Out: 1B Mark Teixeira, P Francisco Rodriguez, P Jon Garland, OF Garrett Anderson
In: OF Bobby Abreu, P Brian Fuentes
Fuentes for K-Rod is a wash. If given 70 opportunities, Fuentes may have saved more games than K-Rod. However, the upgrade of Abreu for Gary Matthews / Juan Rivera does not nearly compensate for the downgrade of Kendry Morales for Teixeira (in the understatement of the day). It does not help matters that Rivera signed a three-year deal this offseason. The Angels cannot afford this kind of offensive downgrade as their offense finished 10th in the AL in runs scored last season. Abreu could not be a worse fit for a team in desperate need of a power threat. Check out Abreu's stats for the previous three years:
HR: 15 (2006), 16 (2007), 20 (2008)RBI: 107, 101, 100
SB: 30, 25, 22
CS: 6, 8, 11
BB: 124, 84, 73
UZR: -15.6, -4.2, -25.6
Headfirst Dives / Slides: 0, 0, 0 - No one has ever seen Abreu dive or slide headfirst. Clearly doesn't want to scratch that face of his.
As seen in his UZR numbers, Abreu does not even play average defense making him a great candidate to DH. Unfortunately, Vlad Guerrero falls into the exact same boat.
The team had bundles of money in a buyer's market and has very little to show for it. Angels' fans should be displeased that the team added to its strengths but failed to address their most glaring deficiency - power.
In full disclosure, there are two redeeming factors in play. Although Abreu will be 35 years old on Opening Day, the Angels are only locked in for a single season. Also, Abreu has a reasonable contract ($5m) so it seems like a reasonable risk.
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Other Thoughts and Observations
*Same classic goal celebrations, including the matador (1:05), row the canoe (1:30), and snort the line (1:35) among others.
*A highly recommended, interesting read about Pitch Sequencing.
*Check out Dodgers' latest acquisition: Tanyon Sturtze. Think Joe Torre had anything to do with this move? I do. Now, he just needs Scott Proctor back and he'll be able to sleep easy at night.*Co-Dirtbag of the Week: Roberto Alomar. Plax was named earlier in the week.
*Leave it to the NY Post to come up with a way to cheer us up in these tough economic times:
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