Angels vs Matthews

All is not well in Anaheim. The name of new center fielder Gary Matthews Jr. has surfaced in an investigation of pharmacies that allegedly sell performance-enhancing drugs online. Angels owner Arte Moreno tells the New York Times that he is “not a happy guy.”

Seems Moreno had one idea of how Matthews should handle the situation, while the player had another. Quoth Moreno:

Address the press and say: “Yes, my name has been linked to this story. I’m sorry this has become a distraction and we’re going to try to clear it up as quickly as possible. I’m not asking him to admit to anything illegal. His response was, “I’m talking to my people and we’ll get back to you.”

Heh. Behold the power of a very strong labor union. Moreno doesn’t get to call this shot, and it’s killing him.

Meanwhile, Matthews has hired noted lawyer Robert Shapiro. How does Moreno feel about this?

When he hired Shapiro, this doesn’t send a very good signal. When 8 or 10 days go by and the only response is from a criminal attorney, what signals does that send to your fans?

Moreno asks a good question. I’ll follow up with three more of my own:

1. What signals does it send to your fans when the team owner publicly slags his biggest free-agent acquisition of the winter on the basis of an ongoing investigation?
2. What are the motives of a man who insists on identifying his team with the city of Los Angeles despite the fact that it plays in a different county? (Hint: It starts with “m” and rhymes with honey.)
3. Is it possible that Moreno finally got the memo that signing Matthews to a long-term deal worth big bucks wasn’t such a hot idea, and that maybe he’s looking for a way out?

Note that I don’t have answers to these questions (well, except for the second one — but it doesn’t take a genius to figure that out). I’m just throwing stuff out there for discussion. I don’t see a happy ending here. For that, you’ll still need to take the 10-minute drive to Disneyland. If you do, please give my regards to Fantasyland.