Prospects Will Break Y... (10/03)
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October 3, 2012 Pebble HuntingA Very Good Team and a Very Bad SeasonThe day that the Angels introduced Vernon Wells, Arte Moreno told reporters the score:
The day that the Angels introduced Albert Pujols and C.J. Wilson, or the day they introduced Zack Greinke, or the day they called up Mike Trout, or the day they signed Eric Hurley to a minor-league contract, or the day they didn’t do anything except file their expense accounts and clean out their inboxes, they could have said the same. Winning, of course, is the ultimate judgment. It’s the end of the story. It’s not the whole story, though, and figuring out just what, why, and how about the Angels’ season—or, more specifically, about the decisions that went into the Angels’ season—is a lot more complicated than Moreno's construction. There are two ways of looking at the Angels' season. They are just four games behind the best team in the American League. They are going to finish with 90 or 91 wins; our preseason PECOTAs projected them for 90. Going back over the past 12 years, 60 percent of teams that won 87 to 90 games made the playoffs. The Angels were a very good team and, but for the other teams that played better (duh), they could have made the playoffs. But they won’t. That’s the other way to look at the Angels' season. They won’t. They took a team that won 86 games last year and signed the best free agent hitter available, and the best free agent pitcher available, and lost nobody of value, and they won’t make the playoffs. They added the best rookie in history, a player who is having the greatest season in franchise history, and they won’t make the playoffs. They added a dominant closer, and they won’t make the playoffs. They traded for the best pitcher available at midseason, and they won’t make the playoffs. And they removed Jeff Mathis, and they won’t make the playoffs. It’s the craziest thing. So did somebody make a mistake with these Angels?
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Surprise Me!
Of course I'm disappointed but I'm likely in the minority of fans and am not griping (too much). In comparison with the other 50 seasons, this season was one of our best (it wasn't "a very bad season" as the headline implies).
It's debatable which season was more enjoayle for instance, this one, or 2004 when they went 0-3 and out in the first round with an AL West flag.
Mike Trout made this season. And we were alive into October.
I'm worried about next season though, if as the rumors are true and we do in fact sign Greinke and let Haren/Sanatana go. Does that mean our 4/5 is Richards/Williams? That doesn't look as promising as the current rotation.
On a final note, what was most disappointing to me is that, while we all know Pujols had a solid season after April and put up good numbers, but I can't recall a clutch moment when he won a game by himself. And while the team excelled in the last month, Albert couldn't get us over the A's/O's the past month, and those two team's September's themselves caused the biggest heartburn.
Anyways, I can't wait for them to show back up in February in Tempe.