December 1979

On December 4th, 1979, the Angels made the first of two trades with the Twins.  The Angels sent Ron Jackson and Danny Goodwin to Minnesota.  The versatile Jackson had spent the previous four seasons with California, playing 6 different positions...including one appearance at shortstop, but mostly manning first and third base.  The Alabama native had been selected in the second round by the Angels during the 1971 amateur draft and made his major league debut on September 12, 1975, going 2 for 3 with an RBI and stolen base against Royals' pitcher Al Fitzmorris (who would spend part of the 1978 season with the Halos, see previous 1979 post).  Jackson was coming off his best season in Anaheim where he batted .297 in 387 at-bats, and would do better in 1979 playing first base full-time in Minnesota where he hit .271 while clubbing 14 home runs and scoring 85 times.

In return for Jackson and Goodwin, the Angels received "Disco" Dan Ford to replace the murdered Lyman Bostock.  The former first round draft pick of the Oakland A's in 1970, Ford took over right field for the Angels in 1979.  Typically hitting second in the Halo batting order behind Carney Lansford and ahead of Rod Carew, Ford had his career year in which he hit .290 with 21 home runs, 101 RBI and 100 runs scored.

The Twins' rookie of the year in '75, Ford quickly became popular on the field and in the Minneapolis social scene. A loyal fan following spawned, as did his nickname, "Disco" Dan Ford.  "I had some friends that owned a disco. We started the disco club out of there," he said. "We officially made it with some T-shirts and a trophy, and we brought it to the stadium. That's what made it really get going, 200-300 people had bought T-shirts and sat out in right field on occasions."  Ford retired from baseball after the 1985 season with a .270 average, 121 homers and 566 RBIs. With the game behind him, he went on to do some intervention work with troubled children. He also owned a batting school and worked in real estate.  Having retired altogether from working in 2002, Ford now spends most of his time managing rental properties and does some fishing and hunting. A Southern California native, he resides most of the time at his 20-acre horse ranch in Benton, La., a long way from the discos of the past.  (Mark Sheldon / MLB.com)

In another move made by the Angels that would have an impact on the '79 season, the Halos signed free agent pitcher Jim Barr on December 3rd.  The 31 year-old starter would go 10-12 with a 4.20 ERA in 36 games (25 starts). 

Daily Notes:

• ESPN's Rob Neyer wrote a couple things about the Angels last week.  In one article Neyer writes about Garret Anderson's chances at getting 3000 hits:
  
  ...let's assume that Anderson's defense is good enough, for another four years, to merit regular play in left field. Let's also assume that he doesn't suffer any significant injuries. As Dylan Hernandez notes, Anderson has averaged 159 hits per (healthy) season, and if he continues to average 159 hits per season he'll have 3,004 hits. Of course, that also assumes zero decline due to the natural aging process.

  Which is, of course, highly unlikely. And if he does decline, his chances of playing regularly plummet accordingly. You can do the math: Anderson is exceptionally unlikely to reach 3,000 hits, because he isn't going to be healthy enough or good enough to earn the playing time he would need.
  
  In another article, Neyer predicts the addition of C.C. Sabathia to the Angels' rotation would add 3 or 4 wins to the Angels' total.  Here's what he wrote:
  
  My first reaction was that the Angels need another starting pitcher like they need another hitter who doesn't walk or hit home runs. After all, their starters finished with the fifth-best ERA in the American League last season, and they'd have been second-best if John Lackey hadn't been out for six weeks.

  But the Angels' worst starter (by a lot) was Jon Garland, and Garland's now a free agent. Replace Garland with Sabathia and you gain something like 30-40 runs; three or four wins. That might not seem like a lot, but that just points out how little difference one player, even one great player, can make. Sabathia has been about as good as anybody over the last three seasons, but he's averaged 16 wins per season over that span. Jon Garland won 14 games in 2008 (and has averaged 14 wins over the last three seasons).

  Which isn't to suggest the Angels shouldn't go after Sabathia. Someone has to suck up Garland's innings, and there aren't any obviously viable candidates in the organization. Sure, the Angels' glaring weakness is their team on-base percentage and Sabathia's not going to address that. But a run saved is at least as valuable as a run scored, so I see little downside to the Angels spending their money on the best available pitcher.
  
  The first sentence of the above quote sounds a lot like a spot for Adam Dunn to fill, but I agree with Neyer.  If the Angels can't improve their offense, they may as well improve their pitching to take some pressure off of their hitter to score runs.  A wins a win, regardless if the score's 2-1 or 7-4.

• If you haven't already heard, the Angels offered arbitration to 4 of their 5 free agents (Teixeira, Rodriquez, Oliver and Garland), while deciding to not offer arbitration to Garret Anderson.  With the offers to the 4 free agents, the Angels are guaranteed to receive 7 additional picks in next year's draft if the players sign with another team.  The players have until next Sunday to decide if they would accept arbitration.  In this L.A. Times article, the speculation is Oliver and Garland will accept, and Teixeira and Rodriguez will decline.  I agree with the assumption that Oliver will accept.  He's a Type A free agent which means any club who signs him would lose their first round pick and it is unlikely another team would give up a first rounder for a 38 year-old reliever.  Everything I've read about Garland has been his desire for a multi-year contract.  If he accepts arbitration, the Angels would be on the hook for at least $9.6M for one year.  In not offering Anderson arbitration, the Angels will not be eligible to receive a supplemental pick (Anderson is a Type B free agent) if he signs with another club, but they avoid the risk of Anderson accepting arbitration and returning to the team at no less than $8.8M, plus the $3M already paid when they declined his 2009 option.
• Speaking of Adam Dunn, he was not offered arbitration by the Diamondbacks which means the team who signs the Type A free agent will not have to give up their first round draft pick.  This makes Dunn even more attractive to teams looking for a high OBP, low batting average power hitter.  Pat Burrell wasn't offered arbitration by the Phillies, but the Angels should still stay away for him.