Posted 11:15 AM by Sean
Scott Schoeneweis signs for another year. It's clear he'll at least start out in the bullpen in 2003, despite his preference to be a starter. It's to be hoped that his raise - from $325,000 in 2002 to $1.425 million in 2003 - will compensate sufficiently.

I watched the Angels' season retrospective DVD the other night. It's a production of the Anaheim Angels and is distributed via the Orange County Register (and presumably the Angels' gift shop, though not their web site), and definitely has the feel of being produced by people who are actually connected with the team, as opposed to folks from Major League Baseball. It's an hour long, and thoroughly enjoyable, if not exactly penetrating. It hits the highlights - the crappy start, the 21-run explosion in Cleveland, Eckstein's home runs, GA's All-Star selection, etc. - and intercuts the chronological retelling of the season with brief profiles of most of the everyday players. Pretty much what I expected.

There are also a couple of really nice bonus features. There's several minutes' worth of Rex Hudler interviewing various players (plus Scioscia) in the locker room after they'd sewn up the wild-card spot, including the infamous interview with David Eckstein in which Eck had a gigantic glob of saliva hanging from his chin. The funniest thing about the interviews is that they all start the exact same way: Hudler saying "we're live on FOX!" In other words, "please don't say 'fuck!'"

There's also an interview with Scott Spiezio conducted as he's driving to the stadium before Game 7 of the World Series. That's pretty cool. He talks about the Game 6 comeback, how (like everyone who's ever been a baseball fan) he's always fantasized about being in Game 7, and how it's weird to realize that, no matter what, this is the last game of the season. The camera follows him in to the stadium and through the tunnels to the clubhouse (but not inside).

I haven't watched the official MLB World Series video yet, but I did put it in the DVD player to see what kind of extras it offers, and the difference is pretty clear. The Angels DVD fires right up - the first thing you see is the menu. MLB's starts with the typical copyright warning, then an anti-drug PSA (starring Derek Jeter, mind you), then some sort of MLB promo, THEN the menu. The best of the extras seems to be clips from the Game 6 comeback, but I'll give you a full rundown when I get a chance to watch the whole thing.

Posted 3:23 PM by Sean
Okay, let me get this straight. First, the Angels win the World Series. Now, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers win the Super Bowl? Cower, ye mighty, for come is the year of the downtrodden. I don't know about anyone else, but I'm starting to think about putting big money on the Dallas Mavericks and the Ottawa Senators.

In a nice little bit of serendipity, both of my Angels DVDs arrived today. Tonight will be spent in front of the TV.

Posted 9:37 AM by Sean
Some mildly interesting items on the newswire today: the Angels signed Rich Rodriguez to a minor league contract and put Lou Pote on waivers. Pote apparently is hoping to clear waivers and play in Japan after spending the second half of the 2002 season in Triple-A. I'm not sure what the knock on Pote is - in four seasons, he's compiled a career ERA of 3.49, but then again he's only pitched 216.7 innings over those four seasons and will turn 31 this year. Still, a guy who consistently gives you one and two-thirds innings of decent relief should be tempting to at least one of the 30 clubs in the majors (if only he were left-handed, he could write his own ticket). Pote made a comparatively paltry $255,000 last year, so I'm guessing there's some sort of arbitration exposure to whomever signs him (or at least to the Angels if they had kept him), but investigating that would violate my policy of knowing as little as possible about arbitration, waivers, the Rule V draft, or anything else that's done by the people who don't wear the name of their team across their chest when they go to work.

Other tidbits from the newswire include Steve Avery signing with the Tigers, which seems sad but can't really harm either Avery or the Tigers, and the Padres announcing that henceforth their stadium will be known as "Petco Park." Actually, that's not true; the name is actually "PETCO Park," which I hereby re-christen "Unnecessarily Shouting Kibble Merchant Park."

Posted 12:41 PM by Sean
ESPN's Hot Stove Heater - reviewing 2002 and previewing 2003 - for the Angels is out.

Kieran Darcy is largely upbeat about the Angels' chances in 2003. Personally, I find it amazing and gratifying that I can now read about how the Angels, of all teams, have buit a winner using draft picks instead of signing past-their-prime free agents. And, of course, since virtually everyone will be back next year, and since they're mostly guys who statistically should be coming into their peak years, there's seemingly every reason in the world to be optimistic.

Still, after the year they had in 2002, you have to also worry that they'll come down to earth a little bit in 2003 (no stupid "Angels flying high" pun intended). It's clear that their World Championship was no fluke, since they did have the best run differential in baseball, but at the same time they're in a division with one other great team (Oakland), one team that figures to be pretty good (Seattle), and one that will probably finish around .500 (Texas). So again, the AL West figures to be the best division in baseball.

With that in mind, it was great to read this story in the L.A. Times about how David Eckstein is spending his off-season. If there's one guy on that team that you'd expect to be working out for five hours a day in the dead of winter, it'd have to be Eck, wouldn't it? Of course, the beautiful thing is that it isn't just one guy - Plaschke writes about how Darin Erstad called Eckstein up and hollered at him: "What are you doing! You'd better be working! We've got to do this again!"

The title defense starts March 30.

Posted 2:39 PM by Sean
Scott Spiezio's band, Sandfrog, just played their first Anaheim gig. The Angels are my boys, but I think I draw the line at buying a Sandfrog CD.

Posted 4:51 PM by Sean
The Angels continue to place their waterfowl linearly: Adam Kennedy gets a one-year, $2.27 million deal, while Scott Spiezio gets $4.25 million for one year and Jarrod Washburn gets $3.875 million.

Meanwhile, the New York Times is quoting Tom Glavine as saying, in opposition to Bud Selig's plan to have the All-Star Game determine home-field advantage for the World Series, that "I would find it hard to believe that most players would want the outcome of the All-Star Game to determine home-field advantage for the World Series," the players apparently being much more comfortable with a home-field advantage determined by whether the year ends in an odd or an even number.

Anyway, I finally ordered my official Angels season retrospective DVD from the Orange County Register, and my official 2002 World Series retrospective DVD from Deep Discount DVD. Look for insightful reviews of these two film in this space forthwith.

Posted 5:17 PM by Sean
I have yet to find anyone seriously argue that Selig's plan to give home-field advantage in the World Series to the team from the league that wins the All-Star Game is a bad idea, which is an unprecidented show of l-u-v for the Commish. Now, can we please put an end to the ideas that (a) teams from the same division can't meet each other in the first round of the playoffs, and (b) wild-card teams can't have home-field advantage until the World Series? The whole reason there's a wild-card team in the first place is in recognition of the fact that sometimes the second-best team in the league happens to be in the same division as the first-best team in the league; you might as well take that idea all the way and seed the playoffs based strictly on the teams' records. Or does anyone seriously think that the Twins' 94 wins in the Central were more impressive than the Angels' 99 in the West?

Posted 10:56 AM by Sean
The L.A. Times is reporting that Frankie Rodriguez may have trouble getting out of Venezuela in time to report for spring training due to the ongoing general strike. The U.S. embassy in Venezuela is suspending the processing of Visa applications beginning January 20, and no one is sure if Rodriguez (and other Venezuelan players) will beat the deadline.

Posted 8:46 AM by Sean
Selig wants the league that wins the All-Star Game to have home-field advantage in the playoffs. From the article, it sounds like he's probably going to implement his plan, which will surely make the All-Star Game more interesting. I'll be particularly keen on seeing how much this effects managerial decisions. I'm sure the managers for both sides will say that they won't manage any differently, but will, for instance, Mike Scioscia be tempted to leave a stud pitcher in from a team that's 20 games under .500 for an extra inning or two if the Angels are in the hunt for a playoff spot? Will Dusty Baker keep the best lineup on the field for nine innings?

For too long now, the All-Star Game has been the fifth tit on a cow - boring to fans and a pain in the ass to players. Short of getting rid of it altogether, this is probably the best thing Selig could have done.

Posted 2:13 PM by Sean
Rob Neyer continues his inexplicable jihad against Darin Erstad's new contract. Neyer gives a token acknowledgement to Erstad's defense, then talks smack about his hitting - which is at least a small step up from his original attack, in which defense was completely ignored. In the first article, Neyer flat-out says Erstad "isn't a good player." In the latest incarnation, he puts him at about the 100th-best player in the majors. Taken together, those two statements mean that at least seven-eighths of major league baseball players aren't good.

Neyer's made up his mind about Erstad, and so he's deliberately blowing off answering the arguments made by Bill Shaikin in the Los Angeles Times, even after quoting them, to focus on the one point at which they actually agree - Erstad's offensive numbers are so-so. The problem is that his contract isn't solely based on offense - it's also based on the fact that he's the best defensive center fielder in baseball.

I'm not kidding. Look up the numbers yourself if you want to. In 2002, Erstad led the majors in putouts, range factor, and zone rating, finished second in assists and third in double plays, and made one error in 1227.2 innings. They don't put you in center field if you can't play defense, but Erstad is clearly the cream of the crop when it comes to playing his position.

Neyer also ignores Erstad's speed. Erstad stole 23 bases in 2002, which led the Angels and tied for ninth in the AL. And, more fundamentally, overlooks the fact that on-base percentage and slugging percentage, while important, were less important on the 2002 Angels than usual, thanks to their "small ball" philosophy. Neyer actually sneered at such tactics all year long while lavishing praise on the A's and their "wait for the three-run homer" approach. Scioscia preached the gospel of get 'em on, get 'em over, and get 'em in, which relies a lot more on situational hitting and sacrifices than Neyer is comfortable with. It turned out to work, though, and I have the videotape to prove it. Now, three guesses as to who hit second for the Angels this year, and thus was responsible for the "get 'em over" part. Three more guesses who on the team had the highest ratio of grounders to fly balls, the key to moving a runner from first to second.

Among these other things, Erstad is also a fan favorite and a team leader - if anyone is in the mysterious "core" Stoneman mentioned a while ago, Ersty is. Considering that this team did win 99 games in the regular season and their first World Series ever, maybe keeping him around isn't such a bad idea.

One final thought: yesterday, in on online chat, Neyer opined on the subject of whether or not Gary Carter was really worthy of the Hall of Fame. "OF COURSE he is," said Neyer. Carter's career OPS was .774. Erstad's is .779.

Posted 11:23 AM by Sean
Your 2003 Hall of Fame inductees: Eddie Murray and Gary Carter. I'm not wild about Carter getting in, but I am relieved that they didn't go hog-wild and put, say, Ryne Sandberg or Jim Kaat in.

Posted 11:14 AM by Sean
Turns out that Fullmer's new contract is for $1 million, a pay cut of $2.75 million. Wow. I guess that's what happens when everybody in the league can hit 20 home runs in any given year - suddenly, the market for designated hitters gets pretty soft. Score one for Stoneman.

Posted 5:12 PM by Sean
Fullmer's back! Let's hope he didn't hear any of that nonsense about not being in the "core."

Posted 9:13 AM by Sean
Peter Gammons has some nice things to say about the Angels in his latest column (scroll down to "Steinbrenner just doesn't get it"). Leaving aside "there is no statistic or dollar figure that applies to Erstad," which will be news to Ersty's agent, my favorite is "[F]ew teams ever enjoyed winning more than the 2002 Angels. Even if the Yankees sweep the 2003 World Series in four games, they or their fans will never experience what the Angels experienced." I think that should be engraved over the gates at Edison Field.

Posted 9:41 AM by Sean
This year, the annual Hall of Fame Game won't be played on induction weekend (it's actually usually on a Monday, I think, but that still counts as the "weekend" for our purposes) due to a scheduling conflict. The game is normally played at Cooperstown's Doubleday Field, a gorgeous, well-maintained park with a capacity of just shy of 10,000 that sits just down the street from the Hall itself. Ordinarily the game is a pretty big draw, even though it takes place a day after the inductions (meaning that a lot of folks have already left town), but I can't see many people making the pilgrimage to Cooperstown just to see the Phillies take on Tampa Bay in an exhibition game. Granted, the new date this year is July 16, which is the Monday after Father's Day, but even so...

Doubleday Field also hosts a New York-Penn League game every induction weekend that takes place before the induction ceremonies; that's still on for this year. If you ever find yourself in Cooperstown while that's going on, I highly recommend it.

Posted 10:20 AM by Sean
The Angels' 2003 spring training schedule is available. Their first spring training game: February 28 vs. Seattle. So far, it's looking like the major stories to follow will be which of the promising Triple-A prospects (Robb Quinlan, Nathan Haynes, and Barry Wesson) will make the big club as off-the-bench guys, and whether or not last year's pitching surprises (Frankie Rodriguez, Brendan Donnelly, and John Lackey) prove out. Kevin Appier will also be watched closely, at least by me: he had a solid year for the Angels in 2002, but was getting lit up like a pinball machine by the end of the playoffs.

Anyway, pitchers and catchers should be reporting within six weeks or so.