It’s panic time in Anaheim as the clock winds down for the Angels, who despite winning five straight, still can’t catch the Oakland Athletics, who led by 2 games for the second Wild Card spot as of Thursday. Though it’s doubtful the Halos will catch the Athletics, there might be an upside: the Angels’ front office has a reason to fire long-time Angels Manager Mike Scioscia, who, despite maintaining support from about half the fans and his bosses, no longer fits this highly-paid but extremely talented team.
It’s panic time in Anaheim as the clock winds down for the Angels, who despite winning five straight, still can’t catch the Oakland Athletics, who led by 2 games for the second Wild Card spot as of Thursday. Though it’s doubtful the Halos will catch the Athletics, there might be an upside: the Angels’ front office has a reason to fire long-time Angels Manager Mike Scioscia, who, despite maintaining support from about half the fans and his bosses, no longer fits this highly-paid but extremely talented team.
Most insiders, and even the Angels’ front office, maintain Scioscia will remain the manager, no matter what happens. It’s a smart play. After all, the Angels are still in the hunt, and it would be suicidal to not support him. However, his days are numbered, because the Angels aren’t going to make it, and it’s a long offseason. When Angels owner Arte Moreno watches the Oakland Athletics, a team with one of the smallest payrolls in baseball, win the World Series, the Angels skipper will undoubtedly join the 20 percent of Californians searching for work.
To be honest, it’s what needs to be done. With an array of all-stars like Albert Pujols, Torii Hunter and Jered Weaver, who are costing the team $160 million, the Angels should be two games behind the Texas Rangers, not the Athletics, who operate within a major league-low payroll of $55 million.
The addition of heavier bats this year, like the one wielded by Albert Pujols, has been costly in more ways than one. It evolved the Angels into a different animal, one that depends on the long ball instead of small ball, which has been a good change, if you ask me, but a transformation that doesn’t play to the strengths of Scioscia, who still prefers bunting and hit-and-run plays to home runs.
There was a time when the Angels needed a skipper like Big Mike, when the roster featured scrappy players like Darin Erstad and David Eckstein. Scioscia, using small ball, squeezed every ounce of production out of those guys and guided the team to its first World Series title in 2002, a truly remarkable feat. With the exception of third baseman Troy Glaus and outfielder Garret Anderson, the Angels featured no other big bats, with guys like Adam Kennedy in the lineup.
Scioscia also did a marvelous job of juggling the 2002 pitching staff, particularly the bullpen. As a former catcher, he saw the limitations of his starting rotation, which was mediocre, at best, so he never waited until the six or seventh inning to insert his relievers. That’s why Frankie Rodriguez worked so much in a middle relief role during the 2002 postseason, because that starting rotation lacked the abilities of Jered Weaver and Zach Greinke.
However, that was 10 years ago, and a different team. The 2012 bullpen has now become a problem, Scioscia still likes to pull his starters early, far too early, which has proven costly as of late with Ernesto Frieri giving up bombs that lead to losses.
He also loves to hit-and-run with Torii Hunter, which works out probably 25 percent of the time, and still calls for bunts, but with terrible bunters like Erick Aybar, who can’t lay one down to save his life.
It’s painful to watch such wasted outs – something Oakland Athletics General Manager Billy Beane will not allow the Athletics to do.
These sacrifices also take away at-bats from Pujols and Mike Trout.
Of course there are occasions when Scioscia can apply the small ball approach, like when Trout gets on base. His speed turns walks into doubles, and rather than calling for a hit-and-run play, Scioscia should just let Trout steal.
Not everything can be blamed on Scioscia, though, like the unforeseen struggles of Pujols, whose $240 million price tag caused the Angels’ skipper to panic and bat a new order every other day. It took Scioscia almost two months to settle on an every-day lineup, with Pujols in the No. 3 spot instead of cleanup. The arrival of Trout helped him come to this decision; however, with a guy like Pujols, who you want hitting as much as possible, there should never have been a game with him batting in the cleanup spot, which lost him some at-bats, messed with his head and caused the Angels to struggle in April and May.
Pujols, as everyone predicted, eventually broke from his slump, and is now batting .285 with 30 home runs, but the Angels free fall early in the season put them in their current predicament. Also, who could have predicted that Mark Trumbo, who carried the team in the first half, would essentially turn into an automatic out in the second half? I didn’t see it coming, and Scioscia can’t be blamed for hitting slumps, but maybe if he had saved his old teammate and former hitting coach Mickey Hatcher from the chopping block, Trumbo would own 50 home runs, not 30 something. Also, I don’t understand why Scioscia refuses to bench Trumbo, who has dropped to the No. 8 spot, and give Vernon Wells a second chance. Hey, Wells can’t do any worse.
Now, I know what you’re thinking – what about loyalty? Yes, Scioscia skippered the Angels to their only World Series title, as well as six additional playoff appearances since 2002, but that ring and record do not make him invincible, especially with such a talented group, and the third-highest payroll in Major League Baseball at $156 million.
I hate to say it, but loyalty doesn’t win titles. Former New York Yankees owner George Steinbrenner fired Manager Billy Martin midway through the 1978 season, and that happened after Martin won a World Series in 1977. So why can’t the Angels can Scioscia? He hasn’t won in a decade.
Guess what? The Yankees, after getting rid of Martin, won the World Series in 1978. Maybe the Angels, with a new skip, could lock down a title in 2013.
