The Angels extended Jered Weaver yesterday and it didn’t take long for some initial reactions to surface. Here are more reactions to the Weaver deal, plus other notes from the Angels’ division…
- ESPN.com's Buster Olney reports that executives around MLB were stunned that Weaver accepted the Angels' five-year, $85MM extension offer. They expected the Scott Boras client to hold out for more or test his value on the open market.
- Mark Saxon of ESPNLosAngeles examines the Weaver deal and what it means for the Angels and their ace before concluding that "Weaver and the Angels needed each other."
- Dave Cameron of FanGraphs shows that Weaver pitches in one of the best environments possible for his skills. Though Weaver probably left money on the table, Cameron says the deal is a good one for Weaver and the Angels.
- Writing at U.S.S. Mariner, Cameron suggests the Mariners might want to spend their money on a third baseman this winter, even though they already have the disappointing Chone Figgins under contract for 2012. However, there's not much out there aside from Aramis Ramirez, so the Mariners will likely have to decide between so-so secondary options and in-house solutions.
- The A's demoted catcher Landon Powell to Triple-A Sacramento so that he could get some regular at bats, according to Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle.
- Coco Crisp and Rich Harden were claimed on waivers and pulled back, according to Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports. If Oakland puts the players on waivers again, they won't be able to pull them back. The A’s first placed Harden and Crisp on waivers a week ago.
The Ms have enough holes that they should just take the best available players and not worry about where they fit in..
I don’t understand why anyone is “stunned” by the Weaver contract. The annual dollars are what you’d expect. The years are timed such that he will hit the free agent market again when he’s only 33, which makes him a prime candidate for another 3-5 year contract, assuming he’s still productive. If Weaver demands a Yankees-style 7-8 year deal, he reenters free agency at 35 or 36, years when most pitchers are on a downhill slide. He also probably has to accept a discount for the number of guaranteed years. So many factors enter into these contracts it make little sense to fixate on the total dollars.
I wonder how cheaply Figgins could be had in the offseason.
Bag of balls would suffice.
I’d settle for just the bag personally. Mariners aren’t in a position to haggle for too much; no need to get greedy.