Halos Heaven

Read My Lips, No New Free-Agents!!!

2009-11-20T18:43:58Z

The void that will be created with the departures of John Lackey, Chone Figgins, Darren Oliver, and Vladimir Guerrero will be felt long after they sign new contracts with their new teams. Lackey is a true number one Ace, Figgins is a true lead off hitter and has great defensive skills, Oliver isn't only a lefty specialist, and Vladimir was the face of the franchise. But like Tony Reagins said on The Drive yesterday, you have to take the emotion out of the business decisions.

We Will Win, With What We Got or Lightning Strikes Twice.

Last year the Halosphere was bent because Mark Teixeira took his U-Haul to New York for a big payday. Some of the Fan Faithful believed in the unproven Kendry Morales. And that investment paid in dividends. Could Brandon Wood produce similarly to Morales? Wood has nothing left to prove in minors. Given an opportunity of having regular at bats and every day play, perhaps he could put together a good season. And if his defense isn't as great as we were once led to believe or his offense never gets started, he can always be platooned with super-utility player Maicer Izturis.

What about Sean O'Sullivan, given a chance to shine could he become the John Lackey of 2002? And with a rotation of Weaver, Santana, Saunders, Kazmir, couldn't the Angels survive with a pitcher like O'Sullivan or Matt Palmer, Trevor Bell, Dustin Moseley or maybe even Anthony Ortega? Those 5 guys gave us 22 wins last year.

With Vladimir Guerrero gone, our Designated Hitter position becomes a platoon position. It allows Bobby Abreu to take a day or two off, from the field. Giving playing time to Gary Matthews Jr. or Reggie Willits. And when days Abreu is in the outfield, Napoli could share time at DH keeping his bat in the line up, which when hot is a nice bat to have.

But why scrimp in save in 2010?

According to MLBTradeRumors, 2011 will see nearly 30 pitchers who will be available to file for Free Agency. Some of the names available in 2011 will be Josh Beckett, Roy Halladay, Cliff Lee, and Ted Lilly. Let alone All-Star catcher Joe Mauer and Albert Pujols.

What better way to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim's existence than to break the bank for a Lee or Halladay and a Mauer or a Pujols.

The Angels can Win With What We Got.

ANGELS ALL TIME JERSEY ROSTER - #50

2007-02-13T09:04:36Z

Angels Uniform #50

1972 - 94: Angel coach Jimmie Reese

This is a strange case. Longtime Angels coach Jimmie Reese had his jersey number posthumously retired by the Angels. Prior to his hiring, no Angel player or Manager had ever worn #50.

TRIVIA TIME: Jimmie Reese is not the only person in baseball history with a retired jersey # that no player ever wore in their club's history. Name the other four (the answer is in the comments section).

John Sickels' Initial Angels Prospect List

2009-11-20T01:03:49Z

John Sickels' Initial Angels Prospect List

His preliminary grades should be up by tomorrow afternoon. I respect the breadth of his work - no other single person seems to wrap his head around all thirty organizations like he can.

Arte Can't Afford Both Figgy and Lackey

2009-11-19T19:17:43Z

Blogger Bill Shaikin managed to get a few comments from Arte Moreno on his "Fabulous Forum" blog:

LINK - to - BLOG

Some Highlights:

Can only afford one of John Lackey and Chone Figgins
Nope to Matt Holliday
Maybe to Jason Bay
Vladimir Guerrero? Loves Vlad, no answer yet.
Five and Six Year contracts are for suckahs!

Justin Speier - This Day in Angels Blogging History

2009-11-19T19:13:14Z

More photos » by Chris Carlson - AP

3 months ago: Los Angeles Angels relief pitcher Justin Speier, right, reacts after giving up a solo home run to Texas Rangers' Taylor Teagarden during the fifth inning of a baseball game in Anaheim, Calif., Friday, Aug. 7, 2009. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson)

Browse more photos »

November 19, 2006, 3 years ago today, the Angels signed former Toronto Blue Jay pitcher Justin Speier as a free agent. It was a Bill Stoneman signing.

The 4-year deal (yes we will be paying him next season) was a precursor to trading Scot Shields and a prospect to the Atlanta Braves for Andruw Jones - whoops wait a minute, was that my analysis? Oh dear. And then in the comments, Welch says "no way" in the comments and I say "way" and am actually persuasive about it.

Funny thing - nobody in the comments was upset about this signing, especially relative to the vitriol that Speier managed to "just inspire" among Angels fans.

Read the NOVEMBER 19,2006 Halos Heaven Post.

Shore up the Pen

2009-11-19T18:42:09Z

Alright, so I know most of the discussion so far about the offseason has involved our free agents (John Lackey, Chone Figgins, Vladimir Guerrero, and Darren Oliver), big hitting free agents (Jason Bay & Matt Holliday), and trades (anyone remember a discussion about Curtis Granderson?), but there has not been much discussion about other free agents on the market which could really help our team.

What REALLY concerns me is the bullpen. It was torture last year.

Outside of Oliver and Matt Palmer, we had no real standouts. I believe Kevin Jepsen will one day develop into a great reliever, but he’s not a finished product yet. Jason Bulger remains a mystery, Jose Arredondo’s magic of 2008 disappeared, and Brian Fuentes was far from perfect (7 blown saves during the season and 1 in the ALCS). While Fuentes is a decent closer, he’s really not the guy I want on the mound when the game is on the line.

What the Angels had in Scot Shields and Francisco Rodriguez the previous few years was golden, shortening the game to 7-innings. Our greatest weakness this season was our bullpen. We need to bring it back to the strength it was in the past. Looking over the relievers out on the free agent market, these are the ones who seem to have some value:

Right Handers: Fernando Rodney, Rafael Soriano, Jose Valverde, Rafael Betancourt, Kiko Calero, LeTroy Hawkins, Brandon Lyon

Left Handers: Mike Gonzales & Scott Eyre

Here’s MLB.coms list

First, I’m glad Scot Shields will be back next season and hopefully he’ll be hungry to go out there and be his dominant self again. Darren Oliver will hopefully re-up with us again. Assuming we get those two back, who else should we go after?

My first choice is Rafael Soriano, and one writer is already predicting we’ll land him. Throws hard and strikes a lot of guys out (oddly, I remember him most for getting hit in the head by a line drive off Vlad’s bat in 2006).

Kiko Calero put up good numbers last year and seems to be a bit under-the-radar, so he probably could be had pretty cheap. Wouldn’t be a bad addition in my opinion.

Mike Gonzalez also intrigues me, I just don’t know how I’d feel about him joining the team. Great strikeout guy, but wild and blew 7 saves last year as well (not to mention he’s injury prone).

Some off-the-radar guy like Escobar for the pen on the cheap?

So what do you guys think? How do we shore up the pen?

Derek Lowe for Gary Matthews Jr. Trade?

2009-11-19T08:16:13Z

More photos » by Kathy Willens - AP

DEREK LOWE: Ugly as John Lackey, sweats like Kevin Appier ... what is not to like (AP Photo/Kathy Willens)

Browse more photos »

A National League baseball team known as the Atlanta Braves are looking to dump pitcher Derek Lowe and his $45 Million over the next three seasons, according to The Fanhouse Blog. The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim are looking to trade Gary Matthews Jr. and $23 Million over the next 2 seasons.

If the Angels fail to re-sign John Lackey, could this deal be a backup plan for a veteran starting pitcher to round out our rotation and jettison the Matthews abomination of a contract from the Big A once and for all?

If the Angels fail to re-sign their beloved Chone Figgins, could Lowe + salary relief be packaged in a trade to the Detroit Tigers for, ummmm, maybe Curtis Granderson?

ANGELS ALL TIME JERSEY ROSTER - #51

2007-02-14T07:45:20Z

Angels Uniform #51

1974: Orlando Pena
1986: Terry Forster
2002: Mickey Callaway
2003: Mickey Callaway and Chris Bootcheck
2005: Zach Sorensen
2007 - 09: Joe Saunders

ANGELS ALL TIME JERSEY ROSTER - #52

2007-02-16T03:22:41Z

Angels Uniform #52 ... Highest Jersey # on the 1974 and '76 Angels

1974: Don Kirkwood
1976: Gary Wheelock
1986: Willie Fraser
1995, 96: Jim Abbott
1999: Mike Magnante
2001, 03: Bart Miadich
2004: Matt Hensley
2007 - 09: Jason Bulger

Meet A Blogger: "IHeartHalos"

2009-11-17T20:01:01Z

View full size photo »

Believe it or not, Halos Heaven isn't the only place to get Angels news. There are fans that are so passionate about the Angels that they've created their own space on the internet in order to voice their passion. Each has their own particular spin on stories, a history to share, and other relevant ways to talk about the team.

"I'm just a guy who loves his daughter and wife, baseball, collecting baseball cards and trying to bring them all together whenever I can" is the concept behind "ihearthalos", an Angels blog written by Ryan H. since the beginning of 2009. When you visit "ihearthalos", you get a unique point of view of an Angels fan through baseball cards. "I started this blog, mainly out of my love for baseball cards. Over the last few years there has been a proliferation of baseball card related blogs, but none that ever dealt with my favorite team. After kicking around the idea for a while I decided to give it a shot. I've always been a little annoyed at what seemed like other fans snubbing the Angels, so it seemed like a great way to spread the word of the Halos and also discuss my hobby. On top of that, I was an English major in need of a creative outlet. I became hooked when I started to discover other Angels fans out there who shared my love of cards and the Angels."

Regarding the future of blogging and the effects of the internet on the baseball card hobby, Ryan added, "I think blogs are definitely becoming the voice for the current generation of fans. As a kid I loved waking up and going through the box scores every morning, but that practice has essentially become obsolete, since you can get the information in real time on the internet, watch video highlights and read a write up within minutes. It will be interesting to see if going forward, the blogging world is able to produce voices that large numbers of readers look to as their source for information. While Bill Simmons seems to be the ultimate success story in this realm, I'm not sure how many more writers will see his type of explosive popularity." The internet has also had a big effect on the baseball card hobby, "The internet has in many ways revolutionized collecting. As a kid, you were limited to one or two baseball card shops in your town and any friends who also collected. Today, there are numerous online card sites and with baseball card blogging, I have found numerous trade partners."

Although his website isn't the typical Angels blog, Ryan seems like a typical fan (I mean that in a good way). Becoming a fan during "the fateful year of 1986", the Texas native and his family would spend 2 weeks out of each summer visiting his grandparents in Orange County. "My grandpa first introduced me to the Angels when he took me to a couple of games against the Mariners in mid August of 1986. In the first game of the series, Jack Howell hit a walk-off homerun in the 11th and I was hooked. I spent the entire game asking my grandpa questions. Why are they booing our catcher when he comes up to bat? Ahhh, the ever clever ‘Booooone' chant. By the middle of the game I couldn't wait for Bob Boone to come up to bat so I could join in. Plus it was the summer of Wally World, which was a phenomenon that any baseball loving boy had to be swept up by." In 1990, Ryan's family moved from Texas back to California. 1990 was also the season Luis Polonia was traded to the Angels from the New York Yankees. "As we all know, those early 90's teams were sometimes a bit rough to root for, but Luis Polonia caught my attention right away and I just loved watching him play the game. This was a hugely exciting time for me as a baseball fan, because I was finally able to regularly attend games and Luis was the guy who gained much of my attention. After he left as a free agent, I still followed his career, but it wasn't the same."

Ryan said he was a pretty big Tim Salmon fan, but his favorite player became Garret Anderson, "Salmon and Edmonds were great, but something about Garret just seemed cool to me. He was so smooth with everything he did and I just liked his style. By 2002, he was fully entrenched in my heart and his big hit in game 6 did nothing to quell that." And as a fan of Halos Heaven, Ryan added, "I'd be remiss if I didn't mention that if Garret wasn't so lazy, we would have swept the Giants in 4."

In his "real life", Ryan is an English teacher who is "attempting to mold young minds and doing my best not to lose my own." Married, with a daughter born in 2006, Ryan said, "My wife was the furthest thing from a baseball fan when we met. She grew up in a family of women who spent exactly zero seconds thinking about sports. Within a month of us dating, I had her sitting up in the View Level watching the Angels and she slowly started coming around." Ryan and his wife were able to attend Game One of the ALDS this year against the Red Sox, "We sat out in left field and she loved every minute of it. She was pounding away on her thunderstix in the ears of the somewhat uptight couple in front of us and went crazy for Torii's homerun. He was already one of her favorite players, so that made it all the sweeter."

"Recently, I've been spending less time blogging as the demands of work and the family have slowed me down, but during the height of my blogging this year, I normally spent an hour to two hours a day working on posts, scanning cards, and getting them loaded onto photobucket. As I go forward, I'm hoping to post a few times a week and hopefully streamline my process. Even when I'm not as active with my blogging, I find myself spending downtime creating lists of my favorite Angels or creating my own dream lineup. So the process is sort of ongoing in my head, with a hope to get into print eventually." Ryan's site is filled with information on Angel player cards, many accompanied by scans of the actual card. "I've always been a bit of a perfectionist, so it was important for me to provide images and write posts that people might find unique."

As a collector since the mid-80's, Ryan said collecting became an obsession until around 1987 when girls and other activities became more of a priority. Some of Ryan's favorite cards include the 1972 Topps Billy Cowan, 1971 Topps Jim Fregosi and the 1975 Topps Nolan Ryan, but he singled out the 1993 Upper Deck Tim Salmon Rookie Checklist card. "Picking a favorite card is nearly impossible for me. That being said, I absolutely love the 1993 Upper Deck Tim Salmon card. The card features an image of Salmon with the Big A in the background and an orange sky. One of the great images of an Angel card." When asked about sets, Ryan said he'd always been fascinated by the 1975 Topps set because of the gaudy color combinations and as a collector in the early 90's, he was impressed by the early Upper Deck sets. The 1956 Topps set would cause Ryan to spend "an inordinate amount of time staring at these cards in glass cases at different card shops and shows."

During the 1990's, card manufacturers began releasing a huge variety of cards to quench collectors' thirst in a booming market, but many collectors were involved in the hobby mainly for investment purposes. As the value of cards rose, the card companies released more and more cards. "Card collecting has changed immensely over the years. I first left collecting around the time when the market was becoming flooded with new releases from a myriad of companies. It was all too much to figure out and was quickly becoming a drain to my limited funds. What I like about collecting today is that while there are still a

number of sets, you can find a niche within today's baseball card market. I still enjoy collecting the basic Topps flagship release each year, but I also like retro themed sets like Topps Allen and Ginter". Ryan says he collects cards because of his love of baseball, not in the value some cards hold. "I have almost no interest in the monetary value of my cards. As a kid I bought into the dream that I would one day sell my collection to pay for college, as well as my mansion and quite possibly a Lamborghini. When I returned to collecting, I really wanted to get back to what I loved about the hobby and began to focus on what made me happy. I've added thousands of more cards to my Angels collection which is where my focus lies almost entirely. I also enjoy building sets, old and new. I'm well aware that I spend more money than I could ever hope to make through selling my collection, but I have no interest in selling it. At this point, the only cards I sell are ones I get out of boxes that are not Angel cards."

"Within today's card market, there are high-end releases that I would never touch, but also mid-range and even a few cheaper sets that are enjoyable to collect. Most people who buy the high-end, expensive products do so in hopes of profit, but it's a fairly soft market. So I'm often able to pick up high profile Angel cards for a tenth of the price that the original buyer purchased the pack for. That being said, it can be a bit overwhelming when someone jumps back into collecting, so doing a little research is definitely necessary."

(A huge thanks to Ryan for taking the time to answer my questions and providing the pictures of the cards. Be sure to visit I Heart Halos. If you have an Angels blog or know of one you'd like to see featured, please send me an email: wihalofan at gmail.com)

ANGELS ALL TIME JERSEY ROSTER - #53

2007-02-16T08:38:14Z

Angels Uniform #53 ... a Prime Number

1993: Chris Turner
1994 - 96: Manager Marcel Lachemann
2000: Brett Hinchliffe
2002 - 06: Brendan Donnelly
2008: Darren O`Day
2009: Bobby Abreu

Tony Reagins Speaks, Media Hints at Angels Front Office Tension

2009-11-17T07:03:11Z

More photos » by M. Spencer Green - AP

Del Ninja (AP Photo/M. Spencer Green)

Browse more photos »

General Manager Tony Reagins commented on all the trade rumors out there in the LA TIMES - just like me and many here he said that a lot of these rumors don't make sense.

In a bitch-slap to Scott Boras, the Angels GM specifically said the Angels are not pursuing Boras client Matt Holliday. Reagins said his priorities are RE-signing John Lackey and Chone Figgins and that Vladimir Guerrero and Darren Oliver are definitely on the team's radar as well.

Conclusion from these comments: Tony Reagins seems to understand that you don't blow up a 97-win team.

The Times' Mike DiGiovanna hinted at the tension surrounding the shakeup in the Angels front office when he noted that despite the current shakeups in management, payroll would not be affected.

Though the Angels are in the midst of a front-office reorganization that resulted in the loss of positions in the media relations and community relations department last week, Reagins doesn't expect the team's payroll -- about $113 million in 2008 -- to be reduced significantly.

Why would the Times bring up the team's on-field payroll in mentioning a shakeup involving a community affairs director and a media contact person whose combined salary is half of the major league minimum of a rookie player? Would it maybe be from an independent blog waking them up? Stay tuned.

Poll

Favorite Reagins

ANGELS ALL TIME JERSEY ROSTER - #54

2007-02-17T18:28:27Z

Angels Uniform #54

1995: Erik Bennett
2000, 03, 04: Derrick Turnbow
2005 - 09: Ervin Santana

Best Angels Prospect Performances, Going Back to 2005

2009-11-16T22:02:48Z

Below is a compilation of the Halos' best prospect performances going back to 2005. I give two run values for position players: the "+ bat" is how many more runs that prospect created over their league's average player according to a widely-used runs created formula. The "+ glove" is how many runs that player saved in the field according to Sean Smith's "TotalZone" defensive metric. For pitchers, I compare their runs allowed per game to the league average to generate the "runs saved" metric. Both pitchers and position players are then ranked by "WAR," or "Wins Above Replacement," which is an inclusive metric that incorporates each player's runs values with adjustments for playing time and position. Using the replacement-level concept for minor leaguers brings up all kinds of theoretical sabermetric questions, but I have my reasons for keeping the calculations as similar as I could to those used for major leaguers.

Lastly, keep in mind that WAR is a counting stat and minor leaguers play at least 10% fewer games than their major league counterparts, so a 3.9 WAR here is more impressive (for temporal reasons only) than a 3.9 WAR over a 162 game schedule.

30) Anthony Ortega, 2007, High A

7 wins, 11 losses. 163.1 IP, 4.02 ERA, 127 K / 68 BB. +13 runs saved, 3.9 WAR.

29) Mike Napoli, 2005, AA

.237/.372/.508 with 31 HR's and 12 SB's. +18 bat, 3.9 WAR

28) Freddy Sandoval, 2008, AAA

.335/.389/.514 with 15 HR's and 6 SB's. +18 bat, +3 glove, 4.0 WAR

27) Hainley Statia, 2006, A and High A

.298/.380/.382 with 1 HR and 24 SB's. +7 bat, +12 glove, 4.0 WAR

26) Peter Bourjos, 2009, AA

.281/.354/.423 with 6 HR's and 32 SB's. +7 bat, +15 glove, 4.1 WAR

25) Sean Rodriguez, 2008, AAA

.306/.397/.645 with 21 HR's and 4 SB's. +24 bat, +6 glove, 4.1 WAR

24) Brok Butcher, 2007, High A and AA

6 wins, 9 losses. 139.1 IP, 3.36 ERA, 77 K / 35 BB. +22 runs saved, 4.1 WAR

23) Trevor Bell, 2009, AA and AAA

7 wins, 7 losses. 140 IP, 2.70 ERA, 89 K/36 BB. +22 runs saved, 4.1 WAR

22) Sean Rodriguez, 2007, AA

.254/.345/.423 with 17 HR's and 15 SB's. +11 bat, +7 glove, 4.2 WAR

21) Matthew Brown, 2008, AAA

.320/.373/.580 with 21 HR's and 4 SB's. +25 bat, +6 glove, 4.3 WAR

20) Freddy Sandoval, 2007, AA

.305/.392/.468 with 11 HR's and 21 SB's. +21 bat, +3 glove, 4.4 WAR

19) Peter Bourjos, 2008, High A

.295/.326/.444 with 9 HR's and 50 SB's. +0 bat, +24 glove, 4.4 WAR

18) Trevor Reckling, 2009, High A and AA

9 wins, 9 losses. 154.1 IP, 2.68 ERA, 122 K/78 BB. +25 runs saved, 4.4 WAR

17) Nick Adenhart, 2006, A and High A

15 wins, 4 losses. 158.1 IP, 2.56 ERA, 145 K/42 BB. +27 runs saved, 4.5 WAR

16) Anthony Norman, 2008, High A

.257/.381/.468 with 15 HR's and 36 SB's. +13 bat, +22 glove, 4.5 WAR

15) Chris Pettit, 2006, Advanced Rookie Ball

.336/.445/.566 with 7 HR's and 5 SB's. +24 bat, +14 glove, 4.5 WAR

14) Reggie Willits, 2006, AAA

.327/.448/.426 with 3 HR's and 15 SB's. +12 bat, +19 glove, 4.6 WAR

13) Alexander Torres, 2009, AA

13 wins, 4 losses. 147.1 IP, 2.75 ERA, 149 SO/80 BB. +28 runs saved, 4.7 WAR

12) Roberto Lopez, 2008, Advanced Rookie Ball

.400/.480/.667 with 14 HR's and 3 SB's. +42 bat, -3 glove, 4.7 WAR

11) Joe Saunders, 2006, AAA

10 wins, 3 losses. 135 IP, 2.67 ERA, 97 K/38 BB. +31 runs saved, 4.8 WAR

10) Clayton Fuller, 2008, A

.260/.379/.425 with 9 HR's and 36 SB's. +20 bat, +9 glove, 4.8 WAR

9) Sean Rodriguez, 2009, AAA

.299/.4 00/.616 with 29 HR's and 9 SB's. +36 bat, -2 glove, 5.0 WAR

8) Chris Pettit, 2007, A and High A

.327/.411/.538 with 18 HR's and 30 SB's. +43 bat, -7 glove, 5.1 WAR

7) Howie Kendrick, 2006, AAA

.369/.408/.631 with 13 HR's and 11 SB's. +33 bat, +7 glove, 5.2 WAR

6) Carlos Ramirez, 2009, Advanced Rookie Ball

.389/.514/.695 with 10 HR's and 0 SB's. +36 bat, +8 glove, 5.3 WAR

5) Stephen Marek, 2006, A and High A

12 wins, 5 losses. 151.1 IP, 2.38 ERA, 133 K/ 37 BB. +36 runs saved, 5.3 WAR

4) Alexia Amarista, 2009, A

.319/.390/.468 with 4 HR's and 38 SB's. +18 bat, +20 glove, 5.8 WAR

3) Howie Kendrick, 2005, High A and AA

.367/.406/.614 with 19 HR's and 25 SB's. +44 bat, +8 glove, 6.7 WAR

2) Sean Rodriguez, 2006, High A

.307/.387/.557 with 29 HR's and 15 SB's. +35 bat, +13 glove, 7.4 WAR

1) Brandon Wood, 2005, High A

.321/.383/.672 with 43 HR's and 7 SB's. +54 bat, +8 glove, 8.7 WAR

ANGELS ALL TIME JERSEY ROSTER - #55

2007-02-18T08:30:52Z

Uniform #55 ... Highest jersey # on the 1968 Angels

1968: Jarvis Tatum (first Angel to wear a jersey numbered in the 50s)
1996: Robert Ellis and Kyle Abbott
1998: Reggie Williams
1999, 2001: Jeff DaVanon
2003: Kevin Appier and Jeff DaVanon
2004, 05: Jeff DaVanon
2009: Sean O`Sullivan

Dennis Kuhl Kicked Upstairs as Angels Media Sleeps

2009-11-15T08:24:28Z

None of the shufflings in the Angels front office that took place this week have anything to do with the on-field product. Tony Reagins is the sole shot caller answering to Arte Moreno and that is not at all in question.

But as fans of a team, we experience much more than the team. We take in the stadium experience, the television and radio broadcasts, the marketing and the merchandise, the commitment. When there is a change in duties at the top level of the club, the local media may brush it off, but we the fans stand to be affected.

The Angels' promotion of Dennis Kuhl to "Chairman" (as in Mao?) has all the hallmarks of a corporate kick upstairs, getting a beloved executive who is in over his head out of the way so the job can be done while everyone's good buddy can still draw a salary and show up at events that others cannot make.

The new Angels President is John Carpino. Like his old buddy Kuhl, Carpino is a longtime confidante of Arte. Our new team president is a guy who gets things done. If Arte is Don Corleone, Carpino is Robert Duvall. If Arte is Mister Burns, Carpino is Smithers. Who is Kuhl here? Lovable Fredo, innocuous Homer? It sure is hard to say when the local mainstream media cannot put the simplest facts together. Observe...

From Ben Bolch at the LA Times:

The Angels announced today that they have promoted two of their top front-office figures in a realignment of the organization, with President Dennis Kuhl taking over as chairman and John Carpino, senior vice president of sales and marketing, assuming Kuhl's spot as president.

Kuhl will oversee team administration and day-to-day operations as well as what the Angels termed "a renewed effort" in the areas of civic affairs and community outreach. Carpino will focus on business, sales, marketing and communications.

The OC Register had a similar - in fact an almost identical cut-and-paste rewrite of the Angels press release on this news item with a Bill Plunkett byline. His single unique observation was to play the meaning of this all down even more:

...moves that will probably mean very little to the day-to-day operation of the team...

But ... check out two other similar Angels items, both oddly buried at the end of college football coverage from newspaper writers who do not cover the Angels beat exclusively:

From TJ Simers at the LA Times:

... the Angels have now ...(let) public relations specialist Nancy Mazmanian go. They don't come more cooperative, professional, or stand as a better representative of what the Angels claim to be in the local community. It just doesn't make (cents) that Arte Moreno is that hard up for cash to dispatch someone who essentially lived doing everything she could to shine the brightest light on the Angels.

From Randy Youngman at the OC Register:

At least two employees in the communications department — Nancy Mazmanian, director of communications, and Matt Bennett, manager of community relations — received word this week that their jobs have been eliminated.

So is it f'n rocket science on my part to put two and two together here? Kuhl's "promotion" is actually a demotion in everything but title as he is given Matt Bennett's job of shaking hands behind the orange curtain and Nancy Mazmanian's job of pushing the Angels-brand beyond it.

Meanwhile Carpino has more to do than just introduce a red alternate jersey over the next six seasons. He will be revamping everything from KLAA's colon cleansing commercials to finding something besides the same two-dozen 5th inning baseball race cartoons for the jumbotron.

My prediction is that we should expect more partnerships between the Angels and A-List brands - that is Carpino's specialty. The radio station will get some nationally syndicated shows, the television broadcasts will get the occasional guest who has a national profile and, meanwhile, the pancake breakfasts around the OC will get the team Chairman, a good buddy of Arte's with all the time in the world to talk Angels baseball.

Is the local "big" media too stupid - or too timid and afraid for their precious access to their precious pressbox and jocksniffing locker room visits - to call afternoon foreclosure scam commercials what they really are ... lost opportunities when branding goes bad.

Pacquiao Vs. Cotto Tonight

2009-11-14T21:04:18Z

More photos » by Denis Poroy - AP

2 months ago: San Diego Padres CEO Jeff Moorad, right, holds up a jersey next to boxer Manny Pacquiao, left, before Pacquiao threw out the ceremonial first pitch before the start of a baseball game between the Arizona Diamondbacks and the San Diego Padres Tuesday, Sept. 15, 2009 in San Diego. (AP Photo/Denis Poroy)

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My prediction is a KO of Cotto by Man-Pac in the 4th round.

SBN has a great boxing blog, BAD LEFT HOOK in case you are interested or have money on the fight (which is a gray area of irony, people betting on events in which they are otherwise not interested).

UPDATE: TKO in the 12th. Just Pacquiao being Manny.

Poll

Who Will Win Tonight?

Pacquiao

108 votes

Cotto

21 votes

129 votes | Poll has closed

ANGELS ALL TIME JERSEY ROSTER - #56

2007-02-19T06:49:05Z

Angels Uniform #56 ... (highest Angels Jersey # in 1985 and 94)

1985: Gus Polidor (R.I.P.)
1993 - 95: Brian Anderson
1996: Jason Grimsley
1998 - 2005: Jarrod Washburn
2006: Jered Weaver
2009: Fernando Rodriguez

ANGELS ALL TIME JERSEY ROSTER - #57

2007-02-20T08:35:24Z

Angels Uniform #57 ...

2000: Ben Weber
2002 - 08: Francisco Rodriguez
2009: Daniel Davidson

Jack In The Box: Angels TV Advertiser is not Dog Food

2009-11-13T06:46:58Z

In case you missed this earlier this season, my dog, Aybar, was not too enthused about the Jack in the Box Mini Sirloin Burger despite its heavy advertisement on his favorite team's baseball games.

Poll

Halos Heaven

Read My Lips, No New Free-Agents!!!

ANGELS ALL TIME JERSEY ROSTER - #50

John Sickels' Initial Angels Prospect List

John Sickels' Initial Angels Prospect List

Arte Can't Afford Both Figgy and Lackey

Justin Speier - This Day in Angels Blogging History

Shore up the Pen

If you could have one reliever, who do you choose?

Derek Lowe for Gary Matthews Jr. Trade?

ANGELS ALL TIME JERSEY ROSTER - #51

ANGELS ALL TIME JERSEY ROSTER - #52

Meet A Blogger: "IHeartHalos"

ANGELS ALL TIME JERSEY ROSTER - #53

Tony Reagins Speaks, Media Hints at Angels Front Office Tension

Favorite Reagins

ANGELS ALL TIME JERSEY ROSTER - #54

Best Angels Prospect Performances, Going Back to 2005

ANGELS ALL TIME JERSEY ROSTER - #55

Dennis Kuhl Kicked Upstairs as Angels Media Sleeps

Pacquiao Vs. Cotto Tonight

Who Will Win Tonight?

Pacquiao

Cotto

ANGELS ALL TIME JERSEY ROSTER - #56

ANGELS ALL TIME JERSEY ROSTER - #57

Jack In The Box: Angels TV Advertiser is not Dog Food

Preferred Burger