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Angels mailbag: Pausing for a few days and answering some offbeat questions

Tim Lincecum watches from the Angels dugout during a game in June.
(Stephen Lam / Getty Images)
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Hello, fans of the Angels. Here is your weekly mailbag. Your team will not play until Friday this week, with the All-Star break allowing everyone to take a few days away from the demanding schedule.

Of course, Mike Trout will still play. Don’t forget about him. He starts Tuesday’s All-Star Game at Petco Park, probably in center field.

Anyway, the Angels have won 37 of 89 games they’ve played in this season. On this track, they’ll lose 95 ballgames. Only four major league teams are on a worse pace. As always, this is the place to ask anything you want about the Angels, with questions submitted through my email (pedro.moura@latimes.com) and Twitter account (@pedromoura).


Tim Lincecum has performed the way most scouts who saw him at his May showcase in Arizona expected. He still has some feel for how to get hitters out, but his velocity is just not there, and he does not have the kind of natural deception that Jered Weaver offers. It’s hard for him to fool a hitter three times in a day. That said, I think he could be better in the second half, because he has still made only five major league starts in almost a year, and experience is a nice thing to have.

Otherwise, Lincecum has fit into the Angels’ clubhouse quite well. I think he would fit into most rooms well. He is a nice chap.


Yes. Tyler Skaggs is nearing his return. It has been a rough year for the young left-hander, you can imagine. He thought he’d be 15 starts into his big league return by now, and instead he’s still working his way back. But he turns 25 on Wednesday. He is a young man. He retains a lot of potential, and if the Angels are to contend in future seasons, it will likely be because Skaggs has re-emerged into a mid-rotation starter.


Pedro- how long do you think Angels fans will continue to support the team without a quality rotation, seeing through the thin veil of smoke and mirrors as Arte brings a continuous flow of has-been position players who are years past production?

I for one do not support a team who do not commit to winning.

Fast rewind to the Red Sox 12-18 months ago in their doldrums and observe what dedication to winning and solid talent management have done with that club.

Tricky? Sure. 

Impossible? Hardly. 

Brian Jump

I really don’t have any idea how long Angels fans will continue to support the team. I’m pretty sure I do not possess an accurate idea of what the average Angel fan is like or how they feel toward the team. I’m not sure anyone reading this does. I’d guess most fans consume little coverage about the team and watch few games. I think the average fan in Southern California goes to a few games a season, buys some merchandise, and catches a few more on television.

But, again, I don’t know that. Those are just theories. I think the Angels will certainly lose some fans this season. Attendance is going to drop in the second half. But tickets are cheap and families generally report that they enjoy their experience at the ballpark. The organization does not seem in danger of losing a ton of money.


Pedro,

Do you think there is any reason for the Angels to re-sign Weaver next season other than a cheap hometown discount? If he signs with another team do the Angels get a compensation pick (or for any of the other contracts we're dropping)? Would be nice to finally get one after we've given up so many on bad contracts.

Thanks for taking the time to read and respond to everyone's questions!

Andrew Titus

I don’t think they will need a hometown discount to re-sign Jered Weaver. He does not stand to make very much money as a free agent. And, frankly, he already gave them a hometown discount worth many millions of dollars when he signed the extension that will expire this winter.

Through 17 starts, Weaver has thrown 100 2/3 innings and been a replacement-level pitcher. He does not throw hard. He turns 34 two days after the season ends. It’s difficult to imagine any team offering him much more than a minor league contract.


Pedro,

Question: Has anyone discussed with Weaver the possibility of learning the knuckleball?  Weave is such an expert with “location” that if he can learn to throw the knuckler, he might be able to make the most of it. I don’t agree with those who think he’s finished. He often has a few good innings before he gets shelled.  He needs something in contrast to his usual pitches because the fastball is gone.  (Perhaps he can be another Ted Lyons, who extended his career in a big way with the knuckler.)

Thanks, DB

I watched Weaver experiment with throwing a knuckleball during spring training. It looked like the preliminary stages of it, and it was very brief. I’ve seen nothing of the sort since. If Weaver believed it would in any way help him get hitters out, I think he would try it. He loves to get hitters out.

If I were Weaver, I would consider pitching out of the bullpen to extend my career. I believe his offerings could be a real asset in relief, where he’d be such a change from the typical bullpen arm. His statistics are good the first time through an order this season. They are not so good his third time through — like most starting pitchers.


How much does a minor leaguer make when called up. Do they get a per diem salary? What if they are called up for a day a week or longer? What kind of set up do they get for living accommodations? Any additional info would be greatly appreciated.

Ron Schwartz

Callups receive short-term hotel accommodations and 1/180th of $507,500 per day they are in the major leagues, plus a food per diem of more than $100 when the team is on the road. It is a heck of a lot more than they make in the minor leagues, where the minimum salary even in triple-A is $2,150 per in-season month. Callups often make more in a week than they do the rest of the year. Minor league salaries make little sense.


Pedro, with the Halos in the cellar, it's time to ask some hard hitting questions as we approach the halfway mark of the season: 

1. Best dressed Angel this year? 

My answer to this question might speak more to my own sartorial sensibilities than the players, but I am partial to Tim Lincecum’s attire. He wears big black hats and long, tailored outerwear. Most of the time, it’s 24 men wearing similar items and then Lincecum doing his own thing.

Rafael Ortega, when he was in the majors, also dressed well, and Johnny Giavotella does too. Yunel Escobar posts frequently on Instagram to display his eclectic fashion choices. I recommend checking it out. He is a big fan of the ripped-jeans look.

2. If you had to pick, the Angel who would head to an art house to see an independent or foreign film on an off-day besides C.J. Wilson? 

Huston Street. His brother, Juston, starred in the new baseball-oriented Richard Linklater movie. He knows Linklater pretty well, I believe, hailing from Austin, Texas, a center for independent films.

3. The coolest toy or gadget you've seen a player have this year? 

Two-thirds of the players own those scooters that are probably best described as hoverboards. It never ceases being weird when a player concludes a post-game interview, steps onto his hoverboard and zooms right out of the clubhouse. We’re living in the future, folks. We just don’t know it yet.

As far as something one player has that his teammates don’t, I don’t know. They generally seem to own many of the same items.

4. What's Trout's barber situation? He always keeps the buzz tight. Personal barber, Supercuts? 

Kirk Dingley, Hollywood

Many of the players use barbers who come into Angel Stadium every so often, or barbers who visit road ballparks once a series. There are little makeshift barbershops in most ballparks. Trout has varied his haircut a little bit. He seems to be leaving more hair atop his head these days.


I suppose there’s a chance this is recency bias, but it is hard to beat Mark Trumbo walking up to “Black Honey” by Thrice. I recall saying on Sportswriters Blues, the L.A. Times baseball podcast, that I would pick that song as my ditty if given the choice. I became pretty excited when I heard it on Friday night at Camden Yards.

It’s hard to recall other great walk-up songs. I am generally disappointed with the lack of creativity in their choosing. I kind of like when C.J. Cron goes up to “Ignition (Remix)” by R. Kelly.


Sure, I could see the Angels making some trades in the off-season. I’m not really sure what the “repeat of 2016” is supposed to mean, since new General Manager Billy Eppler definitely tried to improve the team via trade in the off-season. The Andrelton Simmons trade was one of the biggest by any team last winter, and the Yunel Escobar trade was sizable, too.

That written, I think it’s probably a better bet that the Angels make less of an impact in trades this winter than last. To make more, they’d probably have to trade Mike Trout or Kole Calhoun, and there are no indications that is coming. 


Probably not. Jefry Marte might garner the majority of the playing time, assuming the Angels deal Yunel Escobar, but I think the Angels would want to give Kaleb Cowart some opportunities to play there, too. Cowart can field the position better than Marte, who really hasn’t hit much since his strong start.

He has power. He also has 28 strikeouts and six walks in 111 plate appearances. Those are not good statistics, and they mirror what he did in a similarly sized sample last season for Detroit.


Assuming a new stadium means an actual new construction and not significant renovations, I would posit the playoff game. Now, if you set it at say, $100 million in renovations or playoffs first, I’d have a hard time deciding.


5%-10%? As I’ve written in this space many times this season, I do not see Arte Moreno agreeing to eat $10 million due to Mike Scioscia. Clearly, the men have a functioning relationship. Clearly, Moreno respects Scioscia. Nothing that has happened this season is really a result of an altered approach by Scioscia.


Things aren’t as bad as they seem.

Yeah, no, they arguably are. The Angels are definitely not going to make the playoffs this season. The last 2 1/2 months are going to be more toil than enjoyable. But the best baseball player in the world is on the team, so how bad are things really?


That concludes this week’s Angels mailbag. Send in your questions to the below addresses at any time, and check back each Monday for answers.

pedro.moura@latimes.com

Twitter: @pedromoura

pedro.moura@latimes.com

Twitter: @pedromoura

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