Expect the Unexpected with Angels
December 20th 2010 07:16
The baseball offseason is in full gear and the Hot Stove is on. There is a rush every November/December to woo the best free agents in the league in hopes of locking down an impact player. A team’s ability to do so can change the complexion of the roster overnight, renew hope in success, sell tickets, boost image, and more. Failure to add a new player sometimes spells doom for the hesitant and frugal. This offseason has had plenty of both, and the Angels have been on the business end of that tension all offseason.
The expectation that many had for the Angels was that they would be the frontrunner to sign Rays All-Star leftfielder Carl Crawford to bolster the outfield defense, add speed, and give life to the punchless offense. Torii Hunter’s public courtship of Crawford led everyone to think that the Angels were likeliest to score one of baseball’s best players and this season’s top free agent.
But with this front office–owner Arte Moreno and General Manager Tony Reagins–Angel fans have learned to always expect the unexpected. In 2003, Moreno swooped up All-Star Vladimir Guerrero out of nowhere and without warning. In 2007, Moreno inked Twins centerfield extraordinare Torii Hunter when the outfield was already full. In both cases, Moreno and GMs Bill Stoneman and Tony Reagins made distinct splashes with news that had no priming. This is something that the Angel front office apparently values highly during a season of rumors, overspeculation, and predictions.
Sometimes the unique secrecy that the Angels employ in player negotiations doesn’t work out as well as the Guerrero and Hunter signings did. For instance, when the Angels are in the news as favorites to land a player, they always seem to miss out. Exhibit A: Mark Teixeira in the 2008 offseason. After lighting the AL West on fire for the second half of 2008, Teixeira was thought to want to return to the Angels, who had strong mutual interest. After over a month of speculation and contract proposals, the Angels couldn’t land Tex, who sold out to the Yankees (we still hate you, Teixeira). Exhibit B: Carl Crawford this year. As explained before, Crawford was on record as saying that he wanted to play for the Angels alongside his bud Torii Hunter. The Angels maintained all throughout the end of the season that they were going to pursue Crawford as their top offseason priority.
Well, Angel fans were destined to be disappointed if they were expecting the Angels to do what they said they would do.
Reagins seemed to be in no hurry to lock down Crawford with a contact, low balled him, then tried to cover it at the last minute. But it was too late for that, as the Angels new rival, the Red Sox, snatched up Crawford before the Angels could recover from the news of Boston’s offer.
After losing out on Crawford and still possessing a lot of money to spend, the Angels were tied to Cliff Lee early last week. The thinking went that the Angels could throw a ton of money at Lee, then trade either arbitration-eligible pitcher Jered Weaver or Ervin Santana for an upgrade to the lineup. Again, the Angels couldn’t make it happen, and were left in the free agency cold with the same 80-82 roster from last season.
For those of us who have grown to trust the overtly curious personnel moves that characterize Moreno and Reagins, there is always hope that they will accomplish something that they claim they will do. Moreno and Reagins pushed the idea that there would be changes this offseason after a terrible year on the field, and their track record has shown that Angel fans have every reason to trust that they will. This is where we stand now. A few moves have been made to bolster the bullpen, but nothing impactful. There is still a glaring hole at third base, a glut of major league ready catchers that they don’t have room for, and some overpaid, under-performing outfielders that need to be traded.
The obvious option at third base is to overpay Adrian Beltre
to plug the hole at the hot corner. Arte, Tony, if you’re reading this, pleaaaaaaaaaaaaase do not sign Adrian Beltre. I’d rather stumble through another year with Brandon Wood, Kevin Frandsen, and Alberto Callaspo than to pay two limbs for a guy who only performs in his contract year. The Angels have been linked to Beltre, and the move makes perfect sense, which is why I’m hoping that my expectation in the unexpected will pay off this time.
There are worse problems for a general manager to have than having too many catchers. In fact, that’s more of a blessing than it is anything else, but only if your catching talent isn’t rotting on the bench. This has been the situation for the last two years with an unwillingness to commit to either the offensive-minded Mike Napoli or the better catcher, Jeff Mathis. Now with the fast-rising Hank Conger nearing his arrival in Anaheim, Reagins and Mike Scioscia have decisions to make. Speculation has been made that Napoli is going to be the odd one out because he probably has the highest trade value vested in his big bat. Trading Napoli for some infield or pitching depth and letting Conger take his lumps and learn is the right way to go.
The outfield situation is a little clearer with Hideki Matsui’s departure for Oakland, but still muddy. Hunter has already moved over to right field to make room for prized project Peter Bourjos in center. The Bourjos experiment in August and September was mixed, but he is the slated to hit leadoff for the Halos on Opening Day. Bobby Abreu moves around based on the matchups, but will be in left field or at DH virtually everyday. That leaves one spot for the immortal Juan Rivera ($4.25 million this year), Reggie Willits (not a Major League starting outfielder), and whoever the Angels fill out the roster with. Think Crawford would have helped out there? Also, Matsui’s 24 HR and 81 RBI weren’t good enough to re-sign?
There are a lot of holes to be filled and a very incomplete team with most of the impact free agents off the market. The Angels are now forced to improve from within or through trades. However, amid all the questions and frustrations over missed players, I have full confidence that there is more going on beneath the surface that Reagins and Moreno are keeping secret. All we can do is trust in their ability to evaluate talent, gauge market value for players, then aggressively pull the trigger when they see what they like.
Work still needs to be done, but the Angels’ recent on-field record proves their credibility as personnel managers. I’ll be watching and waiting for the least likely move to be made, then think to myself, “I knew they knew what they were doing.”
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