SB Nation - Vladimir Guerrero

Hideki Matsui Signing a Goal of Angels President John Carpino

Rev Halofan — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 20:09:09 -0000

More photos » by Koji Sasahara - AP

about 1 month ago: People watch a live broadcast on TV at Yamada Denki discount store in Tokyo, Japan, Thursday, Nov. 5, 2009, showing New York Yankees' MVP Hideki Matsui being interviewed after winning the Major League Baseball World Series against the Philadelphia Phillies Wednesday, Nov. 4, 2009, in New York. Matsui became the first Japanese-born player to be named World Series Most Valuable Player after hitting a record six RBIs in the deciding game to lead the Yankees over the Phillies 7-3. Japanese on the screen reads: World Series MVP goes to Yankees' Hideki Matsui. (AP Photo/Koji Sasahara)

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Multiple reports have the Angels close to signing Hideki Matsui for a one year $6.5 Million contract.

The reason the Angels have been pursuing Hideki Matsui to basically fill the Vladimir Guerrero role can be summed up with one word: BILLBOARDS.

There are two players in baseball who sells billboards, and they aren't John Lackey and Vladimir Guerrero. They are Ichiro Suzuki and Hideki Matsui. The Angels could recoup almost all of our soon-to-be new DH's salary in a few deals that will put them on the radar of advertising partners that the divorcing Dodgers can only dream of...

The new Angels President, John Carpino, was a giant in the billboard industry and understands them like Bill James understands baseball. He was Arte Moreno's Alma-Mater approved capo at Outdoor Systems and is the person besides Moreno most responsible for making Arte a billionaire. Our new team president is obviously putting his stamp on the Angels. That and the fact that he was the 2nd biggest Yankee fan (to Angels Chairman Dennis Kuhl) on Earth before joining Arte with the team ties him to this move.

This signing is a goodbye to Vladimir Guerrero. We love you Vladdy, but you don't move teevee sets in Tokyo. It is an unsentimental move to bring in revenue from other streams besides ticket sales and at least the Angels have an expert in the outdoor advertising field operating behind the scenes.

Hideki Matsui will sell more billboards in the stadium and introduce Angels management to partnerships with corporate advertisers that were off limits to anyone besides the top tier of international markets only last week. Welcome to the future, Angels fans... expect red pinstripes by 2012.

Poll

Matsui Billboard You Most Eagerly Await

Jason Bay May Sign with Angels

Rev Halofan — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 19:26:29 -0000

More photos » by Steve Nesius - AP

7 months ago: Boston Red Sox baserunner Jason Bay (44) steals second as Tampa Bay Rays' Akinori Iwamura, of Japan, fields the late throw during the third inning of a baseball game Saturday night, May 2, 2009 in St. Petersburg, Fla. (AP Photo/Steve Nesius)

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Many media outlets are reporting that baseball's Winter Meetings are buzzing with the Angels monopolizing the time of free agent outfielder Jason Bay (via his representatives), and the Angels' contingent just landed at the airport in Indianapolis an hour ago.

In the age of the cell phone and blackberry this is more possible, but reports indicate that the Mariners and Red Sox cannot even get in a word edge-wise. Bay is seeking a Torii Hunter style deal: 5 years, $18 Million. He turned down 4 years $15 Million from Boston in November.

Another big pair of rumors is a reported Juan Rivera to the Detroit Tigers for Curtis Granderson trade as well as an upbeat report that the Angels may have found a trading partner for the services of Gary Matthews Jr.

Bay only batted .267 last season but his OPS was .921. That was, however, in Fenway (minor league girls can hit) Park.

If we sign Bay, adios Big Daddy (Vladimir Guerrero)

If we sign Bay, adios Johnny Rivers (Juan Rivera)

If we sign Bay, adios Thunder Mountain (John Lackey)

I will stop before I accidentally rhyme something and you mistake this for a poem.

Poll

Is Jason Bay Worth Torii Hunter Money?

Mike Gonzalez an option for White Sox?

Eli Greenspan — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 23:52:20 -0000

More photos » by John Bazemore - AP

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INDIANAPOLIS- The White Sox need a reliever.

Bobby Jenks was a solid closer last season, but was not the dominant closer the White Sox had hoped for. Adding a top reliever would give the back-end of the bullpen some much needed relief and give Ozzie Guillen the option of moving Bobby Jenks out of the closer spot if necessary.

Free agent Mike Gonzalez is drawing considerable interest, but the soon-to-be 32 year old would be in a similar role in Chicago, rotation between the 8th and 9th inning. Gonzalez dominated lefties, holding hitters to a career .201 average.

	W-L	G	GS	CG	SHO	SV	BS	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	K	ERA	WHIP
2009 - Mike Gonzalez	5-4	80	0	0	0	10	7	74.1	56	28	20	7	33	90	2.42	1.20

The White Sox are also looking to add a leadoff hitter and designated hitter, but are keeping a tight lip on who that may be. After adding Jake Peavy, how much money they have available is in question.

Vladimir Guerrero is an option, who is reportedly looking at a one year deal worth 7-9 million dollars. For the outfielder, Coco Crisp is an option and sources say Scott Podsednik could be had if all else fails. They are reportedly also looking at Johnny Damon.

The Most Depressing Quote of the Offseason

Adam J. Morris — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 00:47:47 -0000

From T.R. Sullivan's story tonight on the Rangers needs at the Winter Meetings:

The Rangers need a big hitter in the middle of the order. He could be an outfielder, designated hitter or occasional first baseman paired with Chris Davis. Among the possibilities are Vladimir Guerrero, Jermaine Dye, Troy Glaus, Gary Sheffield, Mike Cameron and Fernando Tatis.

So there you go, Rangers fans. Time to get fired up. The team's biggest need is a middle of the order hitter, and we're going to end up with Jermaine Dye or Gary Sheffield hitting cleanup.

Cameron and Glaus are the only players on that list who should even be everyday players anymore, and these are the guys we're looking at to hit cleanup for the Rangers in 2010.

I'm disgusted. At this point, if this is what we're dealing with, it makes me wonder if the Rangers wouldn't be better off just trading Kevin Millwood and Frankie Francisco, their two players who will be free agents after the season, and conceding that they aren't serious about contending this year.

Lackey and Figgins Only Angels Offered Arbitration

Rev Halofan — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 01:21:21 -0000

The Angels offered arbitration to 2 of their 4 arbitration eligible free agent players, John Lackey and Chone Figgins, even though free agents Darren Oliver and Vladimir Guerrero would have brought them compensation (in the form of sandwich and 2nd round picks) should they have been offered arbitration and declined it before signing with another team.

This info is according to Mark Polishuk at MLB TRADE RUMORS.

If Lackey and Figgins sign with other teams, the Angels could reap a bounty of compensation picks in the 2010 June draft. The risk at offering Oliver and Guerrero arbitration would have been that salary raises are based on increasing the previous year's take and both players were making a peak income in 2009 based on the current market for their services. Both Guerrero and Oliver could still be signed by the Angels.

Figgins and Lackey have until Monday to accept or reject the offer of arbitration. Bet you a dollar that they both turn it down. Free agents Kelvim Escobar and Robb Quinlan performed below the compensation threshold and were not involved in this ancient offseason ritual.

Poll

If you can re-sign either Figgy or Big John, who do you re-sign

Chone Figgins

247 votes

John Lackey

635 votes

Take the draft picks and stock the farm

156 votes

1038 votes | Poll has closed

Washington Nationals: Adam Dunn And Vladimir Guererro Rumors...

Ed Chigliak — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 16:30:10 -0000

More photos » by Chris Carlson - AP

Who said anything about the Nationals? Would Vladimir Guerrero make sense in DC? Not really... (AP Photo/Chris Carlson)

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MASNSports.com's Phil Wood took Phil Taylor of the Chicago Tribune to task over the weekend about the possible destination Mr. Taylor identifies for LA Angels' free agent outfielder Vladimir Guerrero in a recent article at the Boston Herald.com entitled, "Here are early projections on where top free agents will land", where he writes that the former Montreal Expos' All-Star could end up returning to the nation's capital:

"Washington has enough money to bring back the eight-time All-Star to his original franchise, making it more acceptable to trade Adam Dunn for some badly needed pitching."

Well...uh...

The Nationald do need pitching...but...the only Adam Dunn rumor I've heard so far this fall was in an stltoday.com article by St. Louis Post-Dispatch writer Joe Strauss entitled, "Cards say Bay is not a priority" where Mr. Strauss wrote that, "The Cardinals heavily scouted the Washington Nationals before last July's trade deadline and retain interest in outfielders Adam Dunn and Josh Willingham," while also noting that Dunn, "...is entering the final season of a two-year deal that pays him $12 million in 2010," which makes Dunn a good bet to be moved at the deadline if the Nationals don't try to extend him, but as far as trading Dunn before the season starts as they'd have to in order to bring in Guerr...well, why even take the idea seriously, it makes no sense as MASNSports.com's Phil Wood points out:

"Guerrero is a likely future Hall of Famer, coming off a season where he appeared in only 100 games, due to a number of nagging injuries, including a strained pectoral muscle. Out of those games, he played only two in the field, DH'ing in the rest. Most scouts who've seen Guerrero the past couple of years don't believe he can be an effective defensive player anymore, despite his past reputation."

The fact of the matter, as a lot of folks said last winter, is that both Dunn and Guerrero are probably both more suited to a DH role at this point in their respective careers, though Dunn may have extended his NL career a bit with a somewhat successful move to first late last season, but I don't see any way in which Vladi Guerrero makes sense in DC...but as a former Montreal Expos' fan, I'm willing to be convinced...

(ed. note - "By an odd coincidence, and nothing else I assume, Adam Dunn was asked for a quote about the St. Louis Cardinals' two tall starters Chris Carpenter and Adam Wainwright that played as a soundbite on XM's MLB Home Plate Update last week around the time the NL Cy Young was announced...This is what Dunn had to say about the two right-handers against whom he's hit in 11 of 40 at bats (.275 AVG) with 1 double, 2 HR's, 4 RBI's, 10 walks and 12 K's... Dunn's opinion of Carpenter and Wainwright:

"They're both the exact same. They both have a big devastating curve ball, they have a really good slider, and uh, if they really want to mess you up they'll throw a changeup, so, they, uh, they're the exact same so..."

"Why Dunn, in particular, was asked, I'm not sure...")

Tony Reagins Speaks, Media Hints at Angels Front Office Tension

Rev Halofan — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 07:03:11 -0000

More photos » by M. Spencer Green - AP

Del Ninja (AP Photo/M. Spencer Green)

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General Manager Tony Reagins commented on all the trade rumors out there in the LA TIMES - just like me and many here he said that a lot of these rumors don't make sense.

In a bitch-slap to Scott Boras, the Angels GM specifically said the Angels are not pursuing Boras client Matt Holliday. Reagins said his priorities are RE-signing John Lackey and Chone Figgins and that Vladimir Guerrero and Darren Oliver are definitely on the team's radar as well.

Conclusion from these comments: Tony Reagins seems to understand that you don't blow up a 97-win team.

The Times' Mike DiGiovanna hinted at the tension surrounding the shakeup in the Angels front office when he noted that despite the current shakeups in management, payroll would not be affected.

Though the Angels are in the midst of a front-office reorganization that resulted in the loss of positions in the media relations and community relations department last week, Reagins doesn't expect the team's payroll -- about $113 million in 2008 -- to be reduced significantly.

Why would the Times bring up the team's on-field payroll in mentioning a shakeup involving a community affairs director and a media contact person whose combined salary is half of the major league minimum of a rookie player? Would it maybe be from an independent blog waking them up? Stay tuned.

Poll

Favorite Reagins

Tony

251 votes

Ronald

121 votes

The Linda Blair character in "The Exorcist"

58 votes

430 votes | Poll has closed

2009 BCB Free Agent Frenzy Contest

Al — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 14:00:24 -0000

More photos » by Nam Y Huh - AP

Where will Mark DeRosa play baseball in 2010?

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As I have done here each of the last four years, I'm going to run a contest, beginning today, matching the MLB.com Free Agent Frenzy contest.

The rules are pretty simple. You'll find, after the jump, the 15 free agents that MLB.com lists in its contest. Choose the team you think the free agent is going to sign with, and your "confidence" level expressed in a point value. In other words, if you are absolutely, positively certain that Mark DeRosa is going to return to the Cubs (NOTE! Joke! I'm not suggesting this, just using it as an example), you'd assign that pick 15 points. If you'd love to see Aroldis Chapman in a Cubs uniform, but you think that's extremely unlikely, give that pick one point.

Leave your picks in the comments to this post. We'll have the same deadline for picks as the MLB.com contest: one week from today, 4 pm CST on Monday, November 23. A winner will be chosen after all 15 free agents are signed. I'll need a volunteer to keep track of the entries -- and incidentally, because one of the players in last year's contest (Ben Sheets) never signed, we never did choose a winner. If someone wants to go through last year's entries and let me know who won, I'll send out the prize -- same prize this year as last, a copy of "The Cubs", a comprehensive history of the Cubs by Glenn Stout. Like the MLB.com contest, if any of these free agents remains unsigned on March 1, we'll declare the contest over and name a winner.

Here are the 15 players for this year's contest:

Jason Bay, OF Erik Bedard, SP Russell Branyan, 1B Aroldis Chapman, SP Johnny Damon, OF Mark DeRosa, 3B Jermaine Dye, OF Chone Figgins, 3B Vladimir Guerrero, DH Rich Harden, SP Matt Holliday, OF John Lackey, SP Hideki Matsui, DH Miguel Tejada, SS Jose Valverde, RP

And, I'll begin with my own picks (if, somehow, I win, the prize will go to the 2nd-place finisher).

15: Aroldis Chapman, Yankees
14: Chone Figgins, White Sox
13: Hideki Matsui, Yankees
12: John Lackey, Angels
11: Jermaine Dye, Rays
10: Jason Bay, Red Sox
9: Jose Valverde, Astros
8: Miguel Tejada, Mariners
7: Matt Holliday, Mariners
6: Rich Harden, Red Sox
5: Mark DeRosa, Cubs
4: Johnny Damon, Yankees
3: Russell Branyan, Rays
2: Vladimir Guerrero, White Sox
1: Erik Bedard, Brewers

July 8th to August 3rd

WiHaloFan — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 20:13:06 -0000

More photos » by Lenny Ignelzi - AP

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On July 11th, the Angels placed Vladimir Guerrero and Torii Hunter on the disabled list retroactive to Wednesday July 8th. At the time of this transaction, the Angels were in second place, one game behind the Texas Rangers. This would be Guerrero's second trip to the DL, but at the time of Hunter's injury, he was easily the Angels' MVP up to that point of the season as he was hitting .305 and leading the team with 17 home runs.

Most teams, after losing the #4 and #5 hitters in their batting order for almost a month would typically call it a season. How could a team be able to withstand losing so much production from the middle of their order? Yet, in spite of losing both Hunter and Guerrero on the same day, the Angels went on a hitting spree resulting in the team winning 17 of the next 21 games and taking over first place in the West division, moving 4 games ahead of the Rangers.

How did the Angels withstand, in fact even flourish after losing two of their most important players? Possible explanations:

Playing against weaker teams
During this stretch, the Angels played the Rangers, Yankees, A's, Royals, Twins, and Indians. These teams went a combined 482-491 during the 2009 season, or a .495 winning percentage. Playing teams who were a combined 9 games under .500 may have had a small factor in the Angels success during those 21 games, however they did play 13 of the 21 games against the 3 teams with winning records (Rangers, Yankees, and Twins). No, they weren't beating up on weaker teams.

The Angels Pitching Was Fantastic
At the time when Hunter and Guerrero went onto the disabled list, the Angel pitching staff had a team ERA of 4.72 (380ER in 725IP). During the 21 games while Hunter and Guerrero were gone the staff ERA was 4.88 (104ER in 192IP). The pitching didn't get better, but actually was slightly worse.

The Angel Hitters Went Nuts
Prior to losing Hunter and Guerrero, the Angels were scoring 5.3 runs a game and hitting .281/.353/.435 as a team. After the Angels lost two of their more productive hitters, the rest of the line up went crazy, scoring 7.6 runs per game and hitting .324/.389/.511. The Angels 3, 4, 5, and 6 spots in their batting order:

	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS
Napoli	76	15	24	7	0	6	13	5	17	.316	.381	.645	1.026
Morales	72	16	26	5	0	9	24	6	9	.361	.425	.806	1.231
Rivera	42	9	13	1	0	2	8	3	3	.310	.356	.476	.832
Abreu	84	18	33	4	0	2	22	12	15	.393	.474	.512	.986
	274	58	96	17	0	19	67	26	44	.350	.407	.620	1.027

Bobby Abreu remained in the #3 spot throughout the entire 21 games, while Rivera played all 11 of his games in the clean-up spot. Morales and Napoli moved around in the batting order with Morales typically batting 5th and Napoli splitting his time hitting 4th, 5th or 6th. Here's what Napoli did in various spots of the batting order:

	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS
4th	21	4	4	2	0	2	6	1	8	.190	.261	.571	.832
5th	29	6	9	2	0	2	4	3	4	.310	.394	.586	.980
6th	26	5	11	3	0	2	3	1	5	.423	.464	.769	1.234

Kendry Morales thrived hitting in front of Napoli:

AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS
47	10	17	2	0	6	13	4	7	.362	.423	.787	1.210

While no one hit well in front of Matthews.

Batters' stats who preceeded:

	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS
GMJ	36	5	9	4	0	0	2	2	7	.250	.308	.361	.669
Morales	61	15	19	3	0	3	12	9	10	.311	.417	.508	.925
Napoli	75	15	30	6	0	7	22	5	9	.400	.444	.760	1.204

I generally focused on the players who replaced Hunter and Guerrero in the #4 and #5 spots in the batting order, but the primary players who took over for Hunter and Guerrero in the lineup were Matthews, Izturis and Kendrick. Matthews received the bulk of playing time by replacing Hunter in centerfield, however he was easily the worst of the regular players:

	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS
Aybar	64	14	19	2	0	3	15	3	6	.297	.328	.469	.797
Izturis	64	14	19	2	0	3	15	3	6	.297	.328	.469	.797
Kendrick	55	12	24	5	0	2	15	5	7	.436	.492	.636	1.128
Figgins	87	21	28	2	2	2	9	14	20	.322	.416	.460	.876
Matthews	85	12	23	5	0	0	13	10	23	.271	.347	.329	.677

While Matthews wasn't doing much with his increased playing time, Howie Kendrick took advantage by getting on base almost half of the time and improving his batting average from .228 to .273 over the 21 games.

Was it a fluke that 8 of the nine regulars in the Angels lineup got hot at the same time, or was there another dynamic within their batting order that caused the hitters to improve once Hunter and Guerrero were gone?

I'm thinking it was a combination of both factors.

Poll

What caused the Angels offense to do so well while Vladimir Guerrero and Torii Hunter were on the DL from 7/8 to 8/3?

Just a fluke they all got hot at the same time

160 votes

Better "dynamic" within the batting order

156 votes

Part fluke, part better batting order

176 votes

Other (comment below)

16 votes

508 votes | Poll has closed

Trading Matthews, Talking Guerrero: Friday Halolinks

WiHaloFan — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 14:49:14 -0000

More photos » by Peter Morgan - AP

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Would GMJ get any job if he were a free agent? - Sam Miller - OCRegister.com
Gary Matthews, Jr. wants to be traded. Barring that, he’d like to be released "to go somewhere to play for an organization that believes in my ability to play every day. " I’m assuming he doesn’t mean the Fullerton Flyers, but an actual Major League team. But if he were actually a free agent right now, how sure should he be that he’d even get a Major League contract offer?

Where does production come from? - The Hardball Times
There are a lot of ways to build a winning ballclub. The method behind the Angels' success doesn't get the same attention as some other techniques, but perhaps it should. They've won 89 or more games six consecutive seasons, including 97 and 100 the last two.

True Grich: You can't teach an old dog new tricks

Statistically, he’s been great (for the most part), but again, I hardly knew him. All I know of Vlad is what I’ve heard through broadcaster Jose Mota, who usually translates interviews for him. That’s it. You don’t see Vlad on Sports Center doing interviews. You don’t hear him on the radio with Jim Rome. We rarely even see a quote in the paper from him. It’s as if he doesn’t exist outside of the box score. All we get is what we see on the field. Now, I know that’s good enough for some fans, but it’s never been enough for me. Some of us want to feel connected to our players. Vlad could have had a love affair with Angel fans, but he never put forth the effort. I’ve seen him at Spring Training. I’ve seen him walk past fans without so much as a wave or even a smile. Nothing. I’ve seen him ignore the autograph requests of little kids wearing his jersey. And I’m not just talking about once or twice over six years. I’m talking about him consistently ignoring us; as in all of the time, year after year.

Owners really cheated on Dodgers fans -- latimes.com
And, really, as embarrassing as the McCourts have behaved toward each other, has it been any worse than watching violent fans roam Dodger Stadium while celebrated stoner Snoop Dogg promotes the team on the video board? By the time the McCourts started one divorce, another was already being finalized, between the team and the values that once made it so special.

October 30 - BR Bullpen
Events, births and deaths that occurred on October 30.

What do you think...is this real?

Poll

Was Vladimir Guerrero's popularity lessened because he rarely gave interviews?

Yes, part of his job is to connect with fans.

248 votes

No, he's paid to play baseball and he did it well.

395 votes

643 votes | Poll has closed