GMJ’s Non-Answer Speaks Volumes
I understand that Gary Matthews Jr. has been advised by his agent not to comment on the recent steroid raid to which his name was connected. Any kind of admission might put his contract in jeopardy (although even that seems doubtful). Like it or not, though, Matthews has already been found guilty in the court of public opinion. This paragraph from the L.A. Times says it all:
"Asked whether he had ever used performance-enhancing substances, accidentally or otherwise, Matthews said, ‘I haven’t read the story myself and I don’t have all the information. Until I get more information, that’s my position.’"
I can’t think of a good reason why he would say that if the real answer to the question was simply, "no."
Matthews Jr. Acquired HGH
According to SI.com, Angels center fielder Gary Matthews Jr. was allegedly sent HGH in August of 2004. A number of other high-profile athletes were linked to Tuesday’s steroid raid.
Interestingly, Matthews’s big league success actually began in 2004, and his isolated power has remained steady since that season. It seems possible that he started taking performance-enhancing drugs at the beginning of the ’04 season, but who knows.
Will the Angels be able to use this as a way out of his lousy five-year, $50MM contract? Highly unlikely, in my opinion. HGH wasn’t on the banned substance list until 2005, and Matthews has never tested positive for anything. There probably won’t be any suspension and the Jason Giambi situation indicates that the Angels can’t void his contract based on this information.
Here’s a link at Matthews’s minor league teammates in ’04. Based on the SI.com article, one of them may have been involved as well.
Angels Rumors
A couple of minor trade/signing tidbits surfaced today courtesy of Mike DiGiovanna of the Los Angeles Times.
DiGiovanna mentions in a reader Q&A that he asked Bill Stoneman whether the team would have interest in Bernie Williams, and Stoneman said he preferred to go with younger players. Whoever wins the fourth outfielder job in L.A. (Erick Aybar?) should manage a decent amount of at-bats. Garret Anderson, Gary Matthews Jr., Vladimir Guerrero, and Juan Rivera isn’t the healthiest bunch. Guerrero and Anderson did avoid the DL last year though.
The Q&A also mentions the idea of sending Reggie Willits to Florida for young pitching. That idea has been around for a while; I wonder if the two clubs have had discussions about him. Center field remains a glaring weakness for Florida.
Also, while not much of a story, Nick Adenhart didn’t seem to mind being mentioned in last summer’s Miguel Tejada trade rumors. The team’s top pitching prospect grew up an Orioles fan in Maryland. Though he’s yet to pitch above A ball, Adenhart might be able to post a sub-5 ERA in the bigs right now.
Juan Gone Still On The Radar?
Despite published reports to the contrary, Tracy Ringolsby says the Tigers and Orioles are considering extending a spring training invite to Juan Gonzalez. He adds that despite Bill Stoneman’s denial, the Angels had scouts watching Gonzalez in Puerto Rico this winter.
Now let us all sit back and wait for those three clubs to re-deny interest. It’s funny to me that the clubs even felt compelled to comment on the rumor in the first place.
Juan Gone Still On The Radar?
Despite published reports to the contrary, Tracy Ringolsby says the Tigers and Orioles are considering extending a spring training invite to Juan Gonzalez. He adds that despite Bill Stoneman’s denial, the Angels had scouts watching Gonzalez in Puerto Rico this winter.
Now let us all sit back and wait for those three clubs to re-deny interest. It’s funny to me that the clubs even felt compelled to comment on the rumor in the first place.
Juan Gonzalez Wants Back In
It was bound to happen sooner or later – Igor, aka Juan Gonzalez, is attempting another return to the Majors. Published reports in Puerto Rico named the Angels, Tigers, and Orioles as interested parties. Update: the Orioles aren’t interested after all. And the Tigers denying interest as well. Ah, there we go – the Angels are not pursuing him. That was awesome – each team systematically denied any interest in Gonzalez within a few days of the rumor surfacing.
The slimmed-down Gonzalez spent last year in the Atlantic League and he’s currently playing in the Caribbean Series. Baseball Prospectus’s Derek Jacques reports:
"Juan Gonzalez makes the Tin Man from the Wizard of Oz look nimble and flexible. Watching him run the bases, I constantly expected to hear a loud snapping sound followed by a trail of body parts. Igor still has the long looping swing, but his bat speed isn’t where he can really turn on Dessens’ heat in the third. He’s trying to cheat, and it just isn’t working."
Last year, Gonzalez was said to be in the best condition of his life and supposedly drew interest from the Cubs, White Sox, Red Sox, Athletics, and Rockies.
Juan Gonzalez Wants Back In
It was bound to happen sooner or later – Igor, aka Juan Gonzalez, is attempting another return to the Majors. Published reports in Puerto Rico named the Angels, Tigers, and Orioles as interested parties. Update: the Orioles aren’t interested after all. And the Tigers denying interest as well. Ah, there we go – the Angels are not pursuing him. That was awesome – each team systematically denied any interest in Gonzalez within a few days of the rumor surfacing.
The slimmed-down Gonzalez spent last year in the Atlantic League and he’s currently playing in the Caribbean Series. Baseball Prospectus’s Derek Jacques reports:
"Juan Gonzalez makes the Tin Man from the Wizard of Oz look nimble and flexible. Watching him run the bases, I constantly expected to hear a loud snapping sound followed by a trail of body parts. Igor still has the long looping swing, but his bat speed isn’t where he can really turn on Dessens’ heat in the third. He’s trying to cheat, and it just isn’t working."
Last year, Gonzalez was said to be in the best condition of his life and supposedly drew interest from the Cubs, White Sox, Red Sox, Athletics, and Rockies.
Erstad Options
According to Ken Rosenthal, free agent center fielder Darin Erstad is expected to choose a team this week. The 32 year-old has a slight chance at signing with the Angels or Cubs, but is more likely to choose between the Marlins or White Sox.
It appears that Florida is Erstad’s best shot at regular playing time, given that his competition is Alex Sanchez. With Chicago Erstad would split time with Brian Anderson and perhaps Ryan Sweeney.
Rosenthal reports that the Cubs hope to acquire a young, cheap CF to hold the fort until Felix Pie is ready. This comes despite the recent proclamation that Alfonso Soriano would play center. Pie has an interesting PECOTA projection – Baseball Prospectus forecasts a .289/.342/.481 line from him as a 22 year-old in the Majors.
White Sox Considering Erick Aybar?
In his latest blog post at ESPN, Peter Gammons mentions that the White Sox might pursue Angels shortstop Erick Aybar if Juan Uribe‘s future remains unclear. Joe Crede could be the trade candidate.
Aybar, who turned 23 yesterday, hit .283/.327/.413 in Triple A last year (equivalent to .234/.269/.328 in the Majors). Baseball America ranks Aybar as the Angels’ third best prospect, behind Brandon Wood and Nick Adenhart. Aybar has come up in many trade rumors already in his career. According to BA, Aybar handles the bat well and his glove, arm, and speed are plus tools. They see him as more of a bottom-of-the-order, defensive-minded SS.
My feeling is that swapping out Uribe and Crede for Aybar and Fields would make the Sox significantly worse in 2007…but it is just a trade rumor right now.
Mariners In On Randy Johnson?
I scoured what seemed like a dozen Randy Johnson articles, most of which had the same themes we were hearing yesterday: the Yanks don’t have to trade Johnson, the vacancy could go to Zito or Clemens, the Diamondbacks are in the thick of things, the Padres are the frontrunners, the Dodgers are just driving up the price, and the Giants and Angels are the dark horses.
Joseph A. Reaves of the Arizona Republic has a slightly different take, though: he says the Mariners have surfaced as a potential trade partner. It’s just a one-line mention, but I haven’t seen it confirmed elsewhere yet. I will try. Additionally, Reaves writes that the Dodgers are not interested.
Newday’s Ken Davidoff weighs in on the side of reason: he doesn’t want to trade a decent 200 inning starter. I also agree with him in that Kei Igawa can easily be pushed to the pen for two-thirds of a season if Roger Clemens is brought aboard. The Yanks aren’t so stacked with good starting pitching as to make Johnson expendable.