is all reasonable to me. I didn’t think Mejia was irreparably harmed by the promotion. There’s lost development time, but it’s somewhat balanced by the two points above. Was it ideal? Probably not, but I don’t think it’s the end of the world. And I second the worry over a nonsensical call-up. Let him pitch out his Double-A season, send him to the AFL again, and then send him home to pursue his off-season conditioning regimen.

Will Smith was called up due to recent MLB call-ups and injuries to spot start at AAA. That happened to last for 9 games. He was judged to have performed adequately. Hittable, not a ton of K’s etc. So they moved him to AA, to continue to challenge him. I wouldn’t have done it, but the CAL league isn’t the best for a pitcher’s development. In any case, that move did not work out at all really. But by then he was traded. WIll Smith is not a top prospect, and one that needs to be handled like a delicate flower. But who knows, maybe the Royals will do a better job.

Trevor Reckling

Was promoted aggressively. What narrative do you want? He was challenged, similar to Nick Adenhart, Ervin Santana, Jered Weaver and basically any of the Angels ‘percieved’ top pitching prospects. Perhaps there’s an understanding of the attrition-able nature of SP’s. They don’t like to have multiple innings on their arms before they’re called up to the bigs. So Reckling struggled, many people (myself included actually) thought he would based on AA stats. But Major League clubs care less about minor league stats than ‘the process’ and individual development. The Angels thought he was ready (he is a very poised and mature young guy) and he struggled to adjust. No big deal (the Angels actually preach they like to see how a guy deals with adversity instead of playing it safer all the way), he’ll have another crack at it next year (he’s still what 20?).

They make sense if you want them to. The Angels have a habit of promoting pitchers aggressively, be it to challenge them and see how they deal with any adversity. They also have a habit of taking time with hitters, and seeking, especially Scioscia, for the young guys to step up and take a major league starting job. Its a club philosophy that might produce some boneheaded decisions once in a while, but it has led to the club to be mighty competitive for a decade. But they also do play into a narrative of strange decisions if people like to look for that, and as you seem to take that path using the example of Mathis/Napoli it’s pretty easy to see this organization as using an odd process (based upon minor league results from Reck and Smith of course). But like you said voodoo and karma, those tangible things, have finally caught up with the Angels and those lucky years between 2002-2009.

Held his own in an unfamiliar role at the highest level and has been very effective in a league where he’s still years younger than the average. Of the nineteen hits he’s allowed since returning to Binghamton only one (a triple) has gone for extra bases. His stuff is undiminished from what I’ve seen. For those who insist he’s still a reliever in the end he’s probably not a top guy.