Angels Sign Brian Fuentes

wonderful.

im gonna venture to say he got around 24-26 mil over 2 yrs...

As a Cardinals fan, this makes me so happy!

The Angels truly cocked this one up. They should have resigned K-Rod in the first place. If not, they should have saved the money and had Shields or Arredondo close.

This is a good move. You can never have too many quality bullpen arms. Two years is a short contract and I bet they paid 8-10 a year. Minus the draft pick situation this is a good signing. I would love to see the Angels give Sheets a 1 year deal if possible. Its low risk high return. He would look good in Garlands old jersey.

While the Angels certainly need hitting...Fuentes was not a fluke this year. He was a fluke in 2007. The guy is a lefty with sick stuff, good job Angels. Shields, Arrendando, Fuentes in the pen. Now all you need is Lackey or Santana or Saunders to give you 6 innings...damn.

bjsguess -

this offseason could've been much, MUCH worse, i agree that we need another hitter, but Fuentes really is not a bad signing (if at a good price)

AA, why should the Angels have resigned K-Rod? He had no intention of ever coming back. I hope you're not an Angels fan and still wanted him even after what he said.

Everything hinges on the dollars. If the price tag is anywhere close to the $12m the Mets gave K-Rod then this will be a terrible day.

Fuentes is a fine pitcher but the team has other, more glaring, weaknesses. Now, if Reagins signs another bat (or two) along with Fuentes then this will be a fine move. Otherwise, it is awful.

As for being a worse off-season - sure it could be worse. The Angels could have overpaid for CC or Tex. But, both of those players would have helped in 09 and beyond. The inactivity and stated purpose of relying on internal talent is very worrisome. The current projected Angels lineup may not have a single guy with an OBP higher than 365 or a hitter with more than 25 HR's. That's just pathetic.

Angels still win the AL West, they'll just be behind the 8 ball when it's time to get to the post-season.

They need a big bat...bad! They've got to make up for not resigning Teixeira somehow. I'd go for Abreu to protect Vlad. Abreu is a consistent bat that would help that line-up.

Abreu is consistent? The guy is good for 15 HR's, 15 SB's and 75-80 BB's. That is not good. And that doesn't begin to address his defense. No one would be afraid to pitch to Vlad knowing that Abreu is behind him.

So, the deal isn't AS BAD as it could have been. $8.5m/year is a good bargain. While I think K-Rod is a much better pitcher - the $4m annual savings makes this the smarter signing.

I still hate that we gave up the 33rd pick and haven't addressed the lineup. We need a big bat. It's that simple.

Great job by the Angels.

hahhaha what a stupid signing, fuentes really somehow raised his value from nothing in my opinion.

good for him he's not special, and i'm glad we'll be lighting him up in the 9th inning now

And the reason why the Brewers did not use Gagne's 10mm to get this guy is...........

I thought they would of at least made some noise in the RP market.

I really don't think this is a bad signing. Fuentes has been a good closer for years even in Colorado. Even though people are still bringing up his week in '07 that culminated in blowing consecutive saves in Houston, he still rebounded at the end of that year to be a productive setup man.

The money is not unreasonable here and it places Arredondo and Shields in their respective spots in the bullpen without giving Arredondo too much pressure to become the closer. In fact, I think he would be far more productive as an eighth inning fireman at this point because he could protect leads while allowing guys like Shields, Darren Oliver, and perhaps Justin Speier to pick up the middle relief load.

"good for him he's not special, and i'm glad we'll be lighting him up in the 9th inning now"

Oakland is miserable. Matt Holliday is supremely overrated. All your pitching is a year or two away. Get ready to enjoy another tough season in a football stadium.

This is a great signing because we have a maintained a shut down bullpen. Instead of everyone bumping up a spot and seeing Speir come with anything on teh line, he can be a mop up again. With our starters looking the way they do this at least maintains our dominant pitching.

As far as hitting giving Wood and Morales full time gigs and getting Napoli more at bats yields greater long term benefits than signing an aging Dunn or Burrell.

"You know why he didn't want to come back? The Angels insulted him in the contract negotiations and made him feel unwanted."

Here's a quote from Rodriguez: "They had all the time in the world to do it," says Rodriguez, 26. "I'm a young player looking for a contract for four or five years. I felt insulted by that part of the offer, that it was only for three years."

And then he signed with the Mets for... THREE YEARS!

The Angels may have "insulted" Rodriguez, but they played his market right*. Closers are the most easily replaceable players in sports. And when your 26-year-old closer and his ridiculously violent, unorthodox windup is losing velocity and putting up career worsts in K/BB ratio and K/9, you've got to see the red flags. It would have been stupid for any team to offer Rodriguez more than three years. Heck, even three years is a bit of a gamble for a guy like that.

(*But then the Angels turned around and played the closer market wrong when they signed Fuentes instead of handing the job to Jose Arredondo.)

very surprised he got less than kerry wood.

While I think this is overpaying for a closer, at least he's a great reliever. This isn't giving Todd Jones a huge deal, Fuentes has been one of baseball's better reliever's in the biggest hitter's park in the league for quite some time. If Shields or Jose step into the job, that's great, you have a lights out lefty setup man.

Hard to find fault with this when the Angels have money to spend. I hardly think this prevents them from signing a Burrell or Dunn.q

"Awful, awful news.

If the Angels do not get Dunn and/or Burrell this will go down as one of the worst off-seasons in the ML's."

Agreed bjsguess, they already have a young guy that could have been worked into the closer role and looks darn good in Arredondo with Shields plus Oliver supporting him. Still a few decent relievers floating around like Biemel I believe unsigned as well they could have added to support them also and used that 20+ million for a Burrell/Dunn type hitter that they truly need instead of a PR signing for the fans.

This team has -0- challenges from anybody withing there own division in 2009, the Rangers cannot pitch and the A's have more holes than Swiss cheese, just a waste of money when a hitter would have helped them in the playoffs.

Just another team obsessed with the notion of having a "closer"...

2008 Stats:
Brian Fuentes, 33: 2.73 ERA, 1.10 WHIP, 3.7/1 K/BB
Jose Arredondo, 24: 1.62 ERA, 1.04 WHIP, 2.5/1 K/BB

So the Angels are going to pay Fuentes $9M per year to do the most overrated job in sports when they could have paid Arrendondo, who's almost 10 years younger than Fuentes, $455K to do the same job just as well, if not better.
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WOuldn't it be silly for the Angels to put all their eggs in one basket and asssume that Arrendondo would be successful as the closer next year?

they got a good deal, but their problem is still offense. lost teix, lost anderson. matthews jr, rivera, izturis, figins, kendrick?

if anyone wants to give arredondo the job, just look at what happened in colorado with corpas last year.

"Yeah, how stupid of the Angels to not just hand the job over to a guy with less than a season's worth of experience, based on a tiny sample size of statistics, and instead opting to pay someone significantly UNDER his asking price to keep the seat warm and slightly more secure for a very short contract, for a negligible amount of money. Those stupid Angels!"

I can think of a few other closers getting blasted into that closer role at tender young ages of 23-24 and less innings than Arredondo, plus with a vet closer that had saved 30+ games the season before skelly in Keith Foulke. His name? Jonathon Papelbon.

How do you think young relievers find out if they have it or not? throwing 8th inning set up for 3-4 seasons?

"There's absolutely nothing wrong with this signing, ESPECIALLY for the given price tag."

There is something wrong with this signing.

The Angels need a first baseman and a left fielder. Sure they could move Chone Figgins to left, but what happens if Kendry Morales and Brandon Wood can't hang in the bigs? Neither of them have shown much with the Angels, except that they're both really good at striking out.

The fact is, it's pretty stupid to commit $18M to a closer ESPECIALLY when you need to spend your money on offense and you could slide one of your own guys into the closer role at $455K.
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Yeah but your $455k guy has no history of success as a full-time closer. Meanwhile, your acting as if the Angels are handcuffed with this signing. They still have plenty of money (and more competition) to after a bat. What big name FA are left on the board (Hoffman, Saito) as opposed to bats (Abreu, Dunn, Anderson, Giambi, Griffey, Burrel, Man-NY)?

"Maybe they'll go after Ordonez? Tigers need to slash payroll. Maybe they can package Adenhart along with some other pitching prospects for him?"

Just looked and Ordonez is due 48 million over the next 3 seasons YFS78, probably cheaper to sign a Dunn/Burrell, or even Abreu as was suggested here than get ordonez unless the Tigers eat an awful lot of his salary and aren't his knees in bad shape?

Those saying that the Fuentes signing doesn't impair their ability to get a big bat - I hope you are right. The problem is that the Angels DON'T have tons of money laying around.

When you factor in Fuentes, Rivera, arb raises and escalator clauses, the Angels have just $11m or so left (assuming they keep 2008 payroll limits).

Couple that with Reagins comments about filling holes internally AND the perception that the Angels were willing to break the bank for only a very special player (i.e. Teixeira), there are plenty of reasons to assume that Dunn or Burrell won't be coming our direction.

"But you can't fault any team in the world for not just handing a fairly important role to the guy based on the sample size he had."

Huston Street '05: 23 saves, 1.72 ERA with no big league experience.

Chris Ray '06: 33 saves, 2.74 ERA with 41 games of non-closer big league experience in '05.

J.J. Putz '06: 36 saves, 2.30 ERA. 10 saves in three years prior to that.

Billy Koch '99: 31 saves, 3.39 ERA with no big league experience.

Eric Gagne '02: 52 saves, 1.97 ERA with no big league closer experience.

Jason Isringhausen '00: 33 saves, 3.78 ERA after switching to closer in '99 and saving 9 games.

Brian Fuentes '05: 31 saves, 2.91 ERA. 4 saves in four seasons prior.

Kerry Wood '08: 34 saves, 3.26 ERA after eight years as a starter.

Want me to keep going? Because those are just off the top of my head.

I don't think we're going to agree on this because of my view of the closer. Closers are so easily replaceable it's not even funny. Between 1998 and this year, I think the A's had 10 guys who saved at last 10 games and 7 guys who saves 25+. The Dodgers had three years of Eric Gagne dominance, then Yhency Brazoban saved 21 games for them in '05 before they picked up some 36-year-old Japanese guy named Takashi Saito. When Saito's arm gave out last year, Jonathan Broxton took over.

Because of all of that change and because of all of the guys who have been successful closers, I see no reason to ever spend money on a free agent closer.

Well, at least they did something.

They're so focused on defense and running first-to-third, they won't sign the desperately needed bat (Dunn or Burrell) they need to compete in the playoffs.

At least we won in 2002.

YanksFanSince1978 - sorry - my comment wasn't directed to you. It was directed to vtadave.

I'll say it again though - if Abreu was still posting a 400 OBP and walking 120 times then YES - he would be fantastic in front of Vlad. I just happen to think that Abreu will continue his trend of walking less. That makes him substantially less valuable.

As for their payroll it isn't as simple as just replacing salaries.

They have arbitration raises due to:

Oliver
Figgins
Izturis
Quinlan
Santana
Napoli

It's reasonable to assume that will equate at least another $8m.

Additionally, the following players have escalator clauses kicking in for 09:

Hunter
Guerrero
Escobar
GMJ
Lackey
Shields
Speier

That's another $7m in increases.

Before they sign a single player the Angels are already committed to an additional $15m or so in new salary. That negates any savings by dumping K-Rod AND Anderson.

I don't think you can ignore the other side of his game though. (20 hrs/100 rbis and solid .285 batavg). Even at .285/.360 w/ 15 hrs and 85 rbis, he would still be the Angels 2nd best hitter and best #3 spot hitter. And the way things are looking he can probably be had for $8-$10 mil per. I'd take that on a one or two year deal.

YanksFan: If the Angels were going for bullpen depth, it would have made more sense to go after Joe Beimel and/or Juan Cruz. Those two guys combined would have come cheaper than Fuentes because they don't have the "closer" price tag.

Oh, and they're both younger than Fuentes.

The Angels do have internal options that are at least worth a shot, especially give how weak the rest of their division is. Morales has a .901 career MiLB OPS. I doubt that he would fall on his face if given regular reps in the bigs. Also, giving 400 or more ABs to Mike Napoli may be all the protection Vlad needs anyway.

"AA - I agree with you that Abreu would hit in front of Vlad. That still provides "protection" of a sort. With a guy on base all the time when Vlad steps up to bat pitchers will have a different strategy."

Well, the fact that Abreu is a threat to go certainly will weigh on their heads. Further, it is not like pitchers can exactly game plan Vlad anyway. They can throw anything they want, and he can still hit it.

"I'll say it again though - if Abreu was still posting a 400 OBP and walking 120 times then YES - he would be fantastic in front of Vlad. I just happen to think that Abreu will continue his trend of walking less. That makes him substantially less valuable."

Abreu has also been K'ing less and I don't necessarily think his OBP will decline any further anyway.

Remember too that Tex basically had the best stretch of his career with Vlad protecting him.

"Closers are so easily replaceable it's not even funny"-blb
Not true. Just ask the Mets, Wagner went down, and they were screwed. Imagine if Rivera got hurt for the Yanks this year... there would be no possible way to replace a closer like him. Sure it's easy to replace your closer if he sucks, but K-Rod doesn't suck. And guys like Koch, Gagne, Issy, Ray, Street, and even Putz didn't exactly work out amazingly well in the long run.

Ahaha, he'll get lit up in the AL.

"In reality Abreu who hit with short porch in NY and a little league field in Philadelphia has averaged just 18 HRs the last three years...

You really cannot expect his power to improve in his late 30s nor in a bigger ballpark.

So 15 HRs is a reasonable expectation for Abreu..."

Except that, outside of the Angels themselves, he would play in a division without much pitching at all. Also, it may be this year that they fix his swing.

"His SBs are also on the decline and "News Flash" he is not getting faster or skinner in his old age..."

Compared to 40, sure. The guy can still run.

"So the person who guessed 15-15 for Abreu is spot on!"

Until that actually happens, one should wait and see. Plus, he might hit 50 doubles with the Angels.

Look the Angels are a championship caliber team that realistically have 1 strong year of being the top team in AL West.

Vlad is going to be a FA at the end of the year @ age 34 and is starting show some decline.

The ANgels are big boys and can afford to swim at the deep side of the pool. Arrendondo as good as he was had 7 blown saves in 7 save opps last year. Maybe "depth" was the wrong word to use. Fuentes provides "options" as a closer. If he succeeds then Arrendondo sets him up and can graduate to closer when the contract expires. If FUentes struggles then Arrendondo has a chance to move in as the closer. But if you don't sign Fuentes and Arrendondo struggles, then where to do go from there?

I guess the question is, if you're a championship caliber team looking to contend do you give the job to a guy who HAS been successful at that position or guys who've never had a history of closing? It's not like he's signed to a long-term deal or as if you're getting rid of Arrendondo. You can never have too much pitching, either as starters or bullpen guys. I don't see it as a problem. They obviously still need to address the offense and I don't see the Fuentes signing keeping them fron doing that.

Abreu, even at a line of .285/.370 w/ 15-20 hrs and 15sb is still a good buy depending on the contract terms and right now 1/10 or 2/18 could probably get it done.

the thing with closers is this, if you are a team that expects to compete for the world series, you cannot enter the season with a closer with basically no closer-history, its too big of a risk to put your entire season on the shoulders of some 24year old

"But if you don't sign Fuentes and Arrendondo struggles, then where to do go from there?"

To Scot Shields. Or Juan Cruz or Joe Beimel (had they signed one of them instead of Fuentes). Or maybe Shane Loux, Rich Thompson or Dustin Moseley.
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Ok that's your choice but:

Beimel's only had 9 save opps in his 8 year career.

Cruz has had 7 opps in 9 years.

Shane Loux, Rich Thompson or Dustin Moseley have never, ever closed a single game in their brief mlb careers.

So again, your a championship caliber team, w/ the ability to sustain a 119 mil payroll. Why after losing one of the best closers in the world would you replace them w/ some who's 0/7 in saves or guys that have never been closers before? Fuentes @ 2/18 is not a big deal for the Angels.

"That's because Omar Minaya is a horrible general manager and he has absolutely no idea how to evaluate a single player, let alone an entire bullpen."
A "horrible" GM. That's the most absurd thing I've ever heard. Sure, he's no Beane, Epstein or Scherholtz, but he is a very solid 2nd tier GM. Look at the Mets from 2003 and the Mets from today. Even if they haven't been too successful these last couple of years, they are a well built team. There is no way Omar could've forseen Heilman turning to crap, and every one else in that pen underachieving, in the same year.

"Aside from Trevor Hoffman, Mariano Rivera and Francisco Rodriguez (to a lesser extent) I can't think of a single post-1995 closer who has worked out in the "long run"."
Paplebon and Soria seem to be on the right track. Wagner has had a successful career, albeit in three different uniforms.With the exception of his injured season in 2007 BJ Ryan has been extremely solid. Plus, you left out Nathan, John Franco in the mid 90's, and a few others.

blown saves can occur in 6th, 7th, 8th, 9th, or later.

so if its a 2-1 game in the a middle reliever can be given a BS if he gives up a run in the 6th inning

vlad also had tricep injury last year, his speed is also decling. SB went from 15-13-15-2-5

"Correct me if I'm wrong. A blown save is given when the relief pitcher comes in and either gives up a run/runs to tie the score or losses the game? If that's untrue then feel free to correct me."

You didn't flesh that out enough. One can blow a save and the team, even the pitcher who blew the save, can win the game. Also, one doesn't need to give up a run to blow a save, they can allow an inherited run to score. The reason the stat you cited means essentially nothing about a guy like Arredondo is because he was never actually put into a position to earn a save in the first place, so any SVO would count as a blown save.

Sorry to burst your bubbles, but the Angels just upgraded their pen cheaply. I would give the ball to Fuentes over CPR K-Rod any day, especially for the money and given K-Rod's drop in velocity and higher WHIP.

K-Rod era 2.24 sv 62 svo 69 ip 68.1 bb 34 k 77 1.29 WHIP

Fuentes era 2.73 sv 30 svo 34 ip 62.2 bb 22 k 82 1.11 WHIP

Take away the game where Fuentes was shelled by SD for 5 runs in 1/3 ip and his era drops down to 2.03

Fuentes had a bad year because of injury in 07, but was sill an integral part of the Rox success. The Angels just made one of the smartest moves yet this offseason.

"Correct me if I'm wrong. A blown save is given when the relief pitcher comes in and either gives up a run/runs to tie the score or losses the game? If that's untrue then feel free to correct me."

Blown saves for set up guys can be really misleading. Okajima for Boston had 8 last season and he has hardly ever been in a game in the 9th inning.

The only way can see Fuentes as a good sign for the Angels is if they still are able to get a Dunn/Burrell or Abreu to a lesser extent, but like has been mentioned here, they may be already financially extended already and just because they offered that pile of money to Tex, does not mean that they have it to everyone else, it is not the same thing at all for a potential franchise player that he could have been to a team such as this.

"Addendondo did that on 7 out 7 save situations."
No he didn't. Everytime he gave up the lead he gets a blown save eve if it's in the 6th inning. So that means he only blew the lead, even with another pitchers inherited runner, 7 times.

Yeah I don't think some of you understand how blown saves work.

I undestand the difference between blowing a save in the 9th as a closer vs in the 6th as a reliever, but regardless Arredondo has never had closing experience (7 of his 52 appearances came in the 9th ot laer) and Fuentes has.