2008 Season Review - Part 1

The New Kid In Town
After ending 2007 season being swept by the Boston Red Sox in the ALDS, the Angels front office was looking to make a change.  The first big change was the resignation of long-time Angels general manager, Bill Stoneman.  Stoneman stepped down as the Angels GM in mid-October and was replaced by the team's director of player development, GM Tony Reagins.  One of first situations Reagins faced was the possible acquisition of Yankee's third baseman Alex Rodriguez, who had opted out of his contract, which was announced during the World Series, making him a free agent.  The Angels were considered one of the front runners to sign Rodriquez who would address their need for a big bat and someone to man the hot corner.  The Angels apparently talked everything but money with Rodriguez's agent, Scott Boras.  Rodriguez would end up re-signing with the Yankees, but another All-Star third baseman became available during the general manager's meetings in November. 

Miguel Cabrera
The Florida Marlins put Miguel Cabrera on the market, and once again the Angels were rumored to be the front-runners in landing the third baseman.  The Angels first offer was rumored to be Brandon Wood, Nick Adenhart, and Mike Napoli/Jeff Mathis/Hank Conger, but the Marlins were insisting on Howie Kendrick in any deal.  The trade rumors also included Marlins second baseman Dan Uggla in the deal if Kendrick was to be traded, but the addition of Uggla would require the Angels adding a fourth player.  The Angels were speculated to have briefly looked into signing free agent third baseman Mike Lowell, but Lowell was reportedly looking for a 4-year deal, something the Angels weren't interested in doing.  Towards the end of November, the Angels rumored offer for M-Cab was Ervin Santana, Howie Kendrick, Chris Bootcheck, and Nick Adenhart. 

The First Trade
On November 19th, Reagins made his first trade as Angels GM when he acquired Jon Garland from the Chicago White Sox for shortstop Orlando Cabrera.  Many thought the acquisition of Garland was done to allow the Angels to include a pitcher in a deal for Miguel Cabrera, rumored to be either Ervin Santana or Joe Saunders.  Also, the speculation was the White Sox were freeing up money to sign Minnesota's free agent center fielder Torii Hunter.

The "Ninja" Strikes
Out of nowhere, on Thanksgiving Day, the Angels signed 7-time Gold Glove winner Torii Hunter to a five-year contract worth $90M.  The Hunter deal was consummated over chicken soft tacos at a Del Taco off of the 91 freeway between GM Tony Reagins and Hunter's agent Larry Reynolds.  The signing of Hunter and the trade for Garland during the same week caused speculation to grow that the Angels were getting closer to making a trade with the Marlins for Cabrera.  With the additions of Hunter and Garland, the Angels now had an excess in the outfield which would allow them to deal either Reggie Willits or Juan Rivera, and the inclusion of one of the Angels starters.

The Other Miguel
The Angels were also rumored to be interested in dealing for Orioles shortstop Miguel Tejada.  This rumor consisted of the Angels sending shortstop Erick Aybar and "something" to Baltimore for Tejada.  If the Angels did acquire Tejada, they were most likely going to play him at third and have Chone Figgins move over to play short.  The Orioles were rumored to have requested both Brandon Wood and Jered Weaver for Tejada.  Apparently the Orioles front-office were smoking crack that day because it was also rumored that they wouldn't pick up any of Tejada's remaining contract ($26M over two years).  Tejada was eventually traded to the Houston Astros for outfielder Luke Scott, pitchers Troy Patton, Matt Albers and Dennis Sarfate and third baseman Mike Costanzo.

Cabrera Deal Hits a Snag
According to an article in the L.A. Times, Angels owner Arte Moreno wasn't happy with the way the Marlins dealt with his club on the Miguel Cabrera negotiations.  The Angels thought they had deals only to have the Marlins come back at the last minute asking for more.  Moreno also believed this happened to the Dodgers, were the Marlins were playing the two teams off each other.  According to Jayson Stark, the Angels told the Marlins they were ready to deal whenever they were ready to give a little on their demands.  In the deal for sure: Howie Kendrick and Jeff Mathis. One of Ervin Santana, Joe Saunders, and Nick Adenhart were to be included as well.  However, the Marlins wanted two of those starters. The Halos wouldn't do it, but they were willing to give one starter plus Reggie Willits.

But in the end it was the Tigers who won the Miguel Cabrera sweepstakes during the winter meetings.  Detroit received Cabrera and Dontrelle Willis from Florida for six players - Cameron Maybin, Andrew Miller, catcher Mike Rabelo and three minor league pitching prospects Burke Badenhop, Eulogio De La Cruz and Dallas Trahern.  Looking back at the trade, many "experts" thought the Marlins got less for the two players than the Angels were rumored to have offered for just Cabrera.

The Rumored Offers
There were many speculated offers that the Angels were rumored to have either offered the Marlins or the Marlins were asking for in deals for Miguel Cabrera.  Some of them included:

• Reggie Willits, Howie Kendrick, and a catcher.  The Marlins are apparently insisting on the inclusion of top pitching prospect Nick Adenhart.
• Howie Kendrick,  Jeff Mathis, pitcher Nick Adenhart, and one of Joe Saunders, Jered Weaver, or Ervin Santana.
• Ervin Santana, Howie Kendrick, Chris Bootcheck, and Nick Adenhart.

Cabrera ended up with decent numbers for the Tigers, but not what they had hoped for.  M-Cab hit .292 (lowest in 5 years), but he hit 37 home runs and drove in 126 runs.  Cabrera's weight and fielding became a problem for the Tigers and they ended up moving the portly third baseman to first base, where he played 143 games.  Looking back on the possible deal for Cabrera a lot of things would most certainly have been affected.  If the Angels had been able to get Cabrera for Kendrick, Mathis, Adenhart and Bootcheck, then it would have been an okay deal.  But then if that deal had been done, would the Angels have traded for Mark Teixeira at the trading deadline?  Probably not.  And where would they end up playing Cabrera since he had eaten his way off of third?