 50% that they'll earn their contract? Obviously not, but why do so many teams continue to do so? It is baffling to say the least.

Los Angeles Angels Prospect Report - May 17

• Salt Lake: Michael Kohn (3.31) is pitching a lot better of late and on Monday he notched his third save since his demotion to Salt Lake with a perfect ninth. Tyson Auer (.285) whacked three hits and stole his 13th base, though he was picked off first base and was caught stealing (5) at second. Auer even gunned out Brian Dopirak at 2nd base, his fifth outfield assist.

• Arkansas:  The two notable performances were from Mike Trout (.307) who went 2 for 5 with a triple and reliever Chris Scholl (1.59) who pitched two scoreless innings. Trevor Reckling (0-5, 3.63) got tagged for six runs on nine hits, he walked three and gave up a home run. Relievers Steven Geltz (3.46) and Loek Van Mil  (5.40) gave up three runs a piece.

• Inland Empire: AngelsWin.com's own David Saltzer was in attendance on Monday and witnessed their 3-4-5 hitters (Michael Wing, Casey Haerther and Cole Calhoun) hit back-to-back-to-back home runs in the first inning. Each of the the three sluggers also had three hits a piece on the night (more from David later who covered the game from the press box). Kyle Hurst (3.22) pitched six scoreless innings, striking out four. The 66'ers won the game 7-1.

• Cedar Rapids: No scheduled game on Monday in the Midwest League.

AngelsWin.com's Hot Prospect List May 16, 2011

By David Saltzer, AngelsWin.com Senior Writer

Ugggh!!!! Another brutal week for the organization. Combined, the Angels’ Minor League affiliates went a combined 9-19. Last week’s gem, the Cedar Rapids Kernels went 0-6. One of last week’s underperformers, the Salt Lake Bees turned in the best record for the organization with a 4-4 record. The Double-A Travelers came in second best with a 3-4 record. And the Single-A 66ers continued to limp along at a 2-4 clip. Still, there were plenty of standout performances. Here are 10 of the best.

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Angels Thumbs Up & Thumbs Down (TEX Series)

By Jeff Flinn - AngelsWin.com Contributor

Thumbs Up

*The starting pitching only walked 2 batters in 20 2/3 innings. Haren was his usual solid self. Weaver and Santana both walked just 1 batter each.

*Three Halos batters stood out in this series:  Aybar, Izturis, and Callaspo, as they supplied all of the critical hits, the few that there were. Aybar is now hitting .351.  Kendrick has 19 XBHs, dwarfing Hunter's and Wells' totals.

*Walden got back on the beam on Saturday with a solid 9th inning for a save.

Thumbs Down

*The defense let up a little after some solid play for the past several series, committing just two errors plus the hit that Rodney allowed in the 8th inning on Saturday could possibly have been ruled an error on Aybar.

*Weaver and Santana's command has been off, but they still kept the team in the game for the most part.
   
*Can the Halos PLEASE STOP sending runners from 3B on contact when the ball is hit towards 3B or 1B?
I can understand taking the chance with the SS and 2B (longer throw to the plate), but not when the corner defense is playing in, and especially NOT when that 3B is someone like Beltre who has a gun for an arm! 

*After an eight game stretch where the Halos had about a .300 BA with RISP, they laid an egg against Texas  going THREE for FREAKING THIRTY-ONE with RISP.  Take away the previous eight games plus the White Sox sweep earlier, and this team is TERRIBLE with RISP. They have decent hitters, and lead the AL in BA.  What the heck is the problem when runners are in scoring position?  Too much pressure? A mental thing? Too aggressive in approach?  Although they did managed to draw four walks off of Wilson, whom I'm guessing wasn't impressed with himself.

*Another HUGE worry and thumbs down lately is Torii Hunter, who is tanking again after a seeming resurgence. Now I can understand why some are willing to trade Hunter after the 2011 season.  His past 3/4 of a season going back to the 2010 ASB has not been much above mediocre. NINE XBH's in 41 games = not acceptable Torii!   Not acceptable!!!! Especially when you're the cleanup hitter!!!

*This team just doesn't have any kind of imposing presence in the lineup. Maybe they should play like the 1980's Cardinals, but that team also didn't run on contact on balls hit to the 3B or 1B, plus they successfully stole a ton of bases. Be aggressive, just don't be stupid about it!

THE CURSE OF FIRST

By Jonathan Northrop - AngelsWin.com Columnist

By now we have all heard the news: Kendrys Morales will miss yet another season due to a second surgery on his ankle. This latest set-back got me thinking: What is up with the first base position for the Angels? In this article we’ll take a look at the position, going back from the present to the distant, ancient past, and then looking forward to the future.

Starting with Kendrys, he broke out in 2009 in a big way, having perhaps the best season by an Angels first baseman ever, hitting .306/.355/.569 with 34 HR and 108 RBI. The next year he broke his ankle in a fluke accident and is missing the better part of two years. Filling in him for him have been Mike Napoli and Mark Trumbo -- both adequate, both unspectacular.

Before Kendrys, the Angels had Rent-a-Tex for a third of a season. Mark Teixeira absolutely raked but then “surprised” everyone (except his wife) by signing with the Yankees. Who can blame him, though? As the saying goes, if momma ain’t happy, no one’s happy. 

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Los Angeles Angels Prospect Report - May 13

• Salt Lake: The Bees one the game 7-1 with the help from Andrew Romine (.271) who had a couple hits (singles) and a walk, while stealing his seventh base of the season. Jeremy Moore walked and clubbed a double driving in two runs in three at bats. Auer (.283) also swiped a bag, his 12th, while Jeff Baisley had two hits, pushing his average up to .388. Journeyman starter Eric Junge (4.21) was solid, going 8 2/3 innings, giving up just one run.

• Arkansas:  Trout (.997 OPS) went 2 for 6 across both doubleheader contests, while doubling and stealing his sixth base. Luis Jimenez drove in the winning run in the 14th inning of the first game and Loek Van Mil  (1.69) pitched three scoreless innings to get the win. Andrew Taylor fanned six batters over six innings, though he gave up four runs. The southpaw who's being stretched out sports a solid 3.60 ERA. Eddie Mckiernan had a solid start in game one for Arkansas, going seven innings allowing just three hits, one run, 0 walks, and struck out seven.

• Inland Empire: In Wednesday's victory over the Quakes, Jean Segura strained the hamstring trying to beat out a grounder in the first inning. He stayed in the game for two more innings, then was removed and promptly placed on the DL. P.J. Phillips had two hits and two RBI's and his hitting .250 since being added to the roster after a an injury which cost him the entire 2010 minor league season. Hellweg (6.41) had a tough time out of the bullpen, walking three batters over two innings. The tall right-handed fireballer has walked 25 and fanned 25 batters thus far.

• Cedar Rapids: Travis Witherspoon (.241) singled and doubled on Thursday night. Outfielder Daniel Eichelberger (.353/.429/.471) went 1-4 but stole his second base in six games. Starting pitcher Brian Diemer allowed five runs in three innings. The 2010 sixth-round draft pick sports a 2.76 ERA. Max Russell (3.07) takes his 3-2 record to the hill tonight against the Burlington Bees hoping to snap a Kernels four-game losing streak.

Angels Thumbs Up & Thumbs Down (ChiSox Series)

By Jeff Flinn - AngelsWin.com Contributor

Thumbs Up

*Joel Pineiro continues to pitch solidly and deep into games. I trust him more than Santana at this point. Chatwood makes a lot of solid pitches in tough spots for a 21 year-old. He allowed TWELVE baserunners last night in 6 1/3 innings, but just one run. Imagine how good he could be when his command is more consistent as he matures?

*The RISP hitting continues to improve with solid performances on both Tuesday and Wednesday night. Izturis just missed having another critical hit late Wednesday, as his drive was caught just before the RF wall.

Hunter is picking it up at the plate, and that is absolutely critical to the division hopes. Callaspo continues to hit solidly and drive in runs, as has Kendrick.

*Bourjos is amazing when you see him running at full speed to leg out a triple. He cuts the bases on them as well as anyone that I've seen run the bases in 45 years of watching baseball. Aybar has FINALLY learned how to steal bases (10 for 10 so far), and that will aid the offense significantly.

Thompson NEEDS to be the setup man. He continues to routinely get batters out. Scott Downs has now  pitched eight and 2/3 innings and hasn't allowed a run.

Defensively, the Halos made zero errors in the 3 games, and is on pace for committing just 68 errors all season long. They haven't made an error in the past 7 games.

Thumbs Down

Mostly, this series' low lights were on Santana and part of the bullpen.

*Fernando Rodney continues to be anything but consistent. Isn't one of the traits that you look for in an 8th inning guy is to throw strikes? Rodney loses his delivery point as often as Tommy Lasorda eats.

*Can someone, anyone, tell me why Jepsen is pitching in the 10th inning on Wednesday? Didn't Trevor Bell pitch four shutout innings in a similar spot a week ago? Jepsen doesn't have consistent command, but he showed that in Triple-A with the Salt Lake Bees. He needs to go back to the Bees and learn how to put hitters away and improve his command.

*I'm getting VERY close to advocating Santana's option being bought out for 2013. Not only does he never, ever, have back-to-back solid seasons, he's not even consistent from start to start so far in 2011. That's not what I'd pay someone about $12 million in 2013 to do.

*Oh Torii, stop admiring hard hit outs that aren't actually home runs! You would have been thrown out on that triple on Wednesday if not for the throw hitting your back!

*Biggest low light of course is Morales being out until ST 2012. I sure hope the scar tissue removal is the last piece of the puzzle. How did this wind up WORSE & LONGER than Juan Rivera's recovery time after his surgery?

*Note to Tony Reagins. DO NOT acquire anymore Kazmir's or Wells' types. Either find a stop gap like Scott Posednik or Russell Branyan that won't require trading anyone of significance up here or on the farm, or go all out and acquire David Wright. No more of this in between stuff! And DEFINITELY no Carlos Lee types either!

*This was only the 3rd series loss so far for the Halos, but it was an UGLY ending to a terrible day!!!

One Thousand . . . And One

By David Saltzer, AngelsWin.com Senior Writer

When Mike Scioscia won his 1000th game, a lot was said about what a milestone that was. There were many articles written reflecting on his tenure of the team, covering all the highlights of the past decade.

But to me, Scioscia’s 1,000th victory wasn’t the biggest milestone of his managerial career. For me, last night’s victory, the 1,001st was much more important.

No, this isn't going to be some rant about whether the millennium started in the year 2000 or 2001. It's not going to be a technical piece. Instead, it's going to be an optimistic piece about the Angels' future.

When Mike Scioscia took over the reins for the Angels, he inherited a team built entirely different from the way he wanted it to run. He had plenty of power but little in the way of speed or pitching.

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Los Angeles Angels Prospect Report - May 11

• Salt Lake: Tyson Auer (.286) was the man on Tuesday night as he went 3 for 3, with two walks, scored twice and swiped three bases (11) from the leadoff spot. Batting second was shortstop Andrew Romine (.263) and he too whacked three hits, but drove in two.  Jeremy Berg (4.19)  got one out to preserve a 5-4 victory, earning his third save on the season.

• Arkansas: Mike Trout (.327) went clubbed three hits, two of them doubles. The 19 year old has the sixth-best OPS in the Texas League. 3B Luis Jimenez, RF Robert Lopez and C Alberto Rosario each had two hits a piece. Trevor Reckling (3.63) moved to 0-5 but had a quality start, giving up three earned runs in seven innings, fanning eight batters along the way.

• Inland Empire: Th 66'ers faced one of the Dodgers top pitching prospects in Allen Webster and couldn't produce a extra base hit as they were beaten by the Quakes 3-1. Segura (.295) did manage to get a single in four trips to the plate. Manuel Flores (3.86) pitched 6 2/3 innings and allowed three runs while striking out three.

• Cedar Rapids: The Kernels lost 4-1 so the highlights are few. AJ Schugel  (3.32, 19 IP, 19 K) pitched five solid innings, giving up just two hits, no walks and no earned runs while striking out five batters. Brandon Decker (.237) doubled and walked and Ricky Alvarez (.306) clubbed a homer, his second on the season.

A surreal conversation with Cal Ripken Jr.

By David Kellams - AngelsWin.com Contributor

So I'm sitting in the Denver airport late this morning waiting for my delayed connection to God-awful-Orlando. I just finished reading the on-line article in today's Register about Tim Salmon and the satisfaction he feels for being a "lifer"...

It gets me to thinking about guys like Gwynn, Mattingly, Puckett and Ripken Jr... I swear to God - I'm thinking about what great ambassadors these guys are for their franchise and I'm shutting down my computer because my flight was finally about to board. I close my laptop and look up and Ripken is standing right in front of me...

It was a surreal moment... I seriously thought I was dreaming for about 90 seconds...

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The Mathis Line

By Steve Haston - AngelsWin.com Contributor

When you say that Jeff Mathis’ career batting average is below the Mendoza line, you’re slapping Mario Mendoza in the face. Contrary to popular opinion, Mendoza was actually a lifetime .215 hitter. The Mexican born shortstop that has the dubious distinction of being the namesake for minimum productivity at a defensive minded position, shortstop in his case, was better than his reputation would have you believe. Mendoza also had skills above and beyond Mathis with 2 IP in 1977 with Pittsburgh, his first and longest tenured team. Generally, Mathis can hardly get a throw to second without putting it on the wrong side of the bag or hitting Peter Bourjos on the fly, much less take the bump in mop up duty.

After his Major league career Mendoza went back to Mexico where he finished his Mexican career with a .291 batting average. He then spent time managing the Angels' single A affiliate, which also included managing his son, a prospect who never made it to the big club. As a player that was equally praised for defense and belittled for his hitting, Mendoza’s run at managing also shows that his clubhouse presence and leadership kept him on major league rosters. Mendoza is a good baseball man, an inductee into the Mexico Baseball Hall of Fame and above all, not deserving of the catchy moniker with which he is tagged.

For Comparison’s sake, let’s get down to numbers: Mathis v. Mendoza. Out of seven seasons in which he had more than 50 at bats, Mendoza batted above .211 in four. Jeff Mathis has matched his career best in average twice, both in the 2007 and 2009 season where he hit, you guessed it .211. The parallels continue. In 1977 and 1979, 30 years before Mathis put up identical batting average numbers; Mendoza did the same, hitting .198 in both seasons. Mathis’ career batting average nearly identical at .199. One can only imagine the plight of Mario Mendoza. Year after year he is used as a measuring stick for players that simply can’t hit. Fortunately for Mario, Jeff Mathis may just be the player to take his title. How, in good conscience, can sportscasters continue to use the phrase “Mendoza line” when there is a regular major league player in the modern era who has been worse? Mendoza has been, and continues to be, miscast in a role clearly written for another.

On second thought, forget about Mendoza’s feelings on the matter. What about the millions of angst-riddled Angels fans who have suffered through the automatic out that is Jeff Mathis over the past five seasons? My wife is legitimately concerned that the next phrase my 18 month old learns might be “Dammit Mathis.” In my home the second word of that phrase is the expletive. I’ve thought of a line of t-shirts stating simply “I drink because we have Mathis.” Messing up around the office is now referred to as “pulling a Mathis.” That overpaid admin in the corner cubicle that management won’t fire for fear of a discrimination lawsuit, we call him “Mathis”. While golfing last week, I shanked a drive out of play and heard from behind me “Nice Mathis”. My office manager, realizing that my sandwich was messed up at a lunch meeting said giggling “They must’ve hired that catcher on the Angels.” I didn’t even know she was a sports fan. My wife shut my daughter’s finger in the car door, “You Mathis’d the baby!” And now, when I see someone batting below .200 in the Majors, I say that they are below “The Mathis Line,” and so should you. Mario Mendoza deserves to be let off the hook.

Los Angeles Angels Prospect Report - May 10

• Salt Lake: Jeremy Moore (.288) didn't get the call after Vernon Wells strained his oblique muscle, but he showed the Angels after a solid 2010 campaign in Double-A, an eye opening performance in the AFL and a solid start to the 2011 season with the Bees that he could be next in line for a promotion. Moore homered in game one of the doubleheader yesterday and then went on to go 2 for 4 in game two with a triple and RBI. Chris Pettit had a couple knocks and two RBI's in the second game also. Kevin Jepsen  (4.76) had his best relief outing to date with the Bees, pitching two scoreless/hitless innings, while striking out three. Jeremy Berg pitched two scoreless inning in relief, striking out one. Michael Kohn  (4.05) blew his third save  opportunity by giving up three unearned runs on two hits and two walks. Jason Bulger faced and retired one batter to earn the win in the second game of the doubleheader.

• Arkansas: Mike Trout had a solid game and continues to impress in Double-A this season. Trout clubbed his sixth home run, singled and also walked in Monday's contest. Trout possesses a solid .313/.407/.594 line in 26 games. He's also whacked three doubles, three triples and has driven in 16 runs, while swiping five stolen bases. Trout's OPS is a 10th-best 1.001 in the Texas League. (Oh and Trout just led off the game on Tuesday with a double, scoring the game's first run. Dillon Baird (.188)  hit his first home run since being promoted to Arkansas and Jay Brossman (.296) hit his second. Garrett Richards (5.00) walked four and gave up four runs over 6 2/3 innings.

• Inland Empire: The California League had the day off. 

• Cedar Rapids:  Donn Roach (2.21) who the Angels drafted in the third round last year, is looking good out of relief for the Kernels. Roach struck out three, didn't allow a walk over three scoreless innings. on Monday. Roach has a 20:3 strikeout to walk ratio and a solid 2.25 GB/FB ratio. The Kernels lost the game 6-5 to the Beloit club. 

Vernon Wells to the DL: The Case For The Kids

(Salt Lake Bees OF, Jeremy Moore)

By David Saltzer, AngelsWin.com Senior Writer

During the 4th inning of Monday night's game (5/9/11), Vernon Wells had to be helped off the field as he ran out a grounder to first base. With the announcement that Wells would be going onto the 15-day disabled list with a right groin injury, the Angels will need to promote someone to fill out the roster. The question now becomes: who should the Angels promote?

Most likely, the Angels will recall Reggie Willits. However, they shouldn't be so quick to recall him. Instead they should use this opportunity to look towards the future and either give Tyson Auer or Jeremy Moore their first taste of the Major Leagues.

Since his demotion, Reggie Willits has not been impressive. His paltry .200/.304/.250 line isn't going to spark the Angels' offense. He has yet to steal a base in 12 games. By now the Angels know what he will bring to the table--as does the rest of the American League--and it isn't much.

So, the Angels should view this injury to Vernon Wells as a chance to look towards their future. With the vast majority of Wells' ABs going to go to Abreu or Amarista in LF, the Angels should consider giving Jeremy Moore or Tyson Auer a cup of coffee in the Major Leagues. Both have far more long-term value than Willits, and both still have potential upside as prospects.

In Jeremy Moore, the Angels could get a bat off the bench who can hit for some power and can run the bases with some speed. He can also play all three outfield positions.

In our annual Top-50 Prospect List for the 2011 season, AngelsWin.com ranked Moore as the 13th best prospect in the system overall and said: "Last year was the year it all came together for Jeremy Moore. For years he’s been a “raw” 5-tool talent. But last year, he became refined. Not only did Moore post a solid season for Double-A Arkansas, he followed it up with an impressive AFL performance, posting a .343/.395/.543 line with 2 HRs and 8 SBs in 70 ABs." By calling Moore up to the Majors, they can have their most senior evaluators determine Moore's full value and make long-term decisions such as whether or not to trade him, develop him as a full-time starter, or if he projects to a bench role.

If the Angels believe that Moore's development would best be served by playing everyday in Triple-A, they could get a look at their future backup OFer. Going into the 2011 season, AngelsWin.com ranked Auer as the 24th best prospect in the system and said the following about him "With plus speed and plus defense, Auer projects to be at least a capable 4th outfielder and solid defensive replacement. But, at the same time, he could carve out even more of a niche for him, and, if an opportunity arises, could force his way into more playing time."

One definition for "luck" is that luck occurs when hard work meets an opportunity. The Angels should recognize that the injury to Wells is an opportunity to see if all the hard work that Moore and Auer have put in over the years in the Minors will pay off in the Majors. With limited playing time, neither Moore or Auer will do substantially worse than Willits will do. Yet each brings unique skills that Willits does not, and each has the potential to earn a spot onto future Angels' ball clubs.

What do you think Angels fans? Sound off in our poll here to vote for whom you think the Angels should promote to fill Vernon Wells' roster spot.

Edit: The LA Times' Mike DiGiovanna is now reporting that the Angels have indeed recalled outfielder Reggie Willits to take Vernon Wells' roster spot.

AngelsWin.com's Hot Prospect List May 9th, 2011

Hot Prospects May 9th, 2011
By David Saltzer, AngelsWin.com Senior Writer

Talk about a rough week for the minor league teams! While the parent club went 4-3 against Boston and Cleveland, the Minor League clubs combined to go just 10-16. Two clubs, the Triple-A Bees and the Single-A IE 66ers both went 1-6 for the week. The Double-A Travelers went 3-3 and had a game postponed due to rain (yes, the rain still continues to be a factor in the Midwest). Finally, the Single-A Kernels provided the only bright spot on the farm by going 5-2 on the week. All-in-all, it was another tough week for the system.

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Halos go for Wrestling Mask Guiness World Record

ANAHEIM, CA - On Tuesday May 10th, the Angels will attempt to break the Guinness World Record for the “largest gathering of people wearing costume masks”. All fans in attendance when the Angels play the White Sox this Tuesday at 7:05 PM will receive a complimentary Angels Wrestling Mask courtesy of Cacique U.S.A.

“We are constantly looking for ways to connect and engage with our great fan base,” Vice-President of Sales & Marketing, Robert Alvarado said. “Setting another world record to compliment lasts seasons blanket event will be a unique and memorable experience for our fans, and another memory during our 50th anniversary.”

During the game, an anticipated sellout crowd of over 40,000 will be prompted to wear their red Angels wrestling masks for ten consecutive minutes. After completion of the ten minutes, a Guinness World Records Adjudicator will officially certify the new record. Later in the game, Guinness World Records will hold a short ceremony to recognize the record breaking attempt.

This is the second Guinness World Record attempted by the Angels. The first was for the “largest gathering of people wearing blankets” in 2010. The current record for the largest gathering of people wearing costume masks is 250.

-- For more information, log on to www.angels.com --

Angels Thumbs Up & Thumbs Down (Indians Series)

By Jeff Flinn - AngelsWin.com Contributor

Thumbs Up

That was a great series between two solid teams, that of course produced three 1-run games.

*The starting pitching continues to be solid. The starters allowed just 7 runs in 20 2/3 innings. Chatwood may have had the best game of his young career up here, allowing just 2 hits in 8 innings and looking solid in the 8th inning. Weaver didn't have his usually fastball placement, but mucked through 6 innings and kept it close. Haren pitched great, striking out 10 over 6 2/3 innings and boasts a 1.87 ERA with 56 strikeouts in 57 2/3 innings and just eight walks to go with his four wins. The 30-year-old has recorded double-digit wins, 200 innings and 200 strikeouts each of the last three seasons. His next outing is scheduled for Saturday against the Rangers. In 13 career starts against Texas, Haren is 4-6 with a 3.60 ERA.

*Walden blew away Santana on Sunday, in a great confrontation, to close the game. Thompson NEEDS to be a setup man.    His ERA is now 1.89. Downs now has pitched 7 1/3 innings and allowed 3 hits, 2 BBs, and no runs, exactly what he was signed for to do. Takahashi finally had a solid appearance on Saturday night.

*The hitting finally is showing some RISP life, going 8-26 with RISP in the series and is 18-55 since Wednesday. Some of the players are finally getting away from trying to pull every pitch. Aybar has an .833 OPS, never thought I'd see that.   He is now hitting .356, and had the game changing 2-run double in the 8th inning on Sunday. Izturis has become a doubles machine, with 11 already. Callaspo continues to come out of the slump he was in, and also had a clutch 2-run double to the opposite field on Sunday. Kendrick went 6-12, and his OPS is back up to .911. Wells did most of the hitting on Saturday night against a solid rookie.

*Defensively, the Halos made zero errors in the 3 games, punctuated by several great plays on Friday night. Even Amarista made a great play in LF, despite not playing there for 3 years. They have committed just 16 errors in 35 games so far, NIGHT and DAY difference from 2010. 

Note: Kazmir is being looked to for potentially 100 pitches tomorrow in an extended ST game in Arizona.  That presents an interesting dilemma, given Chatwood's performance thus far.

Thumbs Down

*Really only Weaver's fastball command on Saturday night, his lack of a strikeout pitch and the bullpen over the last two innings on Sunday were worthy of thumbs down.  But two of the hits given up by Rodney were of the infield variety. Walden gave up one hard hit double and one well placed double, but as mentioned above, took care of Santana to close out the game.

Note: Morales is getting a 2nd opinion on his ankle. This is getting uglier by the week.

What happened to the 2009 Angels offense?

By Andre Castillo - AngelsWin.com Feature Writer

In 2009, the Angels were the second best offense in the majors, finishing second in total runs scored with 883. This was topped only by the Yankees, who scored 915 runs that year.

In 2010 the Angels offense appeared to fall off a cliff. That year the Angels scored only 681 runs, good for just 19th in the majors. This year, the Angels are better, 11th in the majors with 143 runs, but still far off the blazing pace they set in 2009.

While we know some individuals are no longer performing, such as an injured Kendrys Morales, a departed Chone Figgins, and a declining Bobby Abreu, I wanted to stop and take a look at the team as a whole. In 2009 we heard a lot of talk about a new, more patient Angels approach at the plate. What happened to this team plate discipline? Did it disappear? Did it ever exist?

Read more »

Angels Thumbs Up & Thumbs Down (Boston Series)

By Jeff Flinn - AngelsWin.com Contributor

Thumbs Up

*The starting pitching continues to be solid. The starters allowed just seven runs in the four game series in Boston. Weaver and Haren had a hiccup, but still kept the team in the game. Santana was dominant until the rain arrived. Joel Pineiro pitched 5 2/3 innings of shutout baseball.

*The bullpen had continued good work from Thompson, who now needs to be sharing the setup roles with Rodney and Downs. Bell was a standout on Wednesday night/Thursday morning with four shutout innings, and made it look pretty easy, save for Youkilis' double in the 12th.

*The hitting finally had a clutch late inning in the 13th inning on early Thursday morning. Props to Bourjos and Aybar for prolonging the 13th inning, and of course to Abreu for the clutch hit this team has been needing so badly. The hitting seemed to feed off of that victory, as they hammered Lackey to cover the next game. Will that 13 inning win be the catalyst for the offense?  Conger continues to hit the ball well. He's now hitting over 100 pts. higher than Mathis. Vernon Wells FINALLY had a clutch hit with the 2-run HR in the marathon game on Wednesday. I hope that finally gets him going. Aybar is now hitting over .340.

*Defensively, Aybar was the star with two great throws in the marathon game to keep it going.

Thumbs Down

*The front end of the bullpen, save for Bell, has issues. K-Rod 2.0 did pitch 2 scoreless innings in the 11-0 win, but looked terrible earlier in the series and does struggle to get any solid stretch of games going. Takahashi is an enigma right now. I try to remind myself that Darren Oliver started his first season here the same way, and then from the 2007 ASB on was a clutch pitcher for 2 1/2 years.

*The back end of the bullpen, save for Thompson, had some issues. Rodney had another hiccup in the 8th inning of the marathon game. It would be nice if he could string a bunch of solid outings together. Walden had his first bad outing in the marathon game, as the Red Sox hit 3 balls hard. For whatever reason, he threw off speed stuff in 2 strike counts. TRUST YOUR STUFF JORDAN. Use the heat with 2 strikes!

Los Angeles Angels Prospect Report - May 5

• Salt Lake: The journeyman minor leaguer 3B Jeff Baisley (.390) went 2-for-4 and hit his eight home run on the season. Speaking of journeymen, Brian Lawrence the ex San Diego Padres starter went six innings giving up just one run while striking out two along the way. Michael Kohn struck out two in a scoreless frame.

• Arkansas:As mentioned in yesterday's report, Mike Trout had another three-hit day, though he was caught stealing and picked off the basepaths. Garrett Richards had a tough go at it, giving up six runs in six innings.

• Inland Empire: Jon Hellweg cost the 66'ers the game in the 13th inning, walking two and giving up two hits. Jean Segura tripled, but that was his only hit in seven at bats. Kole Calhoun  (.296) whacked three hits on the night.

• Cedar Rapids:  Travis Witherspoon had four hits in seven at bats, while stealing his 15th bad on the young season. Kernels pitchers struck out 16 and walked just four, with Caleb Graham striking out five in three scoreless innings to get the win.

Los Angeles Angels Prospect Report - May 4

• Salt Lake: Another unspectacular game for the Bees as they were shutout on three singles. Don't expect Kevin Jepsen back in the Angels' bullpen anytime soon. Jepsen had another poor relief appearance as he allowed two runs on three hits to take the loss. Jepsen has a 6.23 ERA thus far in AAA.

• Arkansas: Wait, we have some Mike Trout news!!! The Travelers actually got a game in. Trout  (.313) who came into the contest in an 0 for 8 slump whacked three hits, scored twice, while stealing his fourth base on the night. Trout then went on to club three more hits in an early game on Wednesday, though he took a page off the Angels' baserunning and was picked off 2nd base and caught stealing in the same contest. (More on Wednesday game tomorrow, including a Garret Richards update.) Robert Fish (1.86) in Tuesday's contest pitched an inning and 2/3 of scoreless relief, fanning four.

• Inland Empire: The star from the 66'ers Jean Segura went 1 for 5, but Rian Kiniry was the talk of the game as he singled, tripled and homered helping the 66ers to an 11-2 victory.  Haerther, Bass and Phillips each had two hits a piece and the Japanese catcher Ikko Sumi and infielder Steve Irvine each drove in three runs a piece. The starting pitcher Ariel Pena allowed one run in six innings, striking out six, though he did walk four batters.

• Cedar Rapids: Travis Witherspoon had two knocks and stole his 14th base out of 16  attempts. The Angels' 2010 fourth-round pick Max Russell (3.48) hurled seven shutout innings, allowing just two hits, a walk, while striking out five batters.