11:11pm: It doesn't appear that Wilson will sign very soon, Danny Knobler of CBSSports.com tweets. There are eight or nine teams interested in the left-hander and they plan to narrow that list down to four or five favorites. The soon-to-be 31-year-old could fetch a six-year deal.
10:09pm: After meeting with the Angels for three hours, Wilson's agent Bob Garber disclosed that the interest is mutual, tweets Mike DiGiovanna of the Los Angeles Times. "C.J. is extremely interested [in the Angels]. We're going to talk some more," said the agent.
Meanwhile, GM Jerry Dipoto isn't sure if Wilson's ties to Southern California will help their pursuit, tweets ESPN.com's Jerry Crasnick.
8:14pm: The Angels have "serious" interest in free agent left-hander C.J. Wilson, according to Mike DiGiovanna of the LA Times (on Twitter). Angels GM Jerry Dipoto is meeting with Wilson's agent in Milwaukee tonight.
Dipoto has publicly expressed his interest in Wilson, who appears to have serious interest in joining the Angels. Several teams are already showing willingness to commit five years to Wilson, according to ESPN.com's Jerry Crasnick (on Twitter). The southpaw is drawing heavy interest already, despite a lackluster showing in the postseason.
Wilson's a Type A free agent, but there's talk that teams will no longer have to surrender draft picks to sign top free agents under the upcoming collective bargaining agreement.
DodgerDen
Makes sense … a solid #2 starter and screw the Rangers.
Wes9825
He would be the Angels #4, which is great depth tho not at the high price. For Texas and other pretenders, he was or will be their “ace.”
Never, ever have enough pitching so let’s stop with the Fielder, Pujols, etc. We are trying to get away from bad contracts like that, not take on MORE.
Diablo 2
So by taking away bad contracts we sign a 30 yr old pitcher for 100+M for idk how many years..hmm 6 years perhaps
Nick Sossamon
He’s been a reliever his entire career… it’s not like he has a lot of wear and tear on his arm at this point. And there’s no way he gets $100M+, especially from the Angels.
Diablo 2
He better not but he isn’t looking for a team to stay with and love..He looking for money like everyone else..This guy better not get Weaver type money..But sounds like he will..Hope not but will see what happens
slider32
CJ is not Weaver but his WAR was better than Weaver this year, 5.9- 5.6. He was the best pitcher on a World Series team two years in a row, that has to mean something.
Diablo 2
And sucked in the postseason.. and I never said anything about comparing anyone..I just said he better not get Weaver type money..
Khabibulan
#4? #1 = Weaver, #2 = Haren, #3 = ? Ervin? CJ Wilson is better than Ervin Santana.
jljr222
Sounds like a good fit in all honesty. Anything to keep Levine and the Steinbrenner Brothers from making yet another foolish signing.
sonofsnake
As a Mariners fan I now have serious interest in C.J. Wilson making a lot of money and pitching very poorly.
Billy
A rotation of Weaver, Haren, Wilson, Santana and whoever would be hard to beat.
Joe Wright
Not when you have NO offense
Cankersly
NO offense is a little harsh. They have at least an average offense. Bourjos, Kendrick and Aybar are all above average offensive players for their positions. Everywhere else they are at least average, except catcher.
MNTwins12
I think you should also include Torii Hunter.
Coollet
and wells
RyÅn Krol
Angels were 71-17 when scoring 4 runs or more.
They were also 54-34 from June 11 – September 21. It was a poor 4 month stretch from early May thorough early June (10-20) that killed their season.
Give them at least a league average hitting catcher, and a spark at the top of that lineup, and the Angels will not need much more offense to take back the AL West.
Especially if the Halos snatch CJ from the Rangers.
Of course, give them a franchise bat… look out.
Christopher Rydo
Exactly my point! Imagine how much better they’d be if they swapped Jeff Mathis’ batting line for someone with even a .260 BA/.335 OBP! I don’t have the numbers in front of me, but that by itself would likely make them jump a few spots in the AL offensive rankings.
RyÅn Krol
I agree. Just a league average hitting catcher would’ve made a difference.
Remember how much more productive the Angels were when Trout was hitting? That boosted our bench. That’s another thing…
This team’s bench was almost a ghost town until August. Get a league average hitting catcher, and pile on more productive bench depth, and that offense is already climbing and helping the Angels win.
I’d also like to see a much bigger improvement in the top 2 spots than a .321 OBP.
And DiPito did mention the team’s need for better OBP. I’m glad he’s addressing that issue in the open.
A dominant closer would really help too because this team might still have an issue with shutting the door late in games regardless of how many runs they score.
It shouldn’t take much more for the Angels to get back into the playoffs.
Diablo 2
Thats why there was only 2 teams in baseball that made the playoffs that were in the top 10 list for best team ERA and 4 teams that were top 10 for offense …Not to mention the WS..Both teams were top offense for there leagues
jjs91
The rangers didnt have the best offense in their league and if you look at other pitching categories fip xfip sierra the yankees, the cards and the rangers make the top ten in some pitching catergories as well.
Diablo 2
nooo they didnt thats why it has a number 1 next to Rangers when you search mlb.com>stats by team>Offense>AL….And Overall Pitching 11.yanks,12.cards,13.rangers…Hmm there all next to each other all made playoffs and they all have top notch offense
Diablo 2
Noo they didn’t thats why they have a #1 when you search on mlb, stats by team,offense,AL..and overall pitching 11.Yanks,12.Cards,13.Texas..hmm all next to each other and they all made the postseason and 2 of them made the WS
jjs91
what do you mean no they didnt? The yankees rangers and the cards aren’t top ten in siera? Also what stat cites the rangers as having the best offense?
Diablo 2
MLb dot com search it…MLB dot com… Sortable team stats…offense..AL or MLB in general for that matter
jjs91
so your basing it off AVG, which would mean the royals have a better offense than the yankees?
Diablo 2
AVG,OBP,SLG,RUNS,STOLEN BASES,OPS,HR,RBI’s, etc Rangers are top 5 in almost everthing
jjs91
Right but you said they were the best offense in their league.
Diablo 2
Pretty much they are name another team that’s top 5 in almost every Offensive stat
jjs91
The red sox the yankees
Diablo 2
Sox Choked and they where carried by Guys like A-gon,Jacoby.. Rangers lineup was complete maybe except Moreland.. But that lineup was just beast..They never relied on just one player to win the game for them
jjs91
And ortiz and pedoira, both of which did better than kinsler and young. Not to mention youk had a fine offesive season. The rangers have a good offense, but their best hitter is injury prone actually most their hitters are injury prone, kinsler, cruz, beltre…
Diablo 2
Injury prone True.. And yet look at Boston they went all the way
jjs91
I’m not sure what you are trying to say but if anything it hurts your argument… The best offensive team missed the playoffs.
Diablo 2
Actually no i saw 2 of the best offensive teams in the WS
jjs91
Right but missed the chance to see the best offense in baseball in the postseason.
Diablo 2
Okay with that right there i think you i think that i think offense is better than pitching.. And i never said that.. I said Angels have more than enough pitching and they need offense right now not pitching but offense.. If they get a big bat its all solved for the Halos
RyÅn Krol
One season does not make offense the determining factor. I say again, the Rangers made it to the World Series because they had the best starting rotation of all 4 AL playoff teams.
You might want to look up some of the Rangers teams that had even way better offense (Juan Gonzalez, Pudge, A-Roid) and struggled to even have a winning season.
Diablo 2
Cj suck postseason so count him out… Holland pick up his game in the WS so pretty much count him out to..Hairson or w/e his name is sucked..only Beast pitcher they had was Colby.. Rotation no..Bullpen yes both teams cards,tex had one of the best pens in baseball..and what did i just finish telling you..”offense wins games,Defense wins championships”..Both teams had Beast offense..And there pitching aka Bullpen was enough to get them through the final round
wickedkevin
I hear Chone Figgins is available.
Khabibulan
Offense has some potential: Morales, Bourjos, Trumbo, Aybar, Kendrick, Trout (perhaps)can be nice for 2012.
Sketchy guys like Wells, Hunter, Abreu, Mathis, Callaspo cast doubt.
Dunno if the Angels could afford Aramis too, but that would help a lot in the short-term.
User 4245925809
Yeah, but the offense is the problem there and curious why Anaheim would choose to go after Wilson when it is almost certain he will not return to Texas anyway.
As for rotations.. Philly is still not too shabby 1-4, neither is SF..Both after losing/trading Oswalt and Sanchez.
Dodgersarelife
I think the angels are better off trading for Gio Gonzalez
Scott
like where your head is at! who would you trade for Gio?
slider32
The best in baseball!
NathanielS
I wonder how Nolan Ryans face will hold up?
Joe Wright
He doesnt care. Wilson isnt worth what he’ll get.. Arte Moreno and the Angels are freaking morons
Wes9825
I agree, he’s not worth what dollars he will get, but morons should be defined as those who reach consecutive World Series and not closing the deal.
Again, he’d be the Angels #4 not their “ace.” Not a bad #4 at all, i think, and lefthanded.
Lunchbox45
Wilson > Santana
Joe Wright
I WANT TO GRAB JERRY AND ARTE: ” YOU GUYS NEED OFFENSE!!”
NathanielS
Keep pounding that Fielder drum, Prince.
Diablo 2
Exactly how i feel
Mike
Wilson’s postseason was a little shaky, but he was dominant throughout the regular season. Dipoto is a former pitcher, so I have faith in his decisions on which free agent pitchers the Angels should target.
Diablo 2
He also GM’D the NL D’backs..And now Manages the AL Angels that play like NL team.. I think his goal is to make this team more NL like
Joe Wright
spend the extra cash and sign Fielder. My goodness, Angels fans have been SCREAMING for an elite bat and now that there is one we go after pitching? WTF!?! SIGN FIELDER!!!
renegadeisback
How exactly does Fielder fit in?
A) There is no way that Wells goes to the bench.
B) Mike Trout needs to play.
C) Angels already have Trumbo AND Morales.
Diablo 2
Trout aint playing…Prince 1B, Morales Dh, Trumbo 3rd..and like taner says Morales shouldnt even be mentioned.. Angels should be signing as if Morales never existed..sorry to say but true…If morales does come 110% healthy then its a bonus
Joe Wright
A)Trout isnt ready for MLB pitching and will be in the everyday lineup next year
B) Who’s Morales?
C)Trumbo is an OF or DH his D is isnt very good AND Fielder/Trumbo would be a very good DH/1B platoon.
d) Trade Abreu to the soon to be All Latin Team “The Miami Marlins”
Give Fielder 6-7 $160 plus money would have to made off Fielder.. I would think.. Arte needs to draw season seat holders, I don’t think another SP is going to help.. This offense is BORING
Nick Sossamon
Is there a bigger broken record on this site? How you can say the same thing in the highest amount of posts possible is unbelievable.
Joe Wright
You act like I’m the only one who wants Fielder or Pujols. Every site has “Sign Fielder” so, I guess, I’m trendy… Darn!
Pete 12
Yes, please by all means trade either Weaver or Haren and sign the biggest flop-in-the-making to a $100MM/7 year deal. You know you wanna!
Christopher Rydo
Where did you get anything about trading Weaver or Haren out of this? The whole point of signing a pitcher like CJ is to add a fourth starter and stability to the back end of the rotation… if the Angels signed Wilson, and then traded away Weaver or Haren, they’d be worse off than where they were to begin with!
dylanp5030
Who would you take?
Halladay, Lee, Hamels
Or
Weaver, Wilson, Haren
renegadeisback
Phillies.
Not close.
gradylittle
Yeah though I wouldn’t mind having the second choice either.
Mario Saavedra
Phillies pitchers are older, and more expensive.
Phillies_Aces35
They’re also going to finish 2, 3, and 5 in the Cy Young Race.
vtadave
Who cares? They are still performing pretty well, wouldn’t you say?
TXHC
And also exponentially better.
RyÅn Krol
Name dropping.
MNTwins12
Halladay, Lee, Hamels
RyÅn Krol
Both. There are way too many variables to form a quick conclusion.
TXHC
Not sure if serious…
renegadeisback
Angels will sign Wilson to 6/120 and then trade Haren to Toronto for Eric Thames and Casey Janssen.
grownice
Whoa whoa whoa… JUST Haren!?
Lunchbox45
be easy on him, he probably thinks Reagins is still GM.
jose gonzalez
I bet he signs for a hometown discount too.
Stonehands
For the Bat, go for Aramis Ramirez because you have Morales at 1st, and you could get Aramis and Wilson if you think you have enough money for Fielder
Diablo 2
A-ram might aswell put Trumbo he wil give offense maybe not as good as A-ram but his D can be better or worse or the same as A-ram..MOVE TRUMBO TO 3rd AND SIGN PRINCE!
Tj Kobold
Seriously.
MNTwins12
I feel bad for any team who signs C.J. Wilson for the amount of money which he wants. HE IS NOT WORTH IT. On second thought, I don’t really feel bad at all.
okbluejays
Hey man i’m all for the Yanks or BoSox blowing money on CJ.
Christopher Rydo
If they can get CJ for less than $80 million, and it’s true that teams will no longer have to forfeit 1st round picks for signing type A free agents, then I don’t think this isn’t a bad signing…otherwise, I’d rather see the Angels save the money and draft pick, and go after Buehrle or maybe even Aaron Harang.
MNTwins12
Angels have enough pitching. They need to add more offense.
Wes9825
That’s why you’re a Twins fan, you know nothing of our club. Name me one MLB team that can ever, EVER have enough pitching no matter who’s signing the checks or making deals.
P.S. – Not just hating on Twins, i think Gardenhire is THE best manager next to Scioscia, and some team will be happy with him when he’s gone from Minnesota.
MNTwins12
I don’t disagree with anything you said. (except maybe that Gardy is the best manager next to Scoiscia) You can never have enough pitching, I just think that the Angels have a solid rotation already. C.J. Wilson is not worth the contract he will receive, therefore it would be wise for the Angels to skip on him an use the money to improve their lineup.
RyÅn Krol
You can never have enough pitching.
In any given season, any team can score 650 runs, 750 runs, or 850 runs. Many teams throughout history have won championships while scoring within that wide range of runs; some even won it all scoring even less than 650.
Pitching has MUCH smaller margin for error, which is why it should always be a GM’s first priority.
Cashman was even quoted saying starting pitching is always his first priority.
You have all this offense knocking the ball around the ballpark in a place like Texas, and if you take Napoli and even Cruz out of that lineup, they still rank pretty high in runs.
You take CJ out of that rotation, and suddenly the Rangers are back to being an 85 win or less team.
They are lucky the Angels had such a horrible month of May and had a closer who blew 10 saves. Otherwise, all that offense of their’s wouldn’t matter.
If you go back in history, as far as I know, you’ll find that a LOT of the teams that won it all were in top 3 (usually 1 or 2) in fewest runs allowed.
2002 Angels allowed the fewest runs in the AL, and that’s the #1 reason they won 99 games. They won the World Series because they got hot at the right time.
Always look for good pitching first.
Guest 6142
Oh the Angels have serious interest in a player that might help them win games? they must actually be be preparing to trade for Barry Zito.
okbluejays
lol sounds like a move the Angels would make.
LightUptheHalo
I wonder if the Angels do sign Wilson if they look to trade Haren or Santana and a prospect for some offense.
RyÅn Krol
If the Rangers lose CJ, they are in big trouble.
The Angels aren’t losing anyone nearly that significant.
Texas has always had big offense, and their current lineup isn’t even close to as powerful as the JuanGon and Pudge days when they would score 900 runs and still struggle just to have a winning season. Anyone can develop a good lineup and a good bullpen.
The Rangers success is dependent on their starting pitching.
If the Angels do this it will be a major major blow unless the Texas can replace him.
Lunchbox45
Not necessarily, texas has a really good farm system with some good arms, not to mention a guy like feliz who can shift in to the rotation.
RyÅn Krol
But has Feliz ever started a full season? How much major league experience do those arms have? They do have a good farm system but too much hinges on starting pitching for the Rangers to let rookies and newly converted relievers into their rotation. If Texas can package those good arms for an ace, then the Rangers are looking good again. Of course, this is all in case the Rangers don’t re-sign CJ.
sallen22
Ryan you gotta look at this from multiple perspectives. The Rangers just got a mega-tv contract, have money to spend and were an out away from winning the World Series. If the Rangers honestly thought that losing CJ Wilson would mean they were in big trouble, they’d make damn well sure they signed him.
Now we can all speculate as to how the Rangers would replace him, but at the end of the day, the decision makers in Arlington look like they believe that losing CJ Wilson to the Angels would not be the end of the world. Whether they’re right or not is another thing entirely.
RyÅn Krol
If that was the Rangers approach, they’d be taking their situation for granted, and I wouldn’t be a happy fan.
Pitching should always be the first priority.
Look up Rangers teams of the past. Some include Juan Gonzalez, Pudge Rodriguez, A-Roid, etc. and were far better and still struggled to have a winning season.
A mega TV deal does not magically make Rangers management elite.
sallen22
I don’t think anyone would mistake the Rangers Front Office for being elite. They have a competent GM in Jon Daniels who knows how to build a team to beat the Angels. The only teams that can really beat the Angels with any consistency are ones capable of pounding their elite pitching. That’s no secret and doesn’t make Jon Daniels great.
But make no mistake, their huge TV contract means that they can start spending like the Angels and when they do it’s going to get interesting.
Also, when you look up which teams made the playoffs in 2011, 3 of the top 4 offenses represented the AL. The other was one strike away from making the playoffs. In other words, the Angels would be best served upgrading their offense.
But you can’t blame DiPoto for following the route he’s chosen. It worked for the D-backs and the Angels already have a lot of potential bats that can improve the offense if Wells rediscovers his swing, Morales gets healthy, Trout gets his reps and Conger regains some confidence. I will say adding Wilson make the Angels a 90-win team easily.
Still, signing Wilson may bring about an Ervin Santana trade.
Halofan40
In my opinion the Angels should focus on a decent hitting catcher, a third baseman with pop and some good arms out of the bullpen. A fourth starter would be good once the other areas are addressed.
Brandon
Angels trust me on this.. Dipoto knows what he’s doing. I’m a Dbacks fan and he is a HUGE reason for our dramatic turnaround after making a couple trades/signings he built the team for now and the future. He is a great talent evaluator so he must see something he likes about Wilson in order to add him to an already deep Angels rotation.
Halosfan777
I feel like everyone who is saying the Angels need offense don’t realize that Dipoto said he wants to be creative and active in the trade market. I assume since the only major impact players play position we have strength at; he is going for the best improvement he can. But don’t be surprised if our offensive additions come through the trade market.
Jwills
I bet they trade Haren if they can sign Wilson. They have a need for a bat.
Anyone think a swap: Haren for Hanley is an interesting trade? Especially if they can sign Reyes quickly.
Harry
I would say too many things would have to happen for that to work, but definitely an interesting idea
cards2WS
Marlins want Hanley to be the face of the franchise when they open their stadium. He goes no where.
Besides, that trade proposal would of been a steal for the Angels. Hanley is a relative bargain for his power/contact/speed combo at SS.
Jwills
See, in this really bare market you need to be creative. The needs are met by both teams. The marlins COULD sign Reyes and possibly one of the 1B studs available and get a very nice complement to a healthy Johnson, Nolasco and Sanchez.
The angels get a stud starting SS, You could think they want Hanley to be the face of a franchise but unfortunately he is signed until end of 2014. If they sign Reyes and one of Fielder or Pujols they would become the face of a franchise through at least 2017 and if not longer.
MrBaseball29
Great news for the Yanks
bigpat
This team sure knows how to spend their money wisely. We have holes big enough you can drive a truck through at catcher and third base but we need another ace pitcher who will cost upwards of 75M. Odd…
KYLE
callaspo is good buddy. Even if you dont like his nice WAR, I’m sure his solid OBP and Batting Average along with a nice glove should satisfy you
CAD_Monkey
All I can think about is how cool it would be to have three Los Angeles area natives pitching for the Angels.
wickedkevin
This mad rush is all because of how the Sox stole Crawford from the Angels last year.
Mike
Are we supposed to be mad about losing out on Crawford? Did you see him play last year?
sallen22
The best way to make up ground in the AL West is take the other team’s players. It weakens them and strengthens your team. Just ask the Rangers, who in the past 2 years have taken Vlad Guerrero, Mason Tobin, Darren Oliver and Mike Napoli away from the Angels.
If Angels bring in Wilson and Texas isn’t able to replace him, the AL West suddenly becomes pretty close. Angels add a RP to lessen the 25 leads they blew in 2011 and suddenly the Angels might be favored to win the AL West.
I think Texas will be fine though. They brought in a ton of relievers, so they’ll probably look at transitioning Feliz into rotation, which should go every bit as well as it did for CJ Wilson, so losing him and the Angels signing him WON’T be the move that retakes the West for LA. They’ll still need a RP and one more bat.
Orlandojjk
Angels need the following: CJ Wilson, Ryan Madson, and Ryan Doumit. Wilson: Top of the rotation lefty, which the Angels need. Madson: Can be possibly the closer or set-up guy to back up Walden. Doumit: Offensive minded, perfect for the American League. Angels could move him everywhere from C to DH to the OF and 1B. This is how I see the Angels 2012 Team Lineup/Bench/Pitching
Lineup Aybar SS Kendrick 2B Hunter RF Morales DH Trumbo 1B Wells LF Doumit C Callaspo 3B Bourjos CF. Bench: Maicer Izturis, Bobby Wilson, Jeff Mathis, and Bobby Abreu. (I’d try and trade Abreu for a legit 5th starter, and give Mathis a chance to be the late inning defensively replacement for Doumit. Conger and Trout both start the season in the minors for me.) Rotation: Weaver, Wilson, Haren, Santana, ? Bullpen: Walden Madson Downs Takahashi Thompson Cassevah Jepsen
Orlandojjk
I’d like to add that Prince Fielder is out of the question for the Angels. I like the Angels but as a Dodger fan, he’s more likely to land there. Angels are log jammed with the OF: Wells Trout Bourjos Hunter and Abreu and 1B: Morales and Trumbo. Adding Fielder to that would be chaos. I like Abreu but he’s not gonna be happy on the bench. Trade him to Tampa along with a prospect to Tampa for Wade Davis. Then start Trout in the minors put wells in left bourjos in center hunter in right trumbo at first and kendrys in DH. Problem solved.
TXHC
The decent hitting catcher part makes me soil myself with laughter every time.
slider32
Wilson should get 5/80-90. Sounds like the Angels are in the mix.