Little Slide Rooter

As a pitcher, Jake currently has a 2.9 WAR; as a hitter, a 0.7 WAR. I can't tell if this is a stupid question or not, but would this make him a 3.6 WAR player, or is it not quite so simple?

Apparently somebody hasn't heard that Kris Bryant may never walk again AND we have a 75% chance of not winning the World Series.

But what if they traded for Mike Trout, Bryce Harper, Jose Fernandez, Chris Sale, Andrew Miller and Aroldis Chapman and Kyle Schwarber defied the odds and came back at full health after the all star break?

http://images2.phoenixnewtimes.com/imager/u/original/6602109/ainnoshameinmygame.jpg

I won't argue that because it might be true. I think losing Bryant would probably lead to our losing the division and having to scratch out a wildcard. This offense has had some real problems as it is scoring against even mediocre pitching losing Bryant just compounds that. Again, do you realize what the division lead is? Bryant is damn good, but THAT good? Shut up, he's never going to play again and we're going to lose every game, but it won't matter, because we're going to die, and it's going to be awful.

They've been like Xanax for us; every time we begin to irrationally panic, there they are to make it all better.

These are the same guys who choked it all away in 1969 and 2004, and they're doing it again. The writings on the wall; no team has ever gone through a rough patch in late June-early July and gone on to win a championship. We should be focusing on the trade deadline and then securing the highest draft pick possible, and thanks to that cursed, blisteringly hot April-mid June, we'll be lucky if we end up in the top 15.

Not time to freak out? We've seen our once robust 11 game division lead dwindle to a slightly less robust 8 games! And all of our starting pitchers are broken. Me have to prepare for the worst. Call every free agent starting pitcher who's had an above replacement level season in the past 5 years! Jair Jurrjens? Shaun Marcum? That former Mets 1st round pick who belly flopped and latched on with the White Sox and threw a perfect game and then spiraled into obscurity. Is Edwin Jackson available? We are still paying him. Chris Narveson has to be floating around the Brewers system somewhere. Offer up Jimenez for him. I know it's an overpay for a guy who hasn't pitched in the big leagues in like 5 years and was never very good, but we need this. We can still do this. It's going to be a downhill battle (not a misprint,) but we can do this.

I feel that there's a Mike Trout related thread around here somewhere, but I can't find it. It's probably right in front of my face, but I can't find it. I'm well aware that this is an all out knee jerk reaction based on 2 brutal weeks of baseball, but horsefeathers it, we need Mike Trout. And while when you have a young core such as ours, "need" is a strong word, and want is more fitting. But horsefeathers it, we need Mike Trout. It's no secret that up and down the system, the Cubs are in sorry shape. Ok, that's not true at all. But what is true is that The Angels are in sorry shape up and down the system. The big league club is a big ticket train wreck. They have not a single prospect on the top 100 list. The owe Albert Pujols who even knows how much money as he descends to replacement level. But what they do have is arguably the single most valuable asset in baseball. And horsefeathers it, we need Mike Trout. So here's my preliminary proposal: Angels get: Kyle Schwarber, Javy Baez, Albert Almora, Dan Vogelbach, and Gleybar Torres Cubs get: Mike Trout, and cash because other The Angels don't have anything else of value, unless anyone thinks that the carcasses of Jered Weaver, Tim Lincecum, or Huston Street can be salvaged for spare parts. Yes, that's 4/9 of an AL lineup and a top 50 prospect for 1 player. But horsefeathers it, we need Mike Trout, despite the fact that we probably don't.

i think it's the 2 months of mediocrity and the realization that we don't have a superteam Weren't/aren't we playing at a 90 win pace in that time? Superteams don't play at a 90 win pace, bcl. Superteams play at a 100 win pace at all times. And super-duperteams play at a 125 win pace, while uberteams play at a 150 win pace.

Great, now our entire rotation is headed to the DL and we'll have no choice but to empty the farm for Rich Hill and Rickey Nolasco and sign Matt Latos.

Matusz most likely has a date in his contract he can opt out, if he's not in the majors by then. It's simple, really: When LaStella returns, Candelerio goes back to Iowa. Calling him up instead of, say Murton, Kawasaki, or a reliever is probably to let him get a look at some big league pitching. Warren: there's no rush on him. If Hammel continues to be awful, then Warren will probably be called up for some spot starts in his place. If Hammel turns it around, assuming the rest of the starters remain healthy, Warren continues to stretch in Iowa until sometime after the all star break if and when they decide to go with the 6 man rotation. And I have a feeling that the move was more about Hammel insurance than a fictitious 6 man rotation. When Soler and Fowler return, Almora likely returns to Iowa and Szczur is DFA'd/traded/optioned if he has options and Bryant and Contreras are used as 4th-5th OF. Nathan can take Peralta's spot any day. If he doesn't work out, Matusz, who's just now starting his Mesa assignment can have his. As for Coghlan and Richard, they can remain in Iowa, and if that's a problem, let them walk.

Not sure why Canderlerio over Vogelbach. I know Vogelbach's basically a DH, but if we're trying to showcase a bat for trade, his would be the one.

The Cubs are 51-0 when they outscore their opponent. Go Cubs!!!

We need to see the silver lining here- Kris Bryant. Anthony Rizzo. Addison Russell. Willson Contreras. Jake Arrietta. Jon Lester. John Lackey. Hector Rondon. Pedro Stropp. Javier Baez- we've got the chips for an epic rebuild. And there are always plenty of reclamations to be had. I know, I'm not particularly excited about watching guys like Chris Coghlan, John Andreoli, and Stephen Bruno leading the big league charge, but when 2021 rolls around, and we have a new crop of young stars taking the field, it will all have been worth it.

Maybe we can do the '06 Cardinals build an early division lead, stop trying by the All Star Break, stagger into October off the fumes of the first few months, and then WHAM!

I wonder how much the "airbrush out Jake's sack" job pays Probabably more than it did back in the day: http://i25.tinypic.com/333bvur.jpg

On the plus side, if KB can maintain his .379/.457/1.000/1.457 five game slash line, it's going to be smooth sailing.

Well, July Hammel gon' July Hammel.

4 guys stole 1st. It was a wild one.

Any word on how Nathan's looked early on? Wouldn't want to stake anything on him, but if he could be this season's Fernando Rodney, that would be useful.

When our pitchers get out of a jam: good pitching. When their pitchers get out of a jam: bad hitting. Good night.

Been a long time since we had a fake rally like that. Though it wasn't much of a rally, since he made the righties his bitch with minimal effort.

I doubt it. Our team is run by Theo Epstein. Wish he had remembered to re-sign Rodney. At $1.6, he was quite the steal. But hindsight is 20/20.