3 Reasons Why the Los Angeles Angels Miss Mike Napoli Right Now

Every substance in life has a base logarithm. Look at an apple. Beneath sour flesh sits a twined core infilled by droplet-sized seeds; embryo, which if implanted into soil, spawn into apple trees.

Seeds are the evidence of such a truth as this: it is the mundane biological codex that makes the earth go round. 

Nine innings of 1-0, two-hit baseball, mono y mono, is the perfect metaphor of such a truth.

Until a minimal mistake—mistiming on a steal from first to second, brush off at home, direction of wind pattern, etc—fate titter totters in the conservative palm of victory.

Awaiting his arrival is well worth the wait, but getting there is the greatest lesson. Knowing the reasons we got anywhere in life is a respect for the hidden conveyor belts that take us where we need to go.

Victory is the battle of the mundane—when one wins, they arrive in a used Saturn wearing a Sears robe.

Like the seeds of an apple, victory is made with a little, but huge, logarithm that dictates the difference between champion and cellar dweller.

Before the start of the season, the Angels were coming off an 80-82 season, missing the postseason, and because of this were shopping anything to re-emerge as an AL West front runner.

In Tony Reagins fashion, a blockbuster deal emerged late, sending Juan Rivera and Mike Napoli to the Toronto Blue Jays for veteran Vernon Wells. The Blue Jays then flipped Napoli to divisional rival Texas.

Despite Rivera's injury consistencies and Napoli's problems with hitting for average, errors and strikeouts (seventh in MLB), the trade was a looming wrecking ball waiting to diminish the Halo' kingdom into shards of splintered years.

Napoli may not seem like a glittering candidate for appreciation. His line, .238/26 HR/138 SO, was far from shining brilliance. 

But what the Angels forgot was Napoli's importance in the grand scheme of things.  Is it not the catcher who acts as the logarithm to victory? 

No player in baseball holds the governing power of the squat athlete behind the plate. He alone has the call to redirect team defense, get face time with opposing hitters and psychologically calm the pitcher.

Napoli, at the time, seemed average, but now he is everything wrong with Angel baseball.

Butterfly Effect: Have We Been Here Before?

Great management wins yesterday, today and forever.

When the deal for Vernon Wells metastasized, two things took place.

1. By the Angels adding Wells' contract—owed $63 million over the next three years—including the $21 million paid out this season, they crippled their chances at locking up young talent like Mike Trout, Mark Trumbo and Peter Bourjous.

2. Wells, currently hitting .211 with 16 home runs and 42 RBI, has been nothing but a bust.  Mike Napoli's fraction of a contract, $5.8 million this season, and his numbers, .290, 18 home runs and 44 RBI, argue the Angels would be better with him now while still being able to plan for the future.

Reminding fans of Gary Matthews Jr., the outcry over Wells disenfranchises Tony Reagins and questions Arte's involvement.

Have we been here before?

Similar contract and under performance shared by Matthews and now Wells, sadly argues yes.

Paying to Get Robbed

Had we known the Toronto Blue Jays would flip Napoli to our arch divisional rival, we probably would not have made the deal. But so is the nature of professional sports.

Now we are $15 million in the hole, paying for Wells, while shipping off our logarithm to the Rangers.

It is one thing to send a position player to a team in your division, but it is another to give a thief the keys to your house with a GPS tracking device and the maps to your underground safe.

Napoli, now, is our most wanted.

The long-time catcher with the Angels not only knows the entire rotation's pitch sequences, but everything from Scoscia's call for pitch-outs, hit-and-runs and steals.

If we were to get into a September series deciding the fate to our playoff hopes, it is fair to give the Rangers a one-up.

I'm sure Napoli is grinning from ear to ear.

Figment of an Imagination

Napoli is no All-Star catcher.

In fact, the Angels had an issue overthrowing bases or allowing wild pitches to get by him. But the Mathis/Wison combo—.181 with two home runs and 19 RBI—make the man look like Henry Ruth.

As much as Napoli swung at bad pitches all last year, he hit home runs (26) and his power was a facet late in the lineup that gave the Angels a more distinguished offensive weaponry.

Losing his 26 and Rivera's 15, automatically puts the Angels at a deficit they cannot afford.

Since Wells is a return to Matthews Jr., and their bib batting combo seem least interested in hitting the ball better than Barry Zito, pessimism is the only tum it seems that can calm the fan's upset stomach.

Imagine a showdown in September with these lineups facing off:

Rangers                                                                                        Angels

1. Ian Kinsler .346 OBP                                                          1. Erick Aybar .296 OBP

2. Elvis Andrus .328 OBP                                                       2. Maicer Izturis .340 OBP

3. Josh Hamilton .546 Slugging                                            3. Torii Hunter .405 Slugging

4. Adrian Beltre .513 Slugging                                              4. Bobby Abreu .358 Slugging

5. Michael Young .547 Slugging                                           5. Vernon Wells 14 HR

6. Nelson Cruz .281 BA                                                          6. Mark Trumbo .253 BA

7. Mike Napoli .608 Slugging                                                7. Peter Bourjos .246 BA

8. Mitch Moreland .269 BA                                                     8. Howie Kenrick .302 BA

9. Endy Chavez .325                                                               9. Jeff Mathis .181 BA

Victory from this lens...would be a figment of our imagination...