Angels Sign Shea Hillenbrand
Ken Rosenthal reports that the Angels have signed Shea Hillenbrand to a one-year deal. ESPN adds that the contract includes an option for 2008. RotoWorld has the dollars: $6MM in 2006 with a $6.5MM vesting option for ’08. Should the Halos use him at first base, it could indicate a trade of Casey Kotchman or Kendry Morales is on the horizon.
Hillenbrand, 31, hit .277/.313/.451 in 530 ABs between the Blue Jays and Giants this year. His 21 homers were a career high. By comparison, the average American League first baseman hit .280/.352/.467 in 2006.
Hillenbrand’s reunion with John Gibbons won’t occur until the Angels face the Blue Jays on August 14th.
L.A. Teams In Mix For Big Unit?
According to the New York Daily News, you can add the Angels and Dodgers to the list of teams interested in the suddenly-available Randy Johnson. Furthermore, Roger Rubin and Bill Madden name the Padres as Johnson’s most likely suitor right now. This thing has expanded beyond his hometown Diamondbacks.
The paper writes that the Yanks already have some offers on the table. From the Dodgers’ point of view, their interest in Johnson may only be in keeping him away from division rivals. Perhaps a starter would go back to New York in such a deal.
Johnson’s agent hasn’t been looped in yet, but Brian Cashman will need the pitcher’s consent in any deal.
Angels, Rockies Renew Todd Helton Discussion
Mike DiGiovanna of the Los Angeles Times reports that Dan O’Dowd and Bill Stoneman have renewed the Todd Helton trade talks that died at the winter meetings.
Even if Helton’s contract was pared down to $45MM over the next five seasons, the Angels are concerned about the first baseman’s health. It seems that the Rockies could still snag Casey Kotchman and Erick Aybar in the deal – a sweet bounty in itself. Kotchman is healthy again and Aybar would give the Rox a shortstop surplus. Perhaps Aybar, a genius with the leather, could convert to center field.
Helton would have to approve a trade to L.A. Meanwhile, the Denver Post has basically the same info, but is careful to label a trade a "longshot."
Angels Sign Darren Oliver
ESPN reports that the Angels have signed free agent southpaw Darren Oliver to a one-year deal with an option for ’08 worth around $3.5MM in total. That’s one less lefty for the Tigers to consider.
Oliver, who turned 36 this year, wasn’t on anyone’s wish list before his 2006 with the Mets. He stepped up with 81 innings of 3.44 ball after switching to relief full-time. Like many before him, Oliver has found new life out of the ‘pen. Perhaps failed starters like Matt Clement or Russ Ortiz could become bullpen weapons as well.
Angels fans are still waiting for the major move they’ve been promised, as a Todd Helton deal could not be reached.
Angels Decline Helton
According to the LA Times, the Angels have declined an offer from the Colorado Rockies for Todd Helton. The deal may have sent Chone Figgins, Casey Kotchman, and Erik Aybar to Coors.
Apparently the Angels had concerns about Helton’s age and health, and perhaps his $141-million contract had a bit to do with it. The Rockies were apparently willing to pick up some of the tab, but it didn’t seem to be enough for the Angels to "risk" it on Helton.
I’m not sure when the Angels will ever trade away their young prospects. They have held onto all of them for a while now, even when the Tejada, Manny, and other big bat rumors were swirling around the MLB. I wonder what it’s going to take for them to part with any of them.
By Adam Howe
LaRoche For Gonzalez Offer Withdrawn
David O’Brien’s latest for the AJC confirms that the Braves have traded starter Horacio Ramirez to the Mariners for Rafael Soriano. Unless I’m missing something, John Schuerholz pillaged and maybe even plundered Bill Bavasi.
Additionally, the Braves have withdrawn their offer of Adam LaRoche for Mike Gonzalez. That makes sense given the completion of the Soriano deal. O’Brien opines that Atlanta could re-engage the Angels, hoping to acquire some combination of Chone Figgins, Casey Kotchman, and a pitcher.
Gonzalez has been cleverly subtracted from the Pirates’ front page, with Ian Snell replacing him.
Angels Rumor Roundup
Mike Scarr of MLB.com has the latest Angels hot stove. Among his findings:
The Angels still like A-Rod, but the Yankees probably won’t deal him.
The Halos could include Bartolo Colon in such a deal, though his rehab from a partially torn rotator cuff may get in the way.
A Chad Tracy for Joe Saunders deal could work for both teams.
Additionally, check out these hot stove predictions over at Halos Heaven.
Pitchers on the move
Jason Schmidt has been offered $45 million over three years to join the Cubs. If that offer has been leaked already, $60M/4 seems within the realm of possibility. Strangely, Schmidt has already said he’s not interested in the East Coast–you’d think he’d wait until Cashman made an offer and drove up his price before saying no. Once Schmidt signs, it’ll be fun to watch Scott Boras conduct the sure-to-be-insane bidding for Barry Zito.
Some team (to be announced tonight) won the bidding for Kei Igawa for $25 million. Hanshin has accepted. That’s the second largest posting fee ever–somebody must think Igawa is pretty good, definitely on the high side of the typical #3/#4 projection he’s gotten. I’m guessing it’s not the Cubs, or we wouldn’t be hearing so much about the other pitchers they’re after. That leaves plenty of other possibilities, though.
The Baltimore Orioles are continuing their quest to build the most expensive bullpen of all time: Chad Bradford is close to a three-year deal with them. Anybody think it’s a little odd that the O’s traded Chris Britton for a reclamation project and are now probably spending about $8M a year for Bradford and Danys Baez? (Odd? Yes. In character? Absolutely.)
And, this just in: the O’s are also adding Scott Williamson. He’s cheap–only $900K for the year. Oddly enough, he could be the best of their new additions. I’m a little surprised nobody else was willing to go higher for him on a one-year deal.
Many of you have emailed me about a possible Angels-White Sox trade involving Ervin Santana and Chone Figgins for Freddy Garcia and Joe Crede. As Rotoworld points out, this could be a recycled rumor; regardless, Kenny Williams says no. And there’s no way Bill Stoneman deals Santana for Garcia without getting a lot more in return. Five years of a good pitcher under the team’s control for one year of Garcia? Right.
By Jeff Sackmann
Sarge to the Angels
The Angels appear to have signed Gary Matthews Jr. to a 5 year, $50 million deal. I recognize that this is a new market, that the teams have tons of money, that free agents are getting paid more than they would’ve been last year. But I’m sorry, this is completely ridiculous.
Matthews has had one good season in his career. Of course, that was last year, and it was great, so he positioned himself well for the market. But the dude’s 32, he’d never been much above average before, he put up his good offensive numbers in a major hitter’s park, and he may not be that great of a center fielder. Having GMJ under contract for the next five years ensures that the Angels will have an overpaid corner outfielder even after Garret Anderson‘s contract runs out.
Sarge’s career line is .263/.336/.419. According to ZiPS, Maicer Izturis is going to have a better season than that. (I know Izturis doesn’t play center, just…eight figures for utility infielder offense?)
Now for the implications: this would seem to suggest that the Angels won’t be going after Andruw Jones or Manny Ramirez, though trading prospects for Manny would’ve been smarter than doing this. It also might mean that Chone Figgins is expendable, though he’s coming off the worst offensive season of his career, so his trade value might not be much.
Also, we can expect the Dave Roberts sweepstakes to heat up, and perhaps see another team or two get involved with Julio Lugo, who is willing to play center field. Just like the Juan Pierre deal, this would indicate that Roberts will have no trouble getting the $15M/3y he’s after. Lugo ought to have teams giving him the $32M/4y he wants, too. Depending on how he adapts to center, Lugo could be a better player than either Pierre or Sarge, if not in 2007, for the life of their contracts.
One more thing: speaking of center fielders, you may be interested in my Hardball Times column today, which analyzes the difference in defensive skill between CFs and corner guys. I also take a look at how Alfonso Soriano might do in center based on his 2006 performance in left.
By Jeff Sackmann
Juan Pierre: $45M/5
Insanity. $9M for Pierre is a stretch: he’s not a great defender, he hasn’t posted an OBP above .330 in two years, and he isn’t even a particularly high-percentage basestealer. As I mentioned earlier, Kenny Lofton had a better 2006. But, in this market, $9M a year for a leadoff hitter isn’t too crazy–Pierre might well be better than, say, Gary Matthews Jr.
But…five years? It would certainly appear that Matthews is going to get the money he’s after. Dave Roberts‘s agent probably just upped his demands, too. Even Lofton ought to get either a two-year deal or a rich one-year contract.
In other news this evening:
The Marlins swapped Chris Resop to the Angels for Kevin Gregg.
The Mets officially declined Tom Glavine‘s option.