While you were stuffing your face..
November 24, 2007 by admin
Filed under Transactions
By Guest Blogger, Timm Davis
I hope that everyone had a wonderful turkey day, filled with food and naps.
There was one team that wasn’t napping – the LA Angels. They’ve gone and signed Torii Hunter to a 5 year $90 Million contract. What does this do to the Angels? Well it improves their outfield defense, but at the same time there outfield is now a bit crowded. Look for Gary Mathews Jr (their CFer last year) to move to a corner spot so Hunter can take his customary spot in the middle of the outfield. That leaves Vlad and Garrett Anderson to share time at the other corner and at the DH spot.
Maybe I’m a bit jaded but is Hunter really worth the 90MM? I mean he’s good don’t get me wrong, but I’m thinking he’s a bit over valued and a bit over priced. But we’ve seen this trend when it comes to the free agent market lately and this contract could set the tone for a guy like Andruw Jones who still hasn’t found a team to play for yet and who won’t sign just a one year deal.
I just don’t think this is the answer the Angels were looking for when it comes to “impact” bat. Sure he’s shored up your outfield defense, but I honestly feel they’re still missing something when it comes to a bat. Then again it’s a long off season…
I think the Angels look at Hunter as security in the outfield. They can just plug him into CF for the next 5 years and count on good offense and defense (in their minds anyway), plus he’s someone they can market to the fans as an All Star and all around good egg. The big bat is going to be Miguel Cabrera; signing Hunter allows them to trade Willits and some of their other young players. Cabrera’s low contract will offset a bit of Hunter’s salary for the first two years, they won’t have to spend anything on 3B (or LF) until they extend Cabrera. While this wouldn’t have been a smart move for many teams I think it’s a good signing for the Angels.