Hamilton claims his 2nd half slump was due to him trying to quit chewing tobacco. Not sure I believe that but he does have a history of addictions and having them interfere with his amazing talent so you never know with him

Right, it wasn't his shitty knees that required multiple injections just to keep him in the lineup.

no way
sec

Reason #29592780603 I ignore baseball mostly.

yet, the last 3 world series were not big market teams with the giants twice and the Cardinals once.

Its about what team gets hot at the end of the year. just like football. Basketball is the only real sport i think that the better team wins.

I love Hamilton!

I love Trout!

I hate Pujols =(

Just for correction, it was up around 75-80 million for a couple years in the 2009-2010 range, and it wasn't really a salary dump as much as losing Jose Guillen and Gil Meche's contracts. That was a third of the payroll right there. With this offseason's moves so far the current payroll will mostly like be around 80 million.

Either way, there's actually a pretty good list of teams who have made the playoffs with a lower payroll than the Royals the last 6-7 years. There's no excuse.

As for this move, I don't know. Hamilton's such a streaky player. When he's on he's amazing, and other times he gets in these funks due to one strange reason or another. If he's on though he'll really be a weapon in that lineup.

Although it does raise the question of what this Angels team will look like in about 5 years when they're paying a 36 year old Hamilton and 38 year old Pujols $50 million.

Swept at home by the Houston Astros.

And these are the best years you're going to get out of those Pujols/Hamilton contracts.

I'm not sure how many more shiny baubles the Angels can afford at this point.

6 in a row! Go Stros!

Sciosia should be on the hot seat. His GM absolutely must be. They are fcked for a long time on those deals. The back ends will be harder to swallow than refrigerated Big Macs.

I've been told by very knowledgeable Angel fans that Tony Reagins was the cause of all Anaheim troubles and that Jerry Dipoto is going to solve everything.

I mean, nevermind the fact that the only decent players on that roster are Reagins holdovers.

This couldn't have happened to a better cast of characters. Arte deserves this trainwreck.

CoMo strikes again. LMAO

I went back and read through the Pujols to Anaheim thread last night...holy shit that thing was gold.

And for the record, I owned that thread...

Pujols will have another MVP caliber season before all is said and done and I'm sure the diluted Wild Card format will get the Angels into the post-season a time or two (because of Mike Trout) before Albert is done out there, but it's funny just how poorly all these huge FA signings work out for them.

Meanwhile, Matt Harvey is pitching in NY because the Angels wouldn't meet his draft demands in 2007. They let him walk over less than 1% of what they'll be paying Albert. Jean Segurra is presently destroying the world in Milwaukee. Patrick Corbin has the best slider in baseball and just won the NL Pitcher of the Month for May. Tyler Skaggs is a the kind of high strikeout lefty that every team in baseball is looking for.

A smart organization would have Harvey, Corbin and Skaggs on their staff with Segura setting the table for homegrown stars like Trout. The Angels, OTOH, have a bloated payroll and a bunch of fading stars with very little on the horizon to save them.

Fortunately for them, there's going to be another batch of aging superstars they can pluck from next year to keep their fans engaged. Maybe they'll be interested in giving Beltran a 4 year deal next offseason.

St. Louis did the right thing.