Angels close to signing Mathews Jr. (5 years $50 million)

[savafan]

http://www.dailynews.com/sports/ci_4702721

Indications are that the Angels are closing in on acquiring center fielder Gary Matthews Jr. in a deal that could be worth $55million for five years.

The Boston Globe reported Tuesday that according to an unnamed baseball executive, the Angels' focus is on the Texas Rangers' free agent who set career highs in batting average (.313), home runs (19) and RBI (79) this past season.

With an already thin free-agent pool drying up quickly, the Angels options for signing a player are limited. Third baseman Aramis Ramirez and outfielder/second baseman Alfonso Soriano, both coveted by the Angels, signed deals with the Chicago Cubs.

If Matthews is not signed, the Angels nearly are at a point where they would have to make a trade to acquire the impact player they seek. It's a route that general manager Bill Stoneman has not gone to very often.

"Ideally, you'd like to acquire something without giving up something other than money," Stoneman said Tuesday. "But the two big guys are gone now so it becomes more likely, but not 100 percent, that it will come from a trade."

Stoneman said the Angels' main objective is to improve the offense at either third base, first base or center field. They are not looking to acquire somebody who is exclusively a designated hitter.

[joshnky]

Thats a lot of money and years for what may be a one year wonder.

[redsfan30]

Just proves that baseball is a what have you done for me lately game.

[M2]

That may be the dumbest contract ever.

Seriously, wouldn't they rather have Ken Griffey Jr.?

[Highlifeman21]

That may be the dumbest contract ever.

Seriously, wouldn't they rather have Ken Griffey Jr.?

The Pierre contract and this contract would certainly lay claim to that title.

[Chip R]

Seriously, wouldn't they rather have Ken Griffey Jr.?

I guess not. They probably figure the Private can play more than 140 games a year and isn't a liability in CF. Still a dumb contract, though.

[savafan]

I guess not. They probably figure the Private can play more than 140 games a year and isn't a liability in CF. Still a dumb contract, though.

Pos	NAME	Last	        Team	GP	INN	RSpt	RS/150
8	Corey	Patterson	Bal	118	958.0	14	19
8	Torii	Hunter	        Min	109	942.7	7	10
8	Vernon	Wells	        Tor	117	1012.7	7	9
8	Chone	Figgins	        LAA	71	607.7	5	11
8	Brian	Anderson	CWS	105	754.3	4	7
8	Grady	Sizemore	Cle	127	1094.7	4	5
8	Curtis	Grandrsn	Det	125	1037.0	2	3
8	Joey	Gathright,	KC/TB	104	810.7	1	2
8	Rocco	Baldelli	TB	61	507.0	0	-1
8	Johnny	Damon	        NYY	107	899.7	0	-1
8	Jeremy	Reed	        Sea	64	507.3	-1	-4
8	Mark	Kotsay	        Oak	108	907.3	-4	-6
8	Coco	Crisp	        Bos	86	757.7	-6	-11
8	Gary	Matthews	Tex	112	958.7	-6	-9

Worst centerfielder in the American League

[Chip R]

Pos    NAME    Last            Team    GP    INN    RSpt    RS/150
8    Corey    Patterson    Bal    118    958.0    14    19
8    Torii    Hunter            Min    109    942.7    7    10
8    Vernon    Wells            Tor    117    1012.7    7    9
8    Chone    Figgins            LAA    71    607.7    5    11
8    Brian    Anderson    CWS    105    754.3    4    7
8    Grady    Sizemore    Cle    127    1094.7    4    5
8    Curtis    Grandrsn    Det    125    1037.0    2    3
8    Joey    Gathright,    KC/TB    104    810.7    1    2
8    Rocco    Baldelli    TB    61    507.0    0    -1
8    Johnny    Damon            NYY    107    899.7    0    -1
8    Jeremy    Reed            Sea    64    507.3    -1    -4
8    Mark    Kotsay            Oak    108    907.3    -4    -6
8    Coco    Crisp            Bos    86    757.7    -6    -11
8    Gary    Matthews    Tex    112    958.7    -6    -9

Worst centerfielder in the American League

But is he worse than Jr.?

[savafan]

But is he worse than Jr.?

Sad to say, nobody's worse than Junior.

Pos 	NAME 	Last 	        Team 	GP 	INN 	RSpt 	RS/150
8 	Juan 	Pierre, 	ChC 	129 	1137.0 	12 	15
8 	Carlos 	Beltran, 	NYM 	112 	983.7 	12 	16
8 	Eric 	Byrnes, 	Ari 	102 	875.0 	8 	12
8 	Reggie 	Abercrombie, 	Fla 	84 	586.0 	7 	15
8 	Mike 	Cameron, 	SD 	108 	970.3 	6 	8
8 	Willy 	Taveras, 	Hou 	113 	916.3 	5 	8
8 	Jim 	Edmonds, 	StL 	95 	763.3 	5 	9
8 	Steve 	Finley, 	SF 	108 	828.0 	4 	7
8 	Cory 	Sullivan, 	Col 	95 	739.3 	-1 	-2
8 	Kenny 	Lofton, 	LA 	92 	740.3 	-2 	-4
8 	Aaron 	Rowand, 	Phi 	107 	901.7 	-3 	-5
8 	Brady 	Clark, 	        Mil 	101 	800.0 	-4 	-6
8 	Andruw 	Jones, 	        Atl 	120 	1037.0 	-6 	-8
8 	Ken 	GriffeyJr 	Cin 	93 	807.7 	-11 	-18

[NJReds]

Pos	NAME	Last	        Team	GP	INN	RSpt	RS/150
8	Corey	Patterson	Bal	118	958.0	14	19
8	Torii	Hunter	        Min	109	942.7	7	10
8	Vernon	Wells	        Tor	117	1012.7	7	9
8	Chone	Figgins	        LAA	71	607.7	5	11
8	Brian	Anderson	CWS	105	754.3	4	7
8	Grady	Sizemore	Cle	127	1094.7	4	5
8	Curtis	Grandrsn	Det	125	1037.0	2	3
8	Joey	Gathright,	KC/TB	104	810.7	1	2
8	Rocco	Baldelli	TB	61	507.0	0	-1
8	Johnny	Damon	        NYY	107	899.7	0	-1
8	Jeremy	Reed	        Sea	64	507.3	-1	-4
8	Mark	Kotsay	        Oak	108	907.3	-4	-6
8	Coco	Crisp	        Bos	86	757.7	-6	-11
8	Gary	Matthews	Tex	112	958.7	-6	-9

Worst centerfielder in the American League

Interesting chart. The bottom four on the list have excellent reputations as good defensve CFs. And while Damon can't throw (at all), I watched a lot of Yankees games, and he can still cover the gaps.

What would Griffey be... -100?

[MartyFan]

If they sign Matthews for that sort of money we should see what they would give up for Milton...

[savafan]

May 23, 2003: Selected off waivers by the San Diego Padres from the Baltimore Orioles.

November 24, 2003: Selected off waivers by the Atlanta Braves from the San Diego Padres.

April 2, 2004: Released by the Atlanta Braves.

April 8, 2004: Signed as a Free Agent with the Texas Rangers.

Released three times in one year with one good season at the age of 32, and he gets $11 million a year...?

I read a comment on another board that pretty much sums this up.

"the punch at the GM meeting must have been spiked with stupid this year."

[Johnny Footstool]

This is a joke that will get funnier each season, as the Angles keep shelling out cash to a rapidly-aging .715 OPS hitter.

[Patpacillosjock]

i really dont see whats dumb with this contract or the Pierre contract.

if both pan out and do what is expected of them, then hey its a fair market value contract.

and people need to remind themselves that the length of the contract for guaranteed money is only a bargaining chip and nothing more. do the angels expect last years performance for the next five years? probably not because of his obvious age but did offering the extra 2 years get him signed for the next 3 years?

hell yes.

sometimes u have to extend the length of a contract to ensure the player signs for the "NOW"

[Ltlabner]

sometimes u have to extend the length of a contract to ensure the player signs for the "NOW"

I have customers that try stunts like that all the time. They ask for a price quote for 50,000 units and then at the last minute they share that it's only 15,000units. I guess I could hold the same price per unit to get them to order "NOW" (analogus to agreeing to an additional year just to get the player to sign) but that just doesn't make sense because it would kill the value (ie. profit) of the deal.

Just as you shouldn't give a high volume price for a low volume job, you shouldn't tack on an additional year to "get them to sign" when the chances are the production and value return will not the worth it in the 3rd year. That waters down the value of the whole deal.

These contracts going out are simply amazing. Amazingly stupid in some cases.