Halos Heaven

Tim Donaghy Book a Warning to MLB

2009-11-09T19:00:34Z

More photos » by Joe Murphy - NBAE/Getty Images

This could be your MLB ump. (Photo by Joe Murphy/NBAE via Getty Images)

Tim Donaghy is about to be released from prison for his part on fixing NBA games. His book was supposed to be release later this month. But... (as DEADSPIN reports) money talks...

About 10 months ago, Donaghy shopped the book to Triumph Books, an imprint of Random House, according to a source close to Donaghy. Triumph, the source says, "put forth a huge effort to verify every statement in that book." (Triumph's editorial director, Tom Bast, declined to comment.) Two weeks ago, Blowing the Whistle was ready for printing; 60 Minutes had plans to interview Donaghy in conjunction with the book's publication. Then the NBA came calling. "They came after Random House and threatened a lawsuit," the source says, "and Random House just rolled and decided to not go with it. It's really that simple."

Here is lengthy collection of excerpts from Tim Donaghy's book about gambling and cheating as a referee in the NBA.

Referee Dick Bavetta told me Denver needed the win and that it would look bad for the staff and the league if the Nuggets missed the playoffs by one game. There were still a few games left on the schedule before the end of the season, and the standings could potentially change. But on that day in Oakland, Bavetta looked at me and casually stated, "Denver will win if they need the game. That's why I'm on it."

I was thinking, How is Denver going to win on the road in San Antonio? At the time, the Spurs were arguably the best team in the league. Bavetta answered my question before it was asked.

"Duncan will be on the bench with three fouls within the first five minutes of the game," he calmly stated.

As it turned out, Denver didn't need the win after all; they locked up a spot in the playoffs before they got to San Antonio. In a twist of fate, it was the Spurs that ended up needing the win to have a shot at the division title, and Bavetta generously accommodated. In our pregame meeting, he talked about how important the game was to San Antonio and how meaningless it was to Denver, and that San Antonio was going to get the benefit of the calls that night. Armed with this inside information, I called Jack Concannon before the game and told him to bet the Spurs.

To no surprise, we won big. San Antonio blew Denver out of the building that evening, winning by 26 points. When Jack called me the following morning, he expressed amazement at the way an NBA game could be manipulated. Sobering, yes; amazing, no. That's how the game is played in the National Basketball Association.

A critical fact about the Donaghy scandal is that he was caught by a federal investigation that was wiretapping criminal suspects on completely unrelated charges. There was no internal investigation of Donaghy.

The media loves sports advertising revenue and is downplaying the whole affair relative to the terrible legacy it leaves. Of course, the level of naieveté on the part of supposed sporting insiders is astounding. One gets called all sorts of names when one implies anything besides the belief that umps are dishonest or biased or anything but trying to be good blue collar workers at their jobs. Meanwhile Tim Donaghy openly mocks veteran announcers' analysis of his rigged game calling...

We had another variation of this gag simply referred to as the "first foul of the game" bet. While still in the locker room before tip-off, we would make a wager on which of us would call the game's first foul. That referee would either have to pay the ball boy or pick up the dinner tab for the other two referees. Sometimes, the ante would be $50 a guy. Like the technical foul bet, it was hilarious — only this time we were testing each others nerves to see who had the guts to hold out the longest before calling a personal foul. There were occasions when we would hold back for two or three minutes — an eternity in an NBA game — before blowing the whistle. It didn't matter if bodies were flying all over the place; no fouls were called because no one wanted to lose the bet.

We played this little game during the regular season and summer league. After a game, all three refs would gather around the VCR and watch a replay of the game. Early in the contest, the announcers would say, "Holy cow! They're really letting them play tonight!" (emphasis mine) If they only knew...

...but just look at hype surrounding the steroid scandal and understand that baseball's status as the national pastime will not let any coming potential disaster of umpires adversely affecting the game go as lightly as buying off a publisher. The entire NFL is brain-cancer-in-waiting-roiders, but instead Henry Waxman demands MLB run the congressional hearing gauntlet. Why baseball? No matter how popular other sports are, baseball is part of the American DNA and everyone has an opinion on how to fix it. When it is baseball, the sharks taste blood in the water and attack with ferocity.

Could baseball survive such an attack like Tim Donaghy revealed? Think of the damage two strikes brought in the 80s and 90s and the taint of steroids this decade and think - would the discovery of a Donaghy behind the plate be a nail in the coffin for the MLB?

Mike Scioscia: SBN Manager of the Year

2009-11-09T16:30:33Z

More photos » by Mark J. Terrill - AP

SBNations's 2009 AL Manager of the year. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

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The bloggers at SBNation have voted for the American League Manager of the year - and the skipper of the Angels, "The Soth," Mike Scioscia was elected AL Manager of the year. 2 bloggers per blog voted - our own RGHAN and WIHALOFAN took part in the voting to represent Halos Heaven on the final day of 2009 season.

Rk	Manager	Team	1st	2nd	3rd	Pts
1	Mike Scioscia	Los Angeles Angels	9	8	3	72
2	Ron Gardenhire	Minnesota Twins	9	5	1	61
3	Don Wakamatsu	Seattle Mariners	6	3	8	47
4	Joe Girardi	New York Yankees	2	4	2	24
5	Ron Washington	Texas Rangers	1	4	4	21
6	Terry Francona	Boston Red Sox	1	1	3	11
7	Jim Leyland	Detroit Tigers	-	2	4	10
8	Joe Maddon	Tampa Bay Rays	-	1	1	4
9	Ozzie Guillen	Chicago White Sox	-	-	1	1
10	Trey Hillman	Kansas City Royals	-	-	1	1

In the National League, Colorado Rockies Manager Jim Tracy took the honors. Sucks to be the Dodgers right now.

Free Agent Prediction Thread

2009-11-09T15:29:15Z

More photos » by Charles Rex Arbogast - AP

"If you sign with the Yankees, I'll come hunt you down and kill you"

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Let's see how good we are at predicting where this season's free agents will land. Predict who will sign where, for how much and for how long. I'll start....

John Lackey: Yankees, $18M, 4 years
Vladimir Guerrero: Angels, $7M, 2 years
Chone Figgins: White Sox, $11M, 4 years
Jason Bay: Yankees, $14M, 3 years
Matt Holliday: Red Sox, $17M, 4 years

Here's some others I didn't predict, but feel free:

Nick Johnson
Carlos Delgado
Miquel Tejada
Adrian Beltre
Garrett Anderson
Johny Damon
Xavier Nady (wouldn't be bad for the Halos if healthy)
Justin Duchscherer
Jon Garland
Rich Harden
Randy Wolf
Mike Gonzalez
Kevin Gregg
Fernando Rodney
Rafael Soriano
Jose Valverde
Billy Wagner

Trevor Reckling: Best Angels Prospect Performance #5

2009-11-09T10:27:43Z

5) Trevor Reckling, 20 - LH SP, High A, AA

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

The most heartening commentary I heard about the Angels' farm system all year was Eddie Bane repeating, "Reckling has the stuff to get major league hitters out right now." Sure it's his job to plug his players, but that doesn't mean he didn't believe it. Reckling debuted in AA while still a teenager, making him the youngest player in the Texas League for much of May and June. He looked the part: clearly raw, he struggled with his control to the point of walking 13% of the batters he faced while racking up high pitch counts; but the quality of his stuff would secure the timely punch-out or double play, allowing him to escape jams time and again. His K and groundball rates slipped slightly after his promotion, but given the growing gap between his age and competition's, I'm not worried. He's got a reputation for being an athletic, smart player, so most commentators expect his control to improve as he gains more consistency with his quick, whip-like delivery. Still, we're going to have to keep watching the walk rate, because that appears to be the last hurtle he must clear before claiming a middle-of-the-rotation job in the MLB.

Again, remember that this list is based entirely on statistical performance in 2009, and is not a traditional "best prospects" ranking.

ANGELS ALL TIME JERSEY ROSTER - #61

2007-02-25T08:40:03Z

Angels Uniform #61

1997: Mike Bovee

(currently the property of bullpen coach Steve Soliz)

Vladdy was great at his autograph signing

2009-11-09T01:25:16Z

There was a great turnout for the Vladimir Guerrero signing this past weekend. For all of you Vladdy haters that complain that he is all about the money or that he is not personal with Angels fans, you could not be more wrong.

Big Daddy Vladdy had no problem with hand shakes, high fives and fist bumps. But my greatest moment was when my 3 year old son "who adores Guerrero" went to get his autograph and he says hi. Also when we were done he gives him a five and waves and says goodbye.

This may not seem like much to some people, but a day later my son still is as excited as when it happened and talks about it to whoever will listen. It was a moment that my son will probably never forget. That is what this game is all about making memories that last forever.

ANGELS ALL TIME JERSEY ROSTER - #62

2007-02-26T08:32:32Z

Angels Uniform #62

1997: Matt Perisho
2001 - 09: Scot Shields

Should the Halos be interested in Rich Harden?

2009-11-08T18:51:50Z

According to Pat Sullivan of the Chicago Tribune, and reported at Rotoworld, pitcher Rich Harden is not expected back with the Chicago Cubs for 2010.

A John Lackey fallback option is what I'm thinking...

Of course we know of the injury history, but Harden was stellar in '08 (25 GS, 2.07 ERA, 181K/148IP).

In 2009, the 27 year old made 27 starts with a 4.09 ERA. I understand he has never pitched 200 innings. Only once has he made 30 starts. 23 HR's in 141 innings seems like a lot--it is, but perhaps pitching in Anaheim could help.

The .234 BAA looks nice too...

Is this a hell no, or only at a certain price and length? And, what is that price and length?

Trevor Bell: Best Angels Prospect Performance #6

2009-11-08T14:27:30Z

More photos » by Tony Dejak - AP

What does the future hold for Trevor Bell?

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6) Trevor Bell, 22 - RH SP, AA, AAA, Majors

7 wins, 7 losses. 140 IP, 2.70 ERA, 89 SO/35 BB. +23 runs saved

Bell had a fantastic 2009, resurrecting his prospect status by plowing through two minor league levels and making his MLB debut in August. We all saw him take his knocks with the big league club, of course, but that does not diminish the fact that the 22-year-old was stellar in AA and AAA. Now, the question is, what do we expect from him going forward? Bell's component ratios are eerily similar to Anthony Ortega's last year, Tommy Mendoza's this year, and what we would have expected from Sean O'Sullivan had he spent more time in the minors: a pedestrian K/IP rate, a low BB rate, moderate groundball tendencies, and the ability to consistently go 6+ innings per start. That's the definition of a back-of-the-rotation starter in the MLB, and a major storyline for the Halos in upcoming seasons is which one of those guys is going to claim that role. If I had to guess, I'd say Bell spends a few years bouncing between Salt Lake and Anaheim as a spot starter before settling in as quality reliever with the big league club. He's seen success in that role before, and it might allow his solid fastball/curve combo to play up that much more.

I'll continue posting the top performances through next week. Again, remember that this list is based entirely on statistical performance in 2009, and is not a traditional "best prospects" ranking.

Bartolo Colon: This Day in Angels Blogging History

2009-11-08T08:15:12Z

Four years ago today, Angels pitcher Bartolo Colon was announced as the winner of the 2005 American League Cy Young Award. Read our ORIGINAL REPORT complete with terrible photoshopping.

Peter Bourjos: Angels Best Prospect Performance #7

2009-11-07T14:07:15Z

7) Peter Bourjos, 22 - CF, AA

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

Like last year, Bourjos' bat tailed off in the second half. Turns out, it was injury related: he underwent surgery last month to clean up his wrist, which had been bothering him since June. Once healthy and in Salt Lake, it would not surprise me at all to see him return to his first half, ~.800+ OPS ways. Given Bourjos' power potential and the PCL's generous hitting environment, we may see some more homeruns as well. Looking further out, I think it's likely his early career mirrors Erick Aybar's, where he spends a good chunk of time as an under-appreciated backup on the mlb club, quietly contributing outstanding defense and speed, while steadily improving with the bat to the point where he gets leadoff consideration.

I'll continue posting the top performances through next week. Again, remember that this list is based entirely on statistical performance in 2009, and is not a traditional "best prospects" ranking.

ANGELS ALL TIME JERSEY ROSTER - #63

2007-02-27T10:28:56Z

Angels Uniform #63 ... Highest Angel Jersey # in 1984 and '86...

1984: Stew Cliburn (First Angel to wear a jersey numbered in the 60s)
1986: T.R. Bryden
1998 - 2000: Bengie Molina
2003 - 2006: Kevin Gregg
2007 - 09: Rich Thompson

Bill Bavasi: This Day in Angels Blogging History

2009-11-07T09:02:13Z

Awesome that Tony Reagins' 3-year extension with the Angels arrives on the 6th anniversary of Bill Bavasi being hired to destroy the Seattle Mariners.

And what did I have to say about the hiring of our ex-GM by our division rivals then, on my old blog?

Read it and weep, I NAILED IT WITH A BLOGHAMMER!

Angels Sign GM Tony Reagins To Extension

2009-11-06T22:24:55Z

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From the official Angels press release:

ANAHEIM, CA - The 2009 A.L. West Division champion Angels announced Friday that General Manager Tony Reagins has received a long-term contract extension. Reagins became the 10th General Manager in Club history when he signed an initial three-year contract on October 16, 2007. Per club policy, no terms of the agreement will be released.

Reagins, 42, has spent 18 seasons in the Angels organization. Prior to his promotion to General Manager, he served six seasons as the Angels' Director of Player Development. In that role, he was responsible for overseeing the club's minor league system comprised of seven affiliates, including a club and developmental academy in San Pedro De Macoris, Dominican Republic.

Robert Mosebach: Angels Best Prospect Performance #8

2009-11-06T20:00:43Z

8) Robert Mosebach, 24 - RH RP, AA and AAA

4 wins, 2 losses. 66.2 IP, 1.49 ERA, 47 K/27 BB. +24 runs saved

Who knew Mosebach's first season in the 'pen was that good? He split time between two minor league levels and the major league club, obscuring the sum value of his contributions over the season, but he was the best performing reliever the Halos' system has seen Douglas Brandt in 2007 (who had the advantage of making a number of starts). A 60% groundball rate allowed him to shut down AA hitters despite the lack of K's. He regressed slightly against AAA opposition, but that means he was "just" a well-above-average reliever for Salt Lake. His major league debut wasn't pretty, but he's certainly not alone in that. I don't think he makes the Halos' pen out of spring training next year, and the lack of K's limits his upside, but Mosebach has the makings of a pretty good reliever.

Nuggets From The Bill James Handbook

2009-11-06T14:41:27Z

A couple of days ago I received "The Bill James Handbook" in the mail (from ACTA Sports). For those of you who are unfamiliar with the handbook, it's 95% stats with a little commentary thrown in. Earlier, I posted what the handbook had projected for the 2010 Angels, but here are a few other things I found interesting:

Team Efficiency Summary

The most efficient team in baseball is usually the Los Angeles Angels - anyway it was in 2009, and it was in 2008, and it has been in other years. The Angels do little things so well that they are consistently able to grind five or ten more wins a year out of their team than what one would think was available. We don't really understand how they do it, to be frank, but since they do it every year, we know it's not luck (emphasis mine). Saying that they "do the little things well" is just a way of covering for the fact that we don't actually know how they do it.

Finally, someone (Bill James) has the balls to write that the unquantifiable success the Angels have had over the past few seasons is not because of luck. Although James doesn't write what he thinks is the actual reason for the added wins, taking that first step away from calling it luck is satisfying.

	Eff Wins	Act Wins	Overall Eff
Angels	90	97	107
Mariners	81	85	106
Tigers	81	85	106
Astros	70	74	106

Fielding Bible Awards

The Handbook lists their version of Gold Glove winners for each defensive position. There were no Angels listed at the top of any position rankings, but a couple were ranked within the top 5.

1B - Albert Pujols (Kendry Morales #7)
2B - Aaron Hill (Howie Kendrick #11, Maicer Izturis #17)
3B - Ryan Zimmerman (Chone Figgins #3)
SS - Jack Wilson (Erick Aybar #12)
LF - Carl Crawford (Juan Rivera #4)
CF - Franklin Gutierrez (Torii Hunter #9)
RF - Ichiro Suzuki (none)
C - Yadier Molina (Jeff Matis #7, Mike Napoli #16)
P - Mark Buehrle (none)

Nothing too surprising here. Having not seen Zimmerman play much, I'll just have to take their word for it that he was better than Figgins at 3B (Adrian Beltre was ranked #2), but in the next section of the handbook, they list the "runs saved" and "plus/minus" leaders and Figgins is at the top of both categories at third.

Runs Saved and Plus/Minus Leaders

Runs saved and plus/minus leaders are two more metrics to evaluate a player's defense. Plus/minus is measured by how often fielders turn grounders and flyballs into outs, while runs saved adds in arms, double plays, CERA and other defensive traits. The handbook lists the leaders for each position for the last 3 years, but below are the leaders for the 2009 season:

Runs Saved
1B - Albert Pujols 12 (Kendry Morales 6)    Worst - Adam Dunn -18
2B - Ian Kinsler 23 (Howie Kendrick 7, Maicer Izturis 6)    Worst - Alexi Casilla -12
3B - Chone Figgins 31 (Ryan Zimmerman was #2 with 22 runs saved)    Worst - Mike Lowell -18
SS - Jack Wilson 27 (no Angel listed)    Worst - Orlando Cabrera -33
LF - Carl Crawford 24 (Juan Rivera 23)    Worst - Chris Coghlan -16
CF - Franklin Gutierrez 31 (no Angel listed)    Worst - Dexter Fowler -14
RF - Hunter Pence 19 (no Angel listed)    Worst - Jose Guillen -17
C - Rob Johnson 8 (Jeff Mathis 4)    Worst - Victor Martinez -12
P - Mark Buehrle 11 (no Angel listed)    Worst - Brad Penny -7

Plus/Minus
1B - Albert Pujols +14 (Kendry Morales +9)    Worst - Adam Dunn -24
2B - Ian Kinsler +24 (Howie Kendrick +5)   Worst - Alberto Callaspo -19
3B - Chone Figgins +40 (#2 Ryan Zimmerman +28)    Worst - Mike Lowell -23
SS - Jack Wilson +32 (no Angel listed)    Worst - Orlando Cabrera -40
LF - Carl Crawford +32 (Juan Rivera #2 with +26)    Worst - Ryan Bruan -31
CF - Franklin Gutierrez +43 (no Angel listed)    Worst - Vernon Wells -30
RF - Ichiro Suzuki +21 (Bobby Abreu -18)    Worst - Jermaine Dye -28
C - Not compiled
P - Mark Buerhle +9 (no Angel listed)    Worst - Derek Lowe -7

The two things that stand out the most to me were how good both Figgins and Rivera were in 2009. Figgins saved 9 more runs than any other 3B, while Rivera was rated just slightly behind the most highly touted Carl Crawford. By the way, free agent left fielder Matt Holliday ranked #3, and Jason Bay finished in the bottom 5 of the 3-year rating. Bay's lack of range was probably aided by playing in front of the Monster in Boston as he was not in the bottom 5 in 2009. If the Angels are considering signing either of these two players, the smart choice would be Holliday and moving Rivera to RF.

Ballpark Effects

The handbook looks at each teams' ballpark's effect on hitting using indices that "are calculated in a way that neutralizes the effect of a team's makeup and isolates the effects of the park...a park with an index of exactly 100 is neutral and be said to have no effect on that particular stat. An index above 100 means the ballpark favors that statistic. For example, if a park has a home run index of 120, it was 20% easier to hit home runs in that park then the rest of the parks in that team's league."

Angel Stadium of Anaheim had a home run index of 123; 116 for left-handed hitters and 129 for right-handed hitters. The 123 rating ranked 2nd behind Yankee Stadium as the easiest park in the majors to hit a home run in (Cincinnati was the easiest in the NL with a 119). The hardest park in the AL to hit one out of was Progressive Field in Cleveland with a rating of 67. What's strange with the Angels high rating was that it is out of character with the park's 3-year average. Angel Stadium has been almost neutral over the last three years with a rating of 101. It'd be interesting to see someone figure out what happened to the stadium to cause such a large increase, especially if the calculations are supposed to isolate the park effects regardless of the team makeup, and there were no dimensional changes made to the ballpark.

There's much more covered within the handbook and all of it is very interesting, especially if you're into numbers. Also, it's very handy to have the stats within one book for quick reference while watching the game or answering a trivia question.

Abreu Signing Signals Chone Figgins Adios

2009-11-06T11:25:42Z

More photos » by Kathy Willens - AP

Figgy Stardust (AP Photo/Kathy Willens)

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The Angels wasted no time in re-signing Bobby Abreu. The terms appear to be $19 Million Guaranteed money ($9 M each year and a $1 Million buyout for 2012 if they do not pick up the option for then - and it kicks in if Abreu posts 550 PA in 2011 or a combined 1200 PA in 10-11). With team leader Torii Hunter in CF signed thru 2012 and a bargain priced Juan Rivera signed thru 2011, the Angels have a foundation in the outfield to wait for Mike Trout to develop into the Tim Salmon of the future. Some fourth outfielders await in the minor leagues along with Reggie Willits in case there is an injury, but minus Vlad Guerrero in 2010, the Angels look like they can have a healthy rotation of this AARP brigade thru the DH slot.

The near term future seems like the end of the Halo road for Angels 3B Chone Figgins. He could play outfield... but with over $30 million committed there on three guys already in their 30s, and with a league-minimum Brandon Wood bat ready to power the lineup from the hot corner for LA of Anaheim in 2010... this looks like the door is slammed shut on the return of Chone Figgins to play for the Angels. Figgy will be getting $9 million a season easily and his D at 3B makes him irresistible to many teams.

Seriously. It seems the Abreu signing was a goodbye...

Poll

Would You Be Bummed at a Figgy Departure

Dillon Baird: Angels Best Prospect Performance #9

2009-11-06T11:00:19Z

9) Dillon Baird, 21 - 1B, Advanced Rookie Pioneer League

.372/.454/.568 with 8 HR and 1 SB. +26 bat, +2 glove

Baird was the second Halos' prospect in as many years to win the Pioneer League batting title, showing some patience, pop and plus defense in his pro debut. Moreover, his power increased as the season wore on. He's got a beautiful left-handed stroke and will likely hit for average anywhere, but if he's confined to first base then he'll have to keep hitting for at least above average power. Whether or not he's able to do that in Cedar Rapids will tell us a lot. I'm optimistic.

I'll continue posting the top performances through next week. Again, remember that this list is based entirely on statistical performance in 2009, and is not a traditional "best prospects" ranking.

Bengie Molina: This Day in Angels Blogging History

2009-11-06T07:35:03Z

More photos » by Jeff Chiu - AP

(AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)

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On this day in 2003 - Six Long Years Ago, Bengie Molina won his 2nd consecutive Gold Glove and I blogged a short tribute to one of the great Angels backstops.

ANGELS ALL TIME JERSEY ROSTER - #64

2007-02-28T06:35:00Z

Angels Uniform #64 ...

2000: Matt Wise
2003: Barry Wesson
2005: Bret Prinz
2007, 09: Terry Evans