Angels Could Deal From Depth At Short
Over the last few days, I've been reading a lot about major league shortstops. There's been one trade, San Diego sent Khalil Greene to the Cardinals. One free agent signing, Edgar Renteria was signed by the Giants for $18.5M for two years. One deal-no deal where Jack Wilson was reportedly sent to Detroit, but then apparently not. And one rejected offer by Rafael Furcal, who told Oakland their 4 year offer wasn't good enough. The Angels have 3 shortstops who could start form many teams in Erick Aybar, Maicer Izturis and Brandon Wood which puts them in a position to match up with teams in need at that position. I believe if the Angels make a deal at next week's GM meeting, it'll be one involving Erick Aybar. Below are each team's shortstop (according to ESPN's depth charts):
| American League | National League | |||
| Bal | Brandon Fahey | Atl | Yunel Escobar | |
| Bos | Jed Lowrie | Was | Cristian Guzman | |
| NYY | Derek Jeter | NYM | Jose Reyes | |
| TB | Jason Bartlett | Phi | Jimmy Rollins | |
| Tor | John McDonald | Fla | Hanley Ramirez | |
| Chi | Alexei Ramirez | Mil | J.J. Hardy | |
| Cle | Jhonny Peralta | Chi | Ryan Theriot | |
| Det | Ramon Santiago | Cin | Alex Gonzalez | |
| KC | Mike Aviles | Hou | Miguel Tejada | |
| Min | Brendon Harris | Pit | Jack Wilson | |
| Stl | Khalil Greene | |||
| LAA | Erick Aybar | |||
| Oak | Bobby Crosby | LAD | Angel Berroa | |
| Sea | Yuniesky Betancourt | SD | Luis Rodriguez | |
| Tex | Michael Young | SF | Edgar Renteria | |
| Col | Troy Tulowitzki | |||
| Ari | Stephen Drew | |||
Detroit and the Dodgers are two teams most recently looking to trade to fill their hole at short. Both teams were rumored to have acquired Jack Wilson from Pittsburgh, but those rumors were premature as Wilson is still with the Pirates. Other teams possibly in the market to upgrade their infield are San Diego, Oakland, Baltimore, and Pittsburgh (if they trade Wilson). I've also read Houston would like to dump Miguel Tejada, but they'd be hard pressed finding another team willing to take him off of their hands.
The Angels' needs are pretty simple. If they don't sign one of the big dollar free agents; Mark Teixeira, Adam Dunn or Manny Ramirez, they're going to need a leftfielder to replace Garret Anderson if they don't plan on moving Chone Figgins to that position, and the Halos could use some help in the bullpen. How do the Angels match up with the teams looking for a shortstop? Let's take a look:
Detroit: There were rumors earlier this off season where the Tigers were considering sending Magglio Ordonez to Anaheim for a catcher, shortstop and a pitcher. I thought this was a good fit for both teams if the Tigers would have agreed to acquire Jeff Mathis, Erick Aybar and a pitcher such as Moseley. Ordonez is getting older, but still has the ability to get on base and drive in runs. The slow-footed right fielder was a below average defender, but would benefit with a move to the other side of the outfield. The Tigers are reportedly in discussions with Pittsburgh for Jack Wilson.
Los Angeles: The Dodgers have also been rumored to be in the mix to acquire Wilson, but their desire to not take on any of his salary is causing the talks to move slowly. In this L.A. Times article, the Dodgers look to acquire a shortstop via trade, but the article doesn't name any players they're looking at. I don't see a good match up between the two L.A. teams unless the Dodgers are willing to deal Matt Kemp. Latest rumor has Kemp going to the Yankees in a Robinson Cano deal, but if he is truly available, the Angels should be all over him.
San Diego: With their trade last week with the Cardinals, the Padres need to find a replacement for Khalil Greene a short unless they want to go with Luis Rodriguez. Before last season, the 28 year-old Rodriguez had not acquired more than 200 at bats in the majors (he had 202 AB lat year) and was primarily used at 2B and 3B. Jake Peavy is still a Padre, but San Diego has stated that dealing Peavy is no longer a top priority for them. Erick Aybar could be part of a deal that would send Peavy to the Angels, but there other players the Halos would have to include...such as Jered Weaver or Howie Kendrick. I'm not a big fan of a deal that includes Weaver as I feel in a couple years he may be close to the same performance level as Peavy at a more reasonable cost.
Oakland: The A's made a play for Rafael Furcal, offering him a 4 year deal (I haven't heard for how much), but Furcal declined the offer. This deal is probably not dead, as Oakland wants an upgrade over Bobby Crosby and there aren't that many clubs looking to sign a free agent shortstop. I don't see the inter-division rivals making any deals with each other.
Baltimore: Who knows what they're doing in Baltimore. They have light-hitting Brandon Fahey penciled in as their shortstop. The 27 year-old hasn't shown much with the bat and looks to be an average defender. The Orioles have left handed Luke Scott in left. Scott is coming off his first year playing full time, where he hit 23 home runs, but got on base at just a .366 rate. Melvin Mora may be easier to obtain mainly because of his age. The 36 year-old's primary position has been 3B, where he plays average defense, but with his age creeping up on him he should see his range start to decline, if it hasn't already. One positive with Mora is he's signed for just one more year (with a club option for 2010) and at a reasonable salary of $9M. Another possible Oriole to be available is Aubrey Huff who is coming off a excellent year in which he clubbed 32 home runs and batted .304. Mostly playing DH, Huff can fill the 3B position, but is just an average (at best) defender. He too is signed through next year and at a salary of $8M. With the addition of Mora or Huff, the Angels would most likely put Figgins in left. If the Angels do talk to Baltimore about any deals, they should also include relief pitcher George Sherrill. The lefty closer, obtained prior to last season from Seattle, has been rumored to be available and could add depth to the Angels bullpen.
Jim:
First, I enjoy your blog. It's nice to get more Angels information than the traditional sites that seem to always overlook west coast teams. Regarding your comment on Weaver being possibly as good as Peavy in a couple years...I'm a former college pitcher who had a pretty good fastball. Unfortunately, Weaver's fastball was just like mine...dead straight. It virtually has no movement at all.
After the league struggled with his deceptive delivery in his first year (where he was undefeated for a stretch), they finally got to him the second time around. I had high hopes for Weaver, but after seeing his fastball for a couple seasons, and batters hanging in against his hidden ball trick windup, I actually just see him as a little better than a .500 pitcher...at best. So, I actually respectfully disagree. I think he'd be a good trading chip and, like CC, he would be fantastic in an inaugural season in the NL where the hitters generally haven't seen him.
Trading a young starting pitcher now (especially since he's a Boras client), could be a nice move by the Halos, while he has some value. I don't expect him to entirely tank next year, but I don't necessarily have great confidence in Weaver on the mound representing us.
On another note though, I would actually prefer Weaver to CC. Nothing good can come from a 350-375 pound pitcher with a nearly 200 million dollar contract. He was almost useless with the Tribe before he was sent to the Brewers...and no one talks about this at all. I remember one start where he couldn't get to the third inning after giving up about 8 or 9 runs...yes, that was last season!!! (I know because I drafted him in my fantasy league.)
Again, not surprised CC did so well in his inaugural run through the NL. If he stays in the NL, I could see him having another good year in 09, but becoming a middling .500 pitcher with each successive year...especially if he's still holding that girth. Too big of a man to be on a mound for too long!
What do you think of having a package of Weaver, Aybar and Kendrick to the Padres for Peavy. We can have Sean Rodriguez at 2nd and Wood at SS. Defensively, I think we get better. Offensively, I don't think we get much worse. Kendrick, while he's a high average guy, hardly ever walks. Rodriguez showed that he was the better defender last year, and I think he'll take a lot more walks than Kendrick. Aybar, I can see him as a .270 with 6 HR and some steals. I don't think that's anything special considering how many errors he makes, I rather have Izturis than Aybar. Then we'll have Izturis as backup in case one of them don't pan out.
I agree that we should trade Figgins sooner rather than later. I believe this next year is the last year of his contract. He'll probably command at least $5 million in free agency and I think we should trade him while he has some trade value. I thought we should have traded him last year coming off that good year. Although I like that his OBP has gone up, it frustrates me that he can't bunt. I remember Brett Butler would get so many bunt hits and with Figgins speed, he can get so many hits that way. Even if he doesn't, it forces the 3Bman to play in, and he probably can get many hits that way also.
Anyway, wouldn't it be fun if we can be GM of the Angels?