Kevin Youkilis wanted to avoid travel and play for a West Coast MLB team, so it was a surprise to see him agree to terms with Rakuten in Japan. WEEI.com's Alex Speier writes that the Indians, Yankees and Rays were interested in Youkilis, but that Youkilis preferred retiring to flying all the way to the eastern part of the US. When the opportunity to play in Japan arose, however, Youkilis' wife and seven-year-old daughter were excited about the chance to there for a year. Youkilis says he plans to spend a year there, then decide whether he wants to continue his career (all Twitter links). Here are more notes from around the American League.
- Despite an "uninspiring" offseason, the Angels could be dramatically better in 2014, Jeff Sullivan of FanGraphs writes. The team isn't particularly well positioned for the long term, but Mike Trout gives them a huge edge, and their WAR expectation in 2013 was significantly better than their actual record. Their moves this offseason — primarily trading Mark Trumbo to the Diamondbacks and Peter Bourjos to the Cardinals — haven't done much to help them, at least not in the short term. But the Angels should be much better than they were in 2013, Sullivan suggests, especially if they happen to add Masahiro Tanaka.
- The reason the Rays placed catcher Chris Gimenez on waivers was that they thought he would not make the big-league team and so they wanted to sneak him through, the Tampa Bay Times' Marc Topkin tweets. The move was not made with any further roster shuffling in mind. The Athletics claimed Gimenez earlier today.
Sure, the Angels’ offseason may be “uninspiring”, but it certainly seems to have been an effective offseason in terms of addressing holes in the roster rather than just splurging money. Really like the Joe Smith signing and Trumbo trade, should greatly improve the team’s two major weaknesses: the rotation and the bullpen.
Definitely upgraded over 2013. If they can get Garza, they have a top 1-3 in their rotation again with solid young controllable starters at the back end. That could even put Santiago in a position to be in the bullpen and add even more depth there. I use the rotation of the final 2 months as my guide: Weaver, Wilson, Richards, Vargas, Williams, which in that short span was as consistent a rotation I’ve seen from the Angels in a few years. I’d count on Santiago and Skaggs over dealing with Vargas and Williams for another season, even though I still like Vargas. Adding Garza, or another veteran I think would give the Angels one of the better rotations in MLB, with at least above league average or better pitching from all 5 spots.
Arte wasn’t able to sign Cano. That’s enough for a great Angel’s offseason.
how about some proofreading?
How about some tact?
No, it’s cool — there were some mistakes in there.
The Angels offseason is uninspiring? They got two quality, cost controlled, young lefties for a one dimensional power hitter. They signed Joe Smith. The only thing that wasn’t great was the peter borjous trade
Much improved and well balanced between offense and pitching. I don’t know why some fans don’t like the Freese/Bourjos trade. It filled a need at 3B and in the bullpen.
I’ll be honest. I was neutral/slightly liking the Freese/Bourjos trade
up until the Trumbo trade. That’s when I started liking it more. Reason
being was that I thought Bourjos probably could’ve brought more in if he
was packaged with someone else to bring in some much needed pitching
(which was eventually done).
Didn’t 2013 already happen?
Let’s see what happens–Especially, if the Angels sign Garza. They won’t get Tanaka. It’s asking a lot in my opinion to expect Hamilton and Pujols to produce big numbers and generate wins all year given their histories. I wouldn’t expect the Angels to be that much better than this season in comparison to the Rangers, A’s or even M’s.
Why not? The Angels had 11 players with OPS+ of 100 or higher, 2nd to the Red Sox. Add Freese and Ibanez to that equation. They’re not dependent on Pujols and Hamilton at all. Trout is their center piece. Pitching is much improved. The rotation the Angels had the final 2 months of 2013, after dropping Blanton and Hanson, was about as consistent as any rotation they’ve had since 2008. Using that as a frame of reference, the additions of Santiago and Skaggs over Vargas and Williams could prove to be a good upgrade to that. Smith and Salas, combined with a healthy Sean Burnett and Frieri at the back end make for a much better bullpen. Weaver missing 7 weeks and Blanton staying in the rotation as long as he did killed the Angels’ season. The A’s, Rangers, and M’s have many questions themselves. The AL West will be up for grabs in 2014.
Think you’re going to find that:
Vargas + Williams = Santiago + Skaggs
There may be money saved, but end result similar.
Skaggs will likely start in the minor leagues. Having a Vargus like pitcher as a number 5 (assuming the Angels sign a no. 3 or so pitcher) is an upgrade.
Even if that’s the case, their rotation in the final 2 months allowed the team to plow through it’s schedule until the final 4 game series against the Rangers. So it’s still enough. Adding a veteran like Garza or whoever would add to that.
Would you throw 5yr / 100m at Garza? I like his upside too, but his contract demands give me pause.
Where was 5/100 reported?
Someone on this site posted it as having been reported, that’s always the best source anyway, commenters on this site 🙂
Oh yeah. Always the best source. I haven’t heard of anything that high myself. So far I’ve heard as high as 5/85, mostly around 4/60.
I would think 4/60 is probably too low. My guess is he is somewhere around that 5/85, maybe with an option that would push it closer to 100 million if picked up. He is much closer to Anibal Sanchez last year than Nolasco this year. Sanchez signed for 5/80 with an option that pushes it to 91 million, whereas Nolasco signed for 4/49.
what why the down votes at least he showed some evidence how about you downvoters type something. (also im interested in the argument too :P)
Here’s what I see hurting the Halos- the philosophical about-face they’ve had, where other teams have stayed the course on a consistent approach. Case in point, trade with DiPoto while he was with Dbacks to send Corbin/Skaggs, then hire DiPoto and get Skaggs back. Meanwhile at the same time, other teams have pitching diamonds from the draft making big league impacts and a steady force at the GM spot. I’m still dying for Reagins to come out sometime and state what went on behind closed doors- or has he?
Why the heck were the Yanks interested in Youkilis? They didn’t get a good enough look the first time?
They added two pitchers not named Joe Blanton for Mark Trumbo and less money. They will sign another decent one before ST. I’d say that’s a pretty solid offseason. Not flashy like the last two, but definitely better.