The Angels made their first major move of the offseason last night, acquiring Chris Iannetta from the Rockies for Tyler Chatwood. Here’s a look ahead at what GM Jerry Dipoto may do next…
- There are indications that the Angels will either trade or non-tender Jeff Mathis by the December 12th deadline for teams to offer contracts to arbitration eligible players, according to Mike DiGiovanna of the LA Times. MLBTR projects a $1.8MM salary for Mathis if the Angels tender him a contract. However, the Angels may be able to trade him.
- The Rockies are expected to pursue Mathis if the Angels non-tender him, according to Troy Renck of the Denver Post. The Mets are looking for a relatively young catch and throw guy, so Mathis could be an option for them, according to Jon Heyman of SI.com (Twitter link).
- The Rockies and Angels discussed Maicer Izturis before completing last night’s trade, according to Scott Miller of CBSSports.com (Twitter link). The Tigers are another club with interest in Izturis.
The Angels should really try and trade Mathis for Wright? Add two prospects in with Mathis and maybe it works out for us?
lol wut?
Mets get:
1. 2 top prospects (not Bourjos, Trout, or Trumbo)
2. Jeff Mathis
Angels get:
1. David Wright
Do the angels have 2 top prospects not named Bourjos, Trout or Trumbo? Either way that is a horrible trade idea, unless the old Angel GM is the Mets GM now.
Well, you could look at Luis Jimenez, Jean Segura, Hank Conger, etc. maybe not “top 2” but overall good young talent. Last time I checked Tony Reagins was the Mets new GM XD
I know a way that we can get Griffey and Bonds and it wouldn’t even cost that much.
-George Costanza
Jean Segura 2B/SS. Good BA, aggressive, good defense. Could start.
Jeremy Moore* OF. Speed, decent average/OBP, some power, pretty good defense. May be a starting OF on a rebuilding team; utility on a contender.
Garrett Richards* SP. Projected #1 or #2.
Alexi Amarista* 2B/SS. Speed, above average hitter, good defense. Likely a utility IF, but could start on a team not contending.
Luis Jiminez 3B. Pretty good power, above average BA/OBP, average defense. Possibly a starting 3B with pop and average glove for 3B.
Michael Kohn* RP. Nasty breaking stuff. Set-up material.
Rich Thompson* RP. Power arm; good stuff; needs to watch out for the long ball. Middle/long reliever/maybe spot starter.
Bobby Cassevah* RP. Good stuff; already shown consistency. Middle/long relief/possible closer material; could end up being a back of the rotation starter if he has the stamina.
These aren’t top rated prospects by MLB, but the players with asterisks already have some Major League experience; have shown their upsides; and could use proper seasoning on a seller that is rebuilding.
The Mets will need to throw in Murphy and Davis as well.
Will only work if Wright is a straight salary dump. I thought the Mets were nuts for asking a top prospect for Beltran, but the Giants took a bite. I still think they’re nuts asking for a top prospect for Wright. But…
Weren’t you banned?….oh, wrong blog lol
rec’d… oh wait… liked!
I can never escape…
can one of those prospects be Vernon Wells?
you couldn’t even trade jeff mathis to an independent league team
you know some players can refuse assignment to the minors when they are DFA’d? the minors will refuse jeff mathis if that time comes
Would the Little League refuse him?
Whoa, whoa whoa. Slow down everybody. Aren’t we forgetting that Mathis
led all MLB catchers with 14 sacrifice bunts? You just can’t put a
price on that kind of talent.
Why would ANY team be interested in Jeff Mathis?? Any scrub from the team’s system is a better option than Mathis.
The team (Mets) is interested in a backup catcher, but they desire defense… although Mathis is a pathetic hitter; kid could play D
The Mets could trade almost anyone for a backup catcher. Why would they trade their best player for one?
Don’t forget they would ALSO be getting 2 prospects, if they want to be competitors soon, they need to get talent. Let’s hope they also get desperate as the Angels did when acquiring Vernon Wells!!! -____-
So it would be a package around Turmbo. Angels need to sell high on him. A lot of people don’t think he will be as good as he was in 2011.
IDK, its sort of like last year’s Astros wanting Drew Butera rumor. It just makes you go “huh?”
If Mathis is sold as strictly a back up, he might be more tradable.
I will trade Jeff Mathis to his mother, and kick in a PTBNL.
Maybe the Rangers can pick up Mathis if he gets nontendered. Who knows, he just might become the next Mike Napoli lol
If Mathis is non-tendered (GOD HOPE SO, or traded =3) the Rockies have expressed interest in him apparently. He will hit for average there since the field is so big lol his usual pop-ups will now be base hits lmfao
his weak liners(that were basehits) will float to the LF’er for routine outs…
Yeah, he could explode for .200 average!!!
Anyone but the Rangers! lol we might start to get nightmares about Mathis being Napoli 2.0 -.- next thing you know we become cursed like the Cubs. lol
I nominate a Jeff Mathis-Drew Butera trade. Mostly because I need something to laugh about.
Uh, the Angels actually thinking of trade as a possible option to get rid of Mathis? What are the going to ask for in return, a bag of balls?
And there are actually TWO teams that are expected to pursue Mathis when he becomes available? My god, what is this world coming to?
Lots of teams would take Mathis, I think, if the Angels were will to take a bad contract (Carlos Lee, Alfonso Soriano, Barry Zito)
But no, the Angels can’t expect to get anything good for Mathis… he shoudn’t be in the MLB unless as a 3rd string, strictly defensive catching backup.
Selling Mathis as a back up is the only way they’ll trade him. The Angels actually need a DH, so perhaps trading him to the Astros, who are in desperate need of catching, for Carlos Lee’s contract could be an option. That would require another payroll increase of course. But that’s no big deal since the Angels only have about $45 million in contracts in 2013.
Angels have a DH. Morales IF he comes back, and Abreu if he doesn’t.
a bag of balls???? It’s a deal! and I was just hoping for a bag…
mathis+1.8m for a parking permit to a free parking lot. done
I hope the Tigers are still interested in Maicer, either for 2B or 3B. Neither the Santiago/ Raburn idea at 2B, nor Inge/ Kelly at 3B, are sufficient for what the Tigers need.
Maicer is so precious to us dude! That kid could just about fix the problem when needed. He is an excellent back-up (I believe he should even be a starter for some) and I would like to see him play in a every day game. Hopefully if the Angels get something tasty in return, Maicer will go to the Tigers, but you guys did already sign Ramon Santiago so idk…
Maicer is a legit top of the order hitter, who can get on base often enough to fill a spot leading off or batting second. The Tigers need that, and he’d start most games, either at 2B or 3B and be an upgrade over what we’ve got. I’m not sure what the Angels would want in return, considering that he just has one year left on his contract.
The Angels would likely want one of the terrific Tiger relievers, perhaps Benoit. It doesn’t seem like a match though because I get the feeling the Tigers feel that would be overpaying for Izturis. So I’d guess they’d deal a minor league starter like Matt Shoemaker and Maicer Iztuis for Benoit.
No way it’s Benoit. Perry maybe, alburquerque if they were lucky
Not Mighty Maicer! 🙁 I’ll be p.o’d
Maicer Izturis = Yankee killer (44 hits in 131 abs .336 avg.). If they got him, that would make their life much easier.
There you go haha good stat bro.
Can’t remember if it was this past season or the one before but I remember an Angels at Yankees game where Maicer got jammed and the ball went over the short wall for a homer. Either he is a Yankee killer or that ballpark should be for school kids cauase Maicer can normally only hit the ball past the infield.
Chris Ianetta is a Yankee killer too. .400 BA in 5 AB’s!
Could I get clarification on the meaning of the phrase “Catch and Throw Guy”? Not sure that I’ve ever come across that phrase before. Thanks!
Bullpen catcher.
I wonder if mathis reads sh!t online. poor guy. dudes Probly gonna have a napoli type year just to shut everyone up
If he has a Nap type year….it will PROVE that Hatcher needs to GO….which a lot of Halos fans already think…..me inc’d…
My name says it all and i hope it happens one day
Mathis and abreu for soriano. Mathis turns into napoli. Done. 😛
W/ Wells/PBL/Hunter and Trout in the wings and Trumbo also capable of OF….why would they want Alfonso?
sarcasm? they did it last year with wells.
Macier Izturis for John Danks. Who says no?
probably the White sox.
Maicer Izturis for Al Alburquerque. Angels get bullpen help and tigers get their 2nd/3rd baseman and top of the order guy.
Izzy for a player that has one yr in the Majors? I like Al but tigers wuld have to add another player
I rather go into the season with Nickeas/Thole platooning @ C
Mathis would make a great beer league catcher… I’m willing to offer Mathis an 8th of some bomb Cali OG and and a beard-trimmer for that piece of carpet on his chin..
The fact alone that this was referred to as “a major move” demonstrates just how much of a laughingstock the Angels front office has become.
Sigh.
mathis,jepsen, and izturis for jeff samardzija
Samardzija is a FA
Expect Mathis to be in a Rockies uniform next season. There is no way the Angels can trade him, no reason for him to be tendered, and the Rockies will be the only team interested in him.
Maybe Boston might be interested in him as a 3 string catcher with them losing Varitek. You are not going to get much for Mathis but he is a great catcher. Remember, Angels pitching have one of the slowest mound to home time in both leagues. That’s why Napoli’s throw out numbers went up when he went to Texas. Angels pitchers focus on the outcome of the pitch, more than the runner. Mathis has good POP time and he blocks that plate better than anyone in baseball. I can see him hitting .235 on another team under a new hitting coach. His swing isn’t that bad. He raked in the ALDS/ALCS in ’08.
And he’s an awesome dude. I met him and Napoli at RA Sushi in Tustin.
Are the Rockies and Angels BFF now or what?
Can Izturis play a passable SS? if so, hope the Giants consider him instead of a FA pickup like Gonzalez. Affeldt or Ramirez for Izturis?
Yeah, with deep range and great turning ability.
Izzy for Affeldt. Hmm I like that idea.
Don’t want to see Izturis leave but if they trade him I hope they get something good in return. Hopefully a quality arm for the bullpen, like a guy similar to Cassevah. Izturis is a good player but he’s also injury prone if he becomes an everyday player.