The latest on free agent lefty C.J. Wilson…
- Wilson has arrived at the Winter Meetings and will meet with the Marlins tonight, tweets Clark Spencer of the Miami Herald. Miami's offer appeals to Wilson because of the long-term commitment and because he'd have a chance to hit, tweets T.R. Sullivan. I can't imagine the opportunity to get at-bats being a deciding factor, but it could at least be a notch in the 'pros' column.
- Angels sources have suggested they won't increase their offer to six years, which could give the Marlins the edge, tweets Jon Heyman.
- The Marlins are the "best bet" for Wilson, with the Angels a close runner-up, Rosenthal hears.
- Rangers GM Jon Daniels told reporters, including T.R. Sullivan, that he's resigned to the possibility that Wilson will sign elsewhere.
- The Marlins' offer to Wilson is still on the table, tweets Mike DiGiovanna of the Los Angeles Times.
- If the Angels sign Wilson, it would likely be for five years, rather than six, tweets Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports. Jeff Wilson of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram hears that the Rangers haven't offered Wilson five years (Twitter link).
- Now that the Marlins have reached an agreement with Buehrle, they're likely out on Wilson, according to a number of reporters, including T.R. Sullivan. This could mean Wilson's decision will come down to the Angels vs. the Rangers. However, Jon Heyman of MLB Network hears the Marlins may still be trying for Wilson (Twitter link).
- Wilson tells MLB.com's T.R. Sullivan he's undecided and "torn in different directions."
- The Marlins have big offers out to Wilson and Buehrle, tweets Buster Olney, and they'll sign whoever says yes first.
- If the Angels don't match the Marlins' six-year offer, Wilson will likely sign with Miami, tweets Jon Paul Morosi. The Nationals are out on Wilson, notes Morosi.
- Wilson has a six-year offer from the Marlins, reports Tom Verducci of MLB Network. However, Danny Knobler says the Angels are currently the clear favorite and Wilson's decision is not expected before late tonight.
- The Marlins are well down the road with negotiations for Wilson and Mark Buehrle, reports ESPN's Jayson Stark. They're saying that if they sign one of the starters, that will end their Albert Pujols pursuit.
- The Rangers are not optimistic about re-signing Wilson, reports MLB.com's T.R. Sullivan. Team officials expect him to sign with the Angels or Marlins.
- The Angels are ramping up efforts to sign Wilson with hopes of getting a deal done today, reports MLB.com's Joe Frisaro.
Luke Adams contributed to this post.
Michael C
Good they can have him…
chico65
You know it’s got to really cheese all the other owners to have Loria sitting there, pocketing millions more in revenue sharing than he was spending on payroll year after year, and then one offseason suddenly start spending like a drunken George Steinbrenner and ripping all of the shiny baubles out of their hands.
Matt
This is the new rebuilding strategy. Steal money from other owners for years and then abuse the hell out of it. Sounds good to me, and it’s working!
strikethree
Not against the rules so…
I give them a lot of credit for this plan. (I think it’s clear that they waited for the perfect off-season) All these years… always been criticized for not spending money and then… BAM, sign all the FA’s.
Pretty clever.
Alan Hanson S. Mafra
Too bad. There are cheaper and more reliable players out there. I mean, I’d rather have Buehrle or even Kuroda, they’ll require less years and less money per.
Cubbie Karyn 2
I’d like to see the Cubs get in on some CJ action… We desperately need a lefty pitcher!!!!
dc21892
He won’t help them while they’re rebuilding. All he’ll be doing is eating up payroll.
UltimateYankeeFan
Just an opinion but if the Angels are willing to go 5yrs/$90MM it’s probably a done deal.
Alan Hanson S. Mafra
And DiPoto will earn some boos from the Fans. Heck, Weaver will earn less money than that!
LBprGuy
Weaver “took less money” to stay home.
Alan Hanson S. Mafra
CJ reportedly would take “less money” to come back home. It’s not even close, Weaver vs Wilson. Wilson doesn’t deserve 17M anually.
bjsguess
Let’s see.
Wilson has been worth 10.5 WAR over the past 2 years. At $5m/win that puts his value at roughly $25m/season. Signing him for $17m seems reasonable … although I would like to see that number drop to $15m or lower if we are talking about 5 to 6 years.
Madman2TX
The Rangers made their good faith lowball offer…they’ll breathe a sigh of relief if they get away without giving anymore money to Wilson. Just take the draft picks and let the Angels waste their money.
BK
Translation From Dumb Ranger Fan: “Texas will be thrilled to see their division rivals pay statistical market rate for their best pitcher over their best pitcher over the last 2 seasons who has relatively low mileage on his actual arm. Also I have no idea what he is going to cost another team but I am excited to have an opinion.”
John McFadin
Yea, I live and breathe the Rangers, and you are one of those dumb fans. Judging not only from this post, but from everyone you make. You just said earlier that Michael Young can play SS!!!!!! HAHAHAHAHA.
john
CJ is not a ace but this swing the shift in the AL west to the angels. Texas now needs to come up and sign a starter. I bet Buerle will have his offer by Texas upped.
oz10 2
No we don’t. Our pitchers are great because of our infield defense, arguably the best left side of an infield in baseball. CJ will give up an extra run per game in Anaheim based solely on the fact that he will not have a run saving play every game and he is a nibble type pitcher that walks a bunch. And the argument that Anaheim is a pitcher’s park will bear no weight because he is a groundball pitcher. But please pay him the 17mm per season or so and continue to leave yourself no room to improve your offense.
Thurman8er
Beltre and Andrus are the best left side in baseball. But not every ball goes to the left side. I’m very happy with Aybar and Kendrick, and watching Bourjos patrol center is a beautiful thing. The defense behind Wilson won’t be significantly worse in Anaheim.
KyleB
Kinsler is one of the best 2B in the game…we’re fine, thank you.
Ben-Dessa Anderton
Kinsler is a pretty superb 2b and much better then Kendrick. I am not sure how one could argue otherwise.
Timmy Valdivia
Angels had one of the best defenses in all of baseball. Offensively, yes they were not very good; but, you can’t make the argument that Wilson will be worse off with an Angel defense. If anything he’ll probably have an even better ERA pitching in the Angel’s pitcher friendly stadium.
Thurman8er
I don’t get the Buehrle/Kuroda argument. C.J. is clearly a better pitcher than either of them. Is it the post-season failure that has people against him? I’d love to see a signing today, especially if they hold on to Santana.
vtadave
I think it’s more the fact that Kuroda could be had for 1-2 years and Buehrle for 3 while it apparently will take 6 for Wilson.
Alan Hanson S. Mafra
It’s all about reliabilty. Wilson was a RP and become a SP just 2 years ago. Plus, he walks too many batters for my liking.
john
Kuroda is as good but is more of a 2 year option because of age. Texas must go out and sign a starter because they don’t have enough starting to compete. Nefti may be a good pitcher but can he go more than 6 innings? I doubt it.
John McFadin
Then you must not know very much about Feliz. There’s a reason he was considered one of the best prospects in baseball. One bad year doesn’t change that…..
sloppybones
having good “stuff” is different than being able to go out and last 6-7 innings. we will see what happens in the spring.
Rangersfan32 2
Being a top prospect has nothing to do with the fact that he’s been a reliever the past 3 seasons. He’s gonna have to get used to pitching for 5 innings in an outing instead of 1 now. Big difference.
Timmy Valdivia
Feliz is a good talent….but the jury is still out on him
Ben-Dessa Anderton
Feliz was always a SP up until his time in the big leagues. You could have said the same about Ogando and he was terrific. Now I do not expect Feliz to have the same fire all season long because he will be climbing into that role for the first time in his big league stint. Harrison, Ogando, Holland will all be better this season then last, Lewis is an anchor and who knows what Feliz may provide along with a healthy Feldman a few yrs removed from a 17 win season. Martin Perez is on the horizon and he is viewed as an elite talent.
KyleB
lol we can’t compete? We’ll see about that starting April. CJ or no CJ we’re still better than the Angels.
Timmy Valdivia
Rangers will compete with their offense; but, without solid pitching good luck winning any championships
bjsguess
If the Angels get CJ here is what I would do:
— Trade Santana. He’s only under contract for 2012 (with an expensive $13m option in 2013). The return should be pretty significant.
— Turn around and sign Kurado. I’m willing to bet that he can post similar numbers as Santana and come at the same pricetag.
That allows you to basically swap fungible pitchers and stock up with talent reaped from the Santana deal.
I’m not a huge fan of the Angels getting Wilson if the pricetag is north of $15m or 5 years. However, it would make for one heck of a rotation.
kdub53
one heck of a rotation IF they dont trade santana…
i realize hes only under team control through the next year…i also realize that he could get us good compensation….but hes a great pitcher…(no hitter, followed by a shut out this last season)(17 game winner 2 seasons ago) and the four of them would be something awesome….hope they dont let him go quite yet, but thats why im not the new gm i guess..hah
Timmy Valdivia
agree’d….if the Angels trade Santana it nullifies Wilson’s value
Ryan Klinkert
The argument is the shorter commitment in years and the lesser commitment financially.
Ben-Dessa Anderton
CJ is the most frustrating pitcher to watch. You will soon realize that when he gets to 0-2 and decides to get fancy and loses a batter.
mgsports
If marlins are at 6 on Cj Wilson what do Rangers and Angels do?
NYYANKEES
Let him go to Miami
boogbite
Weaver, Haren, CJ, Ervin. like like like.
Zachary Mills
It would be sick, but I think they trade Santana in this scenario.
Maybe trade Santana & Vernon Wells to the Red Sox for Carl Crawford.
NYYANKEES
5 years $82.5 – $85 million would be my guess. But I believe they need to hurry if they want him badly because Marlins will overpay him big time once AP stays with STL
Brent Schuber
🙂
Ryan Aguirre
I don’t see them going past 5 years $85m just out of respect to Weaver. I have done a complete 180 on the Angels signing Wilson. I am all for it now. Like many others I would consider CJ our 4th starter and as our 4th starter he would be facing other teams’ 4th starters and maybe even 5 or so 5th starters next year. Last year CJ faced other teams’ #1’s and still went 16-7 winning 8 at the very hitter friendly park in Arlington and 8 out on the road. Let’s take half his starts next year from the launchpad in TX to the VERY pitcher friendly Angels stadium and see if he can’t live up to a large contract. I think that if we can get him for the 5 year $85million that might be a pretty good deal. Remember what Cole Hamels did last year as the Phillies #3/#4 starter?
oz10 2
Pitcher friendly parks don’t translate to a groundball pitcher, infield defense does. By losing 3 potential gold glove infielders from behind him his era will go up in anaheim. He was bailed out by many a nice play this past year. I give a lot of his better ERA this year to having Beltre at 3rd.
Dustin Coleman
Angels have gold glove caliber defense in the outfield and short stop.
oz10 2
So one infeild position to three for the rangers. Thank you for 100% proving my point that he is losing a lot of defensive ability behind him in the infield. You realize his ERA dropped almost a half a run when we got Beltre. And again, he is a ground ball pitcher, your outfield doesn’t matter as much!!!!
oz10 2
and Andrus UZR is 7.0 compared to Aybar’s 1.2 so Elvis gets to quite a few more balls that would find their way to your gold glove caliber outfielders!
Thurman8er
But I still hear nothing about 2B.
oz10 2
yes you did. You responded to my post above where I specifically mention the left side. And I can’t find a stat for this so I am going by my eyeball test in saying that a majority of the groundballs, which he has a 49.3% grounball rate, went to the left side if the infield as most of the batters he faced were right handed. Trust me, you need a good third baseman with CJ on the mound.
Timmy Valdivia
Angels ranked 9th in MLB team defense last year….Rangers ranked 24th…..dumb argument
IMmessingWITHyou
andrus< aybar
TJC...CFFL
Did Jose Reyes change his last name to Aybar?
IMmessingWITHyou
who won the gold glove oh ya not andrus…. & it is an opinion
one word romo!!!
KyleB
Yea, we all know how much Gold Gloves are worth…
IMmessingWITHyou
there purely about skill… which is worth a lot
KyleB
You wish Aybar was even close to Elvis
IMmessingWITHyou
you should check their stats….pretty similar! except aybar hit more home runs last year than evils has in his career!
Greg 13
A UZR/150 of 0.9 is not even remotely close to a UZR/150 of 6.9
Aybar is not anywhere near Andrus’ level.
Greg 13
A UZR/150 of 0.9 is not even remotely close to a UZR/150 of 6.9
Aybar is not anywhere near Andrus’ level.
IMmessingWITHyou
besides third base angels have the edge
bjsguess
Now that’s funny.
It’s not a perfect science but it gets the point across:
1B – Trumbo +5.7
1B – Moreland (-3.5) in 100 games
2B – Kendrick +16.7
2B – Kinsler +15.0
SS – Aybar +1.2
SS – Andrus +7.0
3B – Callaspo +7.6
3B – Beltre +11.2
UT – Izturis +1.2
UT – Young (-6.8)
It looks pretty darn close. The Angels (according to UZR) were better at 1B, 2B (barely), and Utility. The Rangers were better at SS and 3B.
More importantly, the Angels boast + fielding at every infield position. Their OF defense is ++ with Trout and Bourjos. Vernon Wells turned in a positive UZR in LF and Hunter was basically scratch defense in right.
The Rangers have a solid defense – one of the best in baseball. However, there is not an appreciable drop off between what Wilson had playing behind him in Arlington vs what he would experience in Anaheim.
For what it’s worth, Wilson’s FIP (which does not take into account good or bad defense) sat at 3.24. That demonstrates that Wilson would have been one heck of a pitcher with or without a solid defense behind him.
oz10 2
I reread this thread and didn’t say the left side of the infield but that is what I am refering to (put it in a thread up higher). I actually really like Kendrick. I was touting him as similar to Michael Young before it became a hot topic this year. I am also not big on UZR for a first baseman. I may be a little old school in this thought but you need a first baseman to not make mistakes and catch the throw from the other fielders. And as far as Wilson, he has a 49.3% groundball rate the last two years and from watching him alot, most of those groundballs go to the left side. trying to find a stat or someplace to back this up as it is just my memory I am going off of.
SunsetStripper
I’ll never understand the argument that #4 starters always match up with #4’s, and #5’s match up with #5’s, etc. Two weeks into the season, rotations are all mixed up with off days and rain outs.
angels02
I think they would be better off going after Gio Gonzalez.
Ryan Klinkert
You’re joking right?
With what prospects?
Trout is untouchable, and Bourjos would only be bundled for a player far better than Gio Gonzalez.
Aside from those two players, the Angels have next to NOTHING in their farm system. Not to mention the price would be more for the Angels since they’re division rivals.
Tko11
You dont think Gio is worth Bourjos + ??? Hes young, proven he can pitch, is under control until 2015 for super cheap! Best value on the market right now.
Geoff Bendeck
No way they give him more money than Weaver. Just doesn’t happen. I bet 5yrs, option for a 6th. Under 85 for the 5 years, option pushes it over 90 million.
ChrisV
The problem with signing CJ for the Angels is that they only have around 20 million to play with right now, so if they sign CJ then there is little left to put towards the bullpen or offense, and we all know the Angels could use more offense. If CJ does get signed, I see the Angels trading Santana for some offense, or just to get prospects and free up some money to sign an offensive guy.
Timmy Valdivia
so they say….but with signing La’Troy Hawkins and offereing 210 million for pujols; they’d be willing to spend more if the think it works for them
Joe Wright
We have no offense… I hope Jerry has something up his sleeve…
neoncactus
I liked the Rangers offer to him. I’d love to see CJ stay. He keeps himself in shape physically and mentally and always battles, although he walks too many batters. And if they lose him, but can drive up the Angels years/dollars, that could play into the Rangers’ favor down the road as well if CJ pitches in Anaheim like Kazmir did.
Adam Golden
Well since CJ played at Fountain Valley, it would be a welcome homecoming for him. Rumor has it that if they do sign Wilson, then they can package Santana (whom I love as a 4th starter) with Callaspo for a 3rd baseman. So if this happens, the trickle down effect should be fun to watch!
lefty177
this is the only time i’ll offer it because I love the man, but could you see the Sox trading Youk for them?
Kingmojo101
ummmmmm, i always thought buerhle was overrated,atleast cjw has finesse and a mid 90’s fastball, buehrle has upper 80’s volecity.maybe its just me but i prefer a power arm
Ben-Dessa Anderton
CJ a power arm? Interesting take. I know he used to crank it in around 95-96 but in his closer/set up days. I thnk he plays around too much but it comparison to Buerhle, I would agree he is a power arm.
PattySajak
wilsons already agreed in principle with the angels… not sure why theres still any question of the matter. hes gonna sign by tomorrow
willm
Where did you hear he agreed in principle?
Ryan Klinkert
He heard it on Wheel of Fortune. Vanna White is an MLB insider.
crashcameron
they shoulda made Vanna GM instead of Reagin. would’ve saved them a lot of grief
miamiroc
Your name should be Jon Stewart cuz that’s fake news.
PattySajak
looks like it was fake news eh buddy.
The_BiRDS
Marlins offer CJ a 6 year contract, he going to Florida
MB923
South Beach for CJ?
All Day Réy
Marlins put bait out for 3 people, who bites first…
Willzsco
Wilson is a good pitcher, a solid number 2 or 3, but not an ace. Why would anyone pay him an ace’s salary?
KyleB
Salary is a product of the market.
Willzsco
Good point, Kyle.
Raymond Holguin
Enough already about all this “CJ is a ground-ball pitcher so he will be so much worse in LA”. A few extra of those 49% ground balls being singles don’t mean crap when alot more of those 51% flyballs/x-base hits are getting flagged down in the outfield from our superior defense. Or when the LA heavy air knocks down those HR balls for outs making those lousy singles harmless.
oz10 2
Actually only 31% are fly balls to the outfield.
oz10 2
Actually only 31% are fly balls to the outfield.
Stephen Schmidt
How funny would it be if they missed out on Pujols because they had already signed the max of 3 type A guys?
ChrisV
To me the Marlins are recklessly spending, giving contract offers to all top FAs that come along only to want to win this year or within the next few years. Not putting in a NTC is a red flag, that they only care about winning for the short term and not the long term. You can’t build a large fan base and win year in and year out doing what you are doing Marlins. You just can’t. Save some money, and don’t go overboard with FAs this year. Play well, and build it will pay off much more than overspending. Learn from the Rangers.
KyleB
It takes a long time and alot of patience to follow the model the Rangers and Rays have used. It does pay off though…well at least for the Rangers….fans still don’t go to Rays games.
Silence
Sounds a whole lot like another Miami team and a Philadelphia team… Learn from their mistakes, build a team around chemistry and stats, not super stardom.
OptimisticMarlinsFan
Thank the Lord…no CJ to the Marlins, I think…Fish agree with Buehrle
Goose
Thank the Lord…no Pujols to the Marlins, I think…Fish agree with Gaby
12DenoEbel12
its funny cuz they are favored to get him
Silence
Buehrle isn’t going to help a lot when you have to play the Phillies, Braves and the upcomming Nats 30 times a year.
Diablo 2
I think Angels are going to sign Cj now.. with Mark signing with Marlins..There’s no one else that will take him beside’s Texas..So this should make stuff easier for Angels to get Cj 5 yrs for 75-80M..if it is this way then i’ll be so happy
KyleB
Be careful what you wish for though. If the Angels sign CJ that could make the Rangers go get Fielder. You never know.
Diablo 2
They can go ahead and sign Prince for 120M 5yrs..Idc won’t hurt us..(and i wasn’t wishing for anything, i was thinking)
KyleB
Wishful thinking? lol
Joe Wright
LMFAO If Texas sign Fielder.. The Angels wont be playing baseball in October for the next 8years
12DenoEbel12
Dude there are now 2 wild card teams, and its the hottest team that wins, not the best
Joe Wright
Detroit, TB, Boston, NY, Toronto, sh!t even KC looks good.. Just because there are two WC teams doenst mean the Angels are granted a spot.. WAKE UP!! The Angels are a joke of a franchise when it come to FA and I hope Arte loses all his money and has to sell the team
12DenoEbel12
no it doesn’t, but with what they have now they contended for a spot late into the season, they upgraded at catcher, and will get bullpen help, im not saying they don’t need a bat which they really do need, but they will compete just like last year, plus wells could possibly be that bat, you never know what will happen in a 162 game season
Joe Wright
Yeah, Abreu OLDER, Hunter OLDER, Wells OLDER AND SUCKS! If the Angels don’t sign a bat like Fielder this offseason and cross their fingers on Morales LOL it’s dejavu all over again.. Wells the bat we need LMFAO come back to reality, I’ll have a nice joint waiting for ya
Diablo 2
Abreu i hope gets traded..and Hunter being his last yr as far as we fans know will give it all he has left for a ring..Wells i agree he won’t be that bat but will have a better season..and Morales who? Dipo isn’t relying on Morales like Angels did last year..He has said if they get k-mo back 110% that it would be a huge bonus to the club..and Also have you forgotten of the 2010 Champs? They won with PURE pitching.. We have about the same pitching if they wuld to sign Cj and beef up the pen..AND we have a wayyyy better offense than they had in 2010
12DenoEbel12
“Wells the bat we need LMFAO”
well he certainly is a bat we need with how terrible he was last year, i’m not in any way saying he’s the answer
KyleB
While i’m not going to go as far as you lol…I will say that adding the extra wild card pretty much guarantees that 2 of either NY, BOS, TOR, or TB makes it into the playoffs.
Diablo 2
It’s still the best..You don’t just win because you get “hot” at the right time..If so then Tex cooled of at the right time..Which is ridiculous excuse for Tex fans to have.They chocked twice this yr vs the Cards and lost to Giants in 2010..Tex just hasn’t been good enough against an NL team..and stats back it up year after year
Diablo 2
Next 8 yrs? no chance Tex even signs Prince for 8 yrs
IMmessingWITHyou
watch out now! without a true ace,you better hope the rangers do sign fielder
Jameson VanDyke
I agree, Red Sox style of baseball now in Texas. Wouldn’t really call Wilson an ace but definitely with Buherle and Gonzalez not being options for the Rangers, they got a lot weaker. Holland might be able to step up.
fitz
Except the Sox have Lester, Beckett and Buchholz..
Ben-Dessa Anderton
Texas wont offer any more then 4 yrs. While many might think this is a bad thing for the Rangers since he will sign in the AL West, it to me allows some money to be saved. It also allows someone like Derek Holland to step into that top slot much like CJ did last season. The arms you see the Rangers have are locked up for the most part. I am not a CJ fan but will recognize what he has done for the Rangers and do admire his desire to succeed as a SP. I say best of luck if he leaves and if it is LA, well we will take care of that later. My knock on CJ is he spends too much time trying to get fancy with an 0-2, 1-2 count. I rather he just trust his stuff and finish a hitter. Far too many times he would lose a hitter after being up 0-2. I would be ok with 4 yr 65-70 million. I am not paying the electricity on the Ball Park so its not my place to say what he should and should not make. Best of luck CJ.
BLEACHER_CREATURD
Signs with the Angels for 5 years 81 million.
NYYANKEES
Marlins better hope they are future champions because all this spending can get real ugly soon. I know from many experiences that I see Yanks involved in.
Thomas
If the Marlins sign him, just wow,
C Buck
1B Sanchez
2B Infante
SS Reyes
3B Hanley
LF LoMo
CF Bonaficio
RF Stanton
Rotation
1. Johnson
2. Wilson
3. Buehrle
4. Sanchez
5. Nolasco
I think that rotation is about as good as the Rays, behind the Phillies, but a much better offense than both. I might pick them to win NL East
KyleB
lol as good as the Rays? Calm down there.
GREGM
I give the Marlins an edge in the top 2 starters (mostly JJ when healthy), a pretty even 3rd, but the Rays def win the bottom half of the rotation.
Overall, pretty darn even…
Jameson VanDyke
not even as good as the A’s.
GREGM
Subtract Gio this off season(which is going to happen), and i think you are dead wrong.
Thomas
I don’t know, peripherals say Hellickson will perform much worse, like 4 ERA. Johnson before his injury troubles was a true ace, better than Shields, Wilson had better stats and peripherals than Price. Moore could be much better than Buehrle, but he also could be much worse, as I said Hellickson’s peripherals are worse than Sanchez’s. Nolasco’s ERA wasn’t good, but his peripherals were as good as Niemann’s
PushDown
Whoa there… let’s not get ahead of ourselves now.
John McFadin
I keep thinking how they will decide who starts the second game and so on. We know Johnson will be the opening day starter (or at least he should be) but from there on out it could be anyone as the number 2 between Wilson/Nolasco/Sanchez. I consider Buehrle to be the 4/5 guy in that rotation.
GREGM
I swap Anibal and Buehrle as 3/4.
JJ is IMO, in the top 5 pitchers in the game WHEN healthy. Wilson is a top 20 pitcher wth improving stats, Anibal is one of the most underrated pitchers in MLB, and has improved year after year from 09-11, with his FB velocity now topping 97, Buehrle is a solid inning eater with good stuff, and Nolasco is sort of a lost cause…but i don’t think he can get much worse.
All in all, its a SOLID rotation that if taken into the Playoffs (if needed), will keep every game close with any other rotation in the bigs.
Jameson VanDyke
Alright, Joe Wright is going to love this one. CJ Wilson will go with the Money Marlins(get traded in 2 years when that team doesn’t fill enough seats to pay payroll) and the Angels will be in the same situation like every Off Season. Therefor, Dipoto and Arte need to make something big happen before fairweather Angels fans(about half of Angels fans) stop going to games. Sign Fielder, trade Trumbo/Amarista/Richards for Gio Gonzalez and pray Kendrys comes back healthy to DH.
PushDown
I find it funny how some people either hear or see statements like “CJ Wilson is an extreme groundball pitcher” and immediately establish it as a fact. Wilson is not actually an EXTREME flyball pitcher. He has a 1.04 G/F ratio, to be more precise he had 318 groundball outs to 308 flyball outs. So it is almost moronic to say that Wilson will immediately do worse just because he doesn’t have the Texas INF anymore.
By the way, the Angels infield isn’t that far back behind the Rangers. Beltre is elite, no question, but Callaspo is actually pretty solid. Yes he has the occasional brain fart, but for the most part he’s an average fielder. I know this not only because I watch Angel games, but also because the stats back it up. He had 15 errors, 4 more than Beltre, but he also had about 50 more chances, and 4 more double plays turned. He is actually 2nd in double plays turned in the AL. He’s by no means better than Beltre, but he’s not considerably worse. As for Aybar and Andrus, the debate could wage on forever, but even as an Angel fan, I would have to say Andrus is slightly smoother and more athletic than Aybar.
John McFadin
Keep looking at errors as a way to judge the defensive ability of players, and we shall keep laughing. Callaspo has nothing on Beltre, period.
Timmy Valdivia
Errors are the reason you lost the World Series….
John McFadin
I bet you thought you hit it big with this comment. Did Beltre commit those errors? No? Then what exactly are you talking about? Ohhhhhh, I see. You don’t have anything to say on the current discussion, so you think you can make me feel bad because Michael Young is terrible at defense? The only person who thought Young should be playing first was Wash, not the fans. Also, you don’t have to look at errors to know Michael Young is terrible at defense. I guess similar to Mike Napoli of the Angels, huh? Oh wait….
IMmessingWITHyou
i bet hamilton is eating his words when asked about the off season, he said the rangers just need to keep signing players from the angels! karma IF wilson becomes a halo
BLEACHER_CREATURD
Miami Marlins, sponsored by the New York Yankees. I think New York should be co-champs if Miami wins it all.
miamiroc
How does that make any sense? Like the Yanks are the only ones who have ever spent money. Phils and Sox fans should have something to say about that.
Shu13
He was referring to all the $$$ they received over the years in “profit sharing” from the Yankees more so then Bawston or Phills
miamiroc
Come on, there are so many teams in the league that have profited from revenue sharing at some point or another that it would be easier to sift through the teams that haven’t than the one’s who have.
Jameson VanDyke
Your team’s logo is hideous.
GREGM
You’re going to be seeing alot of it. Get used to it.
chee1rs
and now Fox signs a $3B , 20-year contract with the Angels ….
$150million / year !!!!