Public Enemy #1


Andrew Thomas Gallo

The question of who will replace All-Star closer Francisco Rodriguez has been answered. The Angels signed 33-year old Brian Fuentes to a 2-year deal with a club option for a third year.

Fuentes saved 30 games for the Rockies last season with a 1-5 record. He recorded a save in 88% of save opportunities compared to K-Rod's 90%.

Even if Fuentes isn't the solution as a closer, he is left-handed which is something the Angels have been lacking in the late innings for years.

Fuentes' deal is worth $17.5 million for the first two years with the club option for 2011 at $9 million.

Comparison of 2008 Stats:

Saves:
K-Rod 62
Fuentes 30

Save %:
K-Rod 89.9%
Fuentes 88.2%

ERA:
K-Rod .224
Fuentes .273

BAA:
K-Rod .216
Fuentes .205

WHIP:
K-Rod 1.29
Fuentes 1.10

ESPN is reporting that Mark Teixeira has signed an 8-year $180 million contract with the New York Yankees.

The Angels and Juan Rivera agreed to a 3-year $12.75 million contract today which will keep him in Anaheim through the 2011 season.

The 30-year old outfielder is a career .284 hitter, but hit just .246 last season in a limited roll (256 ab).

Rivera's best season came in 2006 with the Angels when he hit .310 with 25 home runs and 85 runs batted in. He was scheduled to be the starting left fielder in 2007, but broke his leg playing winterball in his native Venezuela.

As of right now, Juan Rivera will probably be the starting right fielder for the Angels next season with Vladimir Guerrero becoming the angels DH.

According to Jose Mota, who is writing for Yahoo Sports, the Washington Nationals have offered a 7-year $150 million contract to free agent Mark Teixeira.

Teixeira, and his uber-agent Scott Boras are seeking a deal in the 10-year, $200 million range, though most people don't expect him to get that much. I mentioned before that I thought it would take a 7-year, $160 million offer to sign Tex and that I would do it if I were the Angels.

Teixeira grew up in Maryland, so an offer from the Nationals is not unexpected. The Orioles, Red Sox, Yankees and Angels are also rumored to be interested.

ESPN is reporting that K-Rod has signed a 3-year $37 million deal with the New York Mets.

Rodriguez was seeking a 5-year deal in the $75 million range after turning down a 3-year $33 million deal from the Angels last spring.

There was really know other team showing interest in Rodriguez and it started to look like he might be back with the Angels next season.

Headlines

- K-Rod Finishes 3rd in AL Cy Young Voting

- Joe Maddon wins AL Manager Of The Year
- Angels Not Interested in re-signing K-Rod
- Angels Raise Ticket Prices Again
- Florida's Kevin Gregg Traded to Cubs
- Yankees Offer Sabathia $140 million for 6 years

Interesting...
As I was searching to see how much the Angels raised ticket prices, I ran across this article from the LA Times circa 1998. Here's the opening sentence, "The Angels raised the price of virtually every seat in the house Tuesday, but the extra revenue won’t generate nearly enough money to pay Mo Vaughn should he accept their contract offer."

Time to start collecting the top stories of the week as the Free Agency period approaches.

Headlines

- Torii Hunter wins his 8th consecutive Gold Glove
- Exclusive period to sign Teixeira ends Thursday
- Six Angels players file for Free Agency
- Guerrero & Lackey have their option picked up
- Anderson's option not picked up by the Angels
- Single-A manager, Ever Magallanes, leaves for White Sox
- Brewers make offer to Sabathia
- Former Angel Curtis Pride Becomes Head Coach at Gallaudet University.

Rumors & Opinions

The Angels are planning on making an offer to free agent Mark Teixeira and Scott Boras this week. They want to either sign him or move on in the next couple of weeks, which is completely against Boras' negotiating style. A lot of it depends on how Teixeira enjoyed his time in Anaheim. If he wants to play for a winner, he will have his choices with the Red Sox and Yankees (are they winners anymore?). If he wants to go back to his home state of Maryland, The Orioles and Nationals are both interested. Then again, I'm hoping that he enjoyed the weather and competitiveness of Anaheim. The rumors seem to agree on a contract offer of 7 years at $20 million per season. I'm hoping the real offer is a little bit more - $160 million for 7 years, because the Yankees, Red Sox, Orioles and Nationals are going to bid him way up.

What's also interesting regarding Teixeira is that he and Vladimir Guerrero are viewed as the ever-important one-two punch in the lineup, but I don't think the Angels are going to re-sign Vlad after next season. His body is just to warn down to offer him any long term deal. So after next year, it will be Teixeira batting without protection unless Howie Kendrick improves.

For awhile it seemed as if the Angels were interested in trading for Jake Peavy of the San Diego Padres. Fortunately, that seems to be all talk. There are a couple of reasons I'm against this. 1) I don't like trading for players. If you want a big name pitcher, you can get one for the same price through free agency without giving up any prospects. 2) The Angels have enough starting pitching. Their starting pitching depth is among the best in baseball, but when you get to the playoffs, you only need three starting pitchers. The money should be spent on a hitter.

My biggest off-season concern is the Angels' apparent interest in CC Sabathia. I don't want him. I just mentioned my belief that the Angels have enough starting pitching and again I'd like to see the money spent on a hitter. Also, the Angels do not have good luck with signing overweight free agents - Mo Vaughn and Bartolo Colon come to mind. Colon did win the Cy Young in 2005, but in the next two seasons he won a total of seven games.

I also think that high priced free agent pitchers never live up to their expectations. If anyone has seen a study on starting pitchers and free agency, let me know, and it will save me the work. Otherwise, you'll see it here in a couple of weeks.

There might not be much of a market for Francisco Rodriguez. His agent is seeking a deal in the neighborhood of 5 years and $75 million dollars, but there aren't a lot of teams interested. The obvious team is the New York Mets, but even the free-spending Mets might realize that they can get him cheaper. I don't think the Angels are interested in re-signing him, but what if they can get him for 3 years at $30-$36 million total? Supposedly, the Angels are interested in signing Nationals reliever Chad Cordero.

The annual rumors of the Angels and Rockies discussing trading players has begun, but since this ongoing tradition hasn't resulted in a trade since the Angels got Chone Figgins for Kimera Bartee, I'm not even going to mention who the rumors involve this year.

I know it's not likely, but I'd like to see the Angels offer Garret Anderson an incentive laced deal for next season.

Until next week...

The Angels exercised club options for outfielder Vladimir Guerrero and pitcher John Lackey. Guerrero will make $15 million next season and Lackey will make $9 million. Both players will be eligible for free agency following the 2009 season.

Outfielder Garret Anderson's $14 million option for 2009 was not picked up by the Angels. Instead they will pay Anderson a $3 million buyout and he will become an unrestricted free agent. The Angels have a 2-week period in which they can exclusively deal with Anderson, but no deal is likely to be done.

Anderson's future with the Angels seems to depend on whether or not he will be a starter next season. A fate which might not be known until early next year when the majority of free agents have been signed.

I don't know what the curse is, but it exists. It's not a Billy Goat, or Babe Ruth, but the Angels can't beat the Red Sox in the postseason. The fact they won one game is a real promising sign, yet the abundance of uncharacteristic plays showed that the curse is real.

What stood out the most to me, was the number of errors - both defensively and errors in judgment, so I've compiled a list of the top ten blunders in this year's playoffs. Sadly, four game provided enough.

10. Mike Scioscia - Bringing in Francisco Rodriguez in a non save situation in Game 3
Every Angel fan knows that when K-Rod comes into a game that is not a save situation, he gives up runs. I (unfortunately) don't have stats on it, but it's well known. In fact,most closers have trouble coming in when losing or tied. In any case, K-Rod came in to pitch the 10th inning of a tie game. K-Rod loaded the bases, but got Jed Lowrie on a line out to right field to end the inning. No damage, but K-Rod shouldn't be used in these situations.

9. Reggie Willits - diving for Jason Bay's double
With one out in the bottom of the 9th inning and the score tied, Jason Bay hit a fly ball to right field. Reggie Willits dove for it and missed it by at least a foot. Fortunately for Willits, the ball had enough spin on it that it bounced into the crowd for a ground rule double. Had the ball not bounced into the stands, it would have been an easy inside the park home run. While it's good to go 100% at every ball in the outfield, Willits also has to know when he doesn't have a play on the ball and to back off. Bay eventually scored anyway on a single.

8. Torii Hunter - Going for two in Game 3
It's hard to point a finger at Torii Hunter in this series, but in Game 3 with the game tied in the 9th inning, he led off with a nice single to left field. The only problem is that he tried extending it into a double. The Angels eventually won the game, but it could have ended earlier.

7. Gary Matthews Jr - Misplayed a line drive into a triple.
Game 1, two outs in the top of the 7th and the Halos down 2-1. Matthews misjudges a line drive that should have ended the inning. Instead, Jacoby Ellsbury is on 3rd Base and the Angels are snake bitten again. The run didn't score, but the miscue represented every Angels v Red Sox postseason series. It was just another mental error showing that the Angels were scared and intimidated against the Red Sox.

6. Vladimir Guerrero - Getting thrown out at 3rd Base
Vlad represented the tying run in the 8th inning. With one out and Vlad on 1st base, Torii Hunter hit a blooper over the first baseman's head. It was a close play, so Vlad had to wait between first and second before seeing what to do. The ball hit the ground and Vlad headed for third. He was out by about 89 feet claiming that he didn't see the 3rd Base Coach after rounding 2nd Base.

5. Mike Scioscia - Not inserting a pinch runner for Vladimir Guerrero in Game 1
This is real easy to criticize in hindsight, but I was screaming for a runner at the time. With the Angels trailing by one run in the bottom of the 8th inning, the tying run is of the utmost importance. That tying run is at first base with one out and is Vladimir Guerrero. While his bat would be missed if the game were extended, it won't be extended without getting a run across first.

4. Angels - Winning their 100th game of the season on the last day.
I don't know what the psychological disadvantage is about winning 100 games, but it's real. The Angels were the 19th team in the Wild Card era to win 100 games or more during the regular season. Of those 19, only the 1998 Yankees won the World Series. 1 in 19. And the last team before the 1998 Yankees, was the 1986 Mets. Think about it. In 21 years (1987 on), 24 teams have won 100+ games and only one has won the World Series. In the Wild Card era there have been 8 teams that have won 98 or 99 games, and 4 of those 8 have won the World Series. I don't know what the extra pressure is, but the numbers don't lie.

3. Howie Kendrick - Not catching the pop up in Game 3.
The Angels had a tiny 1-0 lead in the bottom of the second inning; With 2 outs and the bases loaded, Jacoby Ellsbury hits a shallow popup that Howie Kendrick is going to catch, only he jumps out of the way at the last second allowing the ball to drop in for a bases-clearing "single". Joe Saunders should have been out of the inning, instead the Halos are down 3-1.

2. Mike Scioscia - Bringing in Francisco Rodriguez in a non save situation in Game 2
I've already mentioned that K-Rod should not be coming in when it's not a save situation, so I don't need to elaborate on it. In any case, K-Rod came in with two outs in the bottom of the 8th inning with the Angels down one and got Dustin Pedroia to ground out. However, in the 9th inning, K-Rod gave up 4 hits and 2 runs including a lead off double to Big Papi and a 2-run home run to JD Drew.

1. Erick Aybar - missed bunt in Game 4
With one out in the 9th inning and the go ahead run on 3rd base, the Angels put on the squeeze play. Aybar is a good bunter and there was a 2-0 count, so the Sox pitcher had to throw a strike. Unfortunately, the ball was way inside and Aybar missed it completely. Willits was caught in a rundown and tagged out. The other blunders may have been worse, but the magnitude of this play was too big for it not to be number one.

Honorable Mention/I forgot this one...(thanks to Rosy and Walter for pointing it out)
- Howie Kendrick bobbling a ground ball in the 5th inning of Game 4. With runners on 1st and 3rd and one out, Ellsbury hit a ground ball to Kendrick. I don't think there was any chance of turning the double play, but if Kendrick fields it cleanly, he would've got the out at second. Then with the runner at 1st base, not 2nd, the ensuing single wouldn't have scored a run for the Sox.