Yardbarker: Robb Quinlan

Angels' Kazmir stumps A's in postseason tuneup

Sun, 04 Oct 2009 01:34:08 -0500

OAKLAND, Calif.(AP) Robb Quinlan isn't certain if he'll be on the Los Angeles Angels ' postseason roster. At this point, he's more concerned about playing in their final regular-season game.

Angel Players Losing Patience With #1 Fan

Tue, 23 Jun 2009 14:46:00 -0500

By Adam Dodge - Angelswin.com Senior WriterLarry Wilkerson, a once remarkable cheerer, who so graciously exhibited every attribute of the prototypical “super-fan,” has continued to slump in 2009 despite the overwhelming support of his peers — the parking attendants, ushers and vendors, and his beautiful wife, Sharon (pictured with him in the photo above.) And even though the Angels players gave Wilkerson a vote of confidence just two short weeks ago, recent comments suggest that the uniformed...

Robb Quinlan lifts Angels on defense

Thu, 18 Jun 2009 01:14:07 -0500

Veteran fills in for Bobby Abreu in left field and makes big plays to help the Angels beat San Francisco. Mike Scioscia once said of utility player Robb Quinlan , "He makes the plays he makes," which sounds like a back-handed compliment but wasn't meant to be.

The Twins should be trying hard to acquire former Gophers slugger Robb Quinlan, who is playing only...

Mon, 15 Jun 2009 15:16:55 -0500

The Twins should be trying hard to acquire former Gophers slugger Robb Quinlan, who is playing only sporadically for the Los Angeles Angels. By way of the MLBTrade Rumors LINKAGE

Dodge Ball Daily - Spring Training: Tape Delayed

Thu, 05 Mar 2009 18:03:25 -0500

By Adam Dodge - Angelswin.com Senior WriterVisualizing the flapping dwarf arms attached to Robb Quinlan, as he waddles down the first base line after hitting a weak ground ball to third base, to the sound of Terry Smith?s voice sure beats listening to a co-worker yap about her deadbeat husband ...

Dodge Ball Daily - Spring Training: Tape Delayed

Thu, 05 Mar 2009 17:58:45 -0500

By Adam Dodge - Angelswin.com Senior Writer Visualizing the flapping dwarf arms attached to Robb Quinlan, as he waddles down the first base line after hitting a weak ground ball to third base, to the sound of Terry Smith

Quinlan Signing Gives Angels Depth

Thu, 22 Jan 2009 17:54:52 -0500

While you didn?t read about it in the Los Angeles Times or hear about it on AM 830, the Angels flagship radio station, the Angels made a very quite, but quite productive offseason signing late Tuesday night. They resigned utilityman Robb Quinlan. According to a team source, Quinlan and the ...

Valentine Wants To Manage

Mon, 13 Oct 2008 13:21:03 -0500

According to the Boston Globe, Japanese manager Bobby Valentine has sent emails to several Front Office executives hoping to land a managerial job. He has his sights set on the Brewers and Mariners jobs, but would likely take a bench coach job knowing he was in line for the job in a year or so. It seems he would need a season to familiarize himself with the team before taking over managing full time.A
Quinlan to Twins?: Robb Quinlan, who just finished his two year contract with the Angels, may sign with the Twins if he is not tendered a contract by the Angels. He grew up in Minnesota and would fit nicely with the Twins make up.
This story was approved by MLB Rumors.

Looking to October: Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim

Tue, 09 Sep 2008 21:33:58 -0500

In theory, I'm going to try to write one of these for each of the eight playoff teams; we'll see how that goes. In order to space them out a bit, and avoid writing 8,000 words in 48 hours, I'm going to start now with the Angels, who could clinch the AL West as soon as late Tuesday evening. The Red Sox will probably be next, as the current odds put their chances of missing the postseason at about 1 in 200.

Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim
Current record: 87-56 (1st in AL West)
RS: 669 (9th in AL); RA: 603 (4th fewest in AL)
Pythag record: 78-65; Third-order record: 75-68
Division odds: 100%; Playoff odds: 100%

Reason #3,482 the Angels aren't the "Best Team In Baseball": this is their infield.

Actually, this is even generous; Thursday's infield consisted of Mathis, Teix, Sean Rodriguez, Brandon Wood, and Robb Quinlan. Kendrick is currently on the DL (shocker) with a hamstring injury, and Aybar hasn't played since August 27, bothered by a similar injury. Both should be back in plenty of time for the playoffs.

Teixeira has, once again, been great after a mid-season trade, hitting .360/.441/.610 as an Angel. The +20 is a bit fluky; he was +2 and -4 the last two years out there, respectively. Regardless, he is pretty easily the best hitter on this team.

It feels weird to even say this, but Vlad just isn't that good anymore. The average AL RF has hit .279/.348/.456 this year; Guerrero is above those marks, but only marginally so. The problem comes in the other facets of the game; you need only to see him run to know that his defense and baserunning are solidly below average at this point. Overall, he's about average; not yet a liability, but certainly a far cry from '00-'04, when he hit .331/.403/.602 over 3168 PAs.

No, I didn't forget to put in a number for Hunter's D. Being average in center is nothing new for him; he was -2 in '06, and exactly average last year. He's probably worth about the $16MM he's making this year; problem is, his salary continues to rise, while his performance will likely drop. For that contract to have any realistic chance of turning out well, he would've needed to be worth way more than $16MM this year, as the chances of his performance being worth anything even close to $18MM at age 36 are extremely slim. The Angels do a lot of things right, but committing a total of $30MM to Hunter and Matthews Jr. in 2011 was exceedingly dumb.

The Angels' rotation leads the league in innings pitched, at 905 (6.3 IP/S). They're only sixth in K rate (6.3 K/9), but all five starters have a BB/9 under 3.0, which is pretty impressive.

Santana has been absolutely fantastic. Maybe it was random variance all along, but his dramatic improvement has been all about his road performance; last year he had a 3.27 ERA at home, and that's actually up to 3.33 this year. But when you lower your road ERA by over five runs (8.38 to 3.16), you've taken a large step forward. Looking back, it seems as though his road struggles were likely random; his K:BB numbers weren't that different on the road last year, he just gave up a lot more homers. Easy to say now, of course.

Lackey has been good, but not great. FIP punishes him too much for a HR rate that has nearly doubled from last year, even though his GB% has actually increased. A low BABIP and high strand rate keep his ERA low; his "true talent" ERA is likely around 3.50 at this point.

Clearly, those two will be starting the first two games in the ALDS, but then the Angels are faced with an interesting decision regarding their Game 3 starter. Saunders has the pretty record and ERA, but has the distinct disadvantage of not being very good. Weaver, with his 2.8:1 K:BB ratio, has actually been the third best pitcher on the staff, but he's only 10-10, and is currently battling a strange injury. Garland isn't particularly good, either in perception or reality, but does have the always vital postseason experience (CHW, '05). My guess is that it'll be Saunders in G3, and if they need another guy for G4, that start will go to Garland.

Oliver's platoon split isn't that extreme, but he has held lefties to a .299 OBP. 59% of the batters he's faced have been righties; I'd imagine that number will be lower in October, as there are fewer innings to distribute among the bullpen.

Arredondo's numbers are a little misleading. His ERA is a lot lower than his FIP, which is obviously caused by a high LOB% and low BABIP. But the FIP doesn't tell the whole story either, as his HR/FB is just 4.5%. He's good, but 3.30 ERA good, rather than 1.41 or 2.90.

Of all the dumb things people do when evaluating baseball players, I think the single dumbest may be the reliance on how many saves a pitcher accumulates. I mean even beyond the fact that the save rule is stupid and arbitrary; K-Rod has had 14 more save opportunities than anyone else in the majors, of course he's going to rack up a lot of saves.

I'm preaching to the choir on that one though. Here are Rodriguez's ranks, among the 29 guys with at least 20 save opportunities:

Well, I think that pretty much ends the AL MVP debate. I'm not sure how one would even go about arguing that a guy with a worse K:BB ratio than Huston Street hasn't been the most valuable player in the league.

Perception vs. Reality
Mostly because they've outperformed their Pythag by nine games, and their third-order record by 12, the Angels are going to be incredibly overvalued next month. This is particularly true if Saunders takes the mound, as his record and ERA are pretty comical. They'll likely face either Tampa Bay or Boston in the first round; I would imagine Boston would be a slight favorite in that matchup (they certainly should be), while the slumping Rays would be underdogs.

Photo: Sibloblian.

Teixeira Headed to Angels?

Fri, 25 Jul 2008 14:06:04 -0500

The St. Paul Pioneer Press is reporting this morning on a rumor floating around that deal is in the works between the Angels and Atlanta that would send utility player Robb Quinlan and minor leaguer 3B Brandon Wood to Atlanta for 2-month rental Teixeira.

Our Trip to the White House

Mon, 07 Jul 2008 18:22:17 -0500

Wanted to wait to post this when I got some photos and finally did. One of our guys took a couple nice shots I'd thought I'd share. One of the days we were in DC, a few of us players (Reggie Willits, Justin Speier, Robb Quinlan) and staff got a tour of the White House, mostly the East Wing and some of the West Wing. I really had to pinch myself because it was surreal. I guess since 9/11 they don't do public tours so I definitely felt privileged to be there. We got a chance to see the Oval Office and the Rose Garden during our visit back in 2003 after we won the World Series but this time we spent about two hours there. Our tour guide was a former sniper with the secret service. This guy was great, knew all the ins and outs to the White House and gave us some great insight. He took us down to the basement where there is a bowling alley. I got to roll a ball and left three pins standing. You know I would have picked up the spare but we each threw just one. Parts of the White House were closed because the President was visiting with the Prime Minister from Vietnam. We saw all the formal rooms which were very regal looking, the red room, the blue room and the green room. We also saw the Oval Office and some of the other rooms in the White House. The whole time I kept thinking about how many famous people had stepped foot in this building and how many important and private discussions regarding our country took place. I had a sense of pride walking through there as an American citizen. It truly was an experience of a lifetime. Thanks for reading the blog y'all. Got the Rangers tonight.

Angels Dealing with Injuries

Wed, 21 May 2008 14:11:11 -0500

Chone Figgins may be returning soon, but Eric Aybar injured his finger and could miss significant time and possibly join Howie Kendrick on the DL. The cast of characters to replace them does not look good for Angels fans and fantasy owners.