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Los Angeles Angels Off Season Report

24-Jan-10

From: Angels Apparel

The Angels off-season began with the club trying to hold onto a couple of star free agents in Chone Figgins and John Lackey and very quickly went awry when Figgins signed with Seattle and Lackey signed with Boston…

Not a good way to start the off-season but the Angels are again very quietly putting together a very solid ball club.

Losing John Lackey hurt a lot of Halo fans but John Lackey wasn’t worth the money they’re paying him in Boston. I loved John Lackey but other then his rookie season he hasn’t got it done in the playoffs and that’s the bottom line when you’re asking for the kind of money he’s asking for. That being said it will hurt like hell when and if the Angels have to see Boston in the playoffs…

The Angels won’t be signing an ace this off-season and will most likely be looking for either Jered Weaver or Joe Saunders to fill that role.

Rounding out the rotation are Scott Kazmir, Ervin Santana and the recently signed Joel Pineiro who went 15-12 with a 3.49 era last season with the St. Louis Cardinals.

The Joel Pineiro signing is a good signing for the Angels because they needed a starter to fill out their rotation but it’s a bad signing in that they don’t have a clear cut ace on this staff. Weaver or Saunders could potentially fill that role but that’s a big gamble to take in an off season where the Seattle Mariners really improved their roster by signing Cliff Lee, Chone Figgins and Milton Bradley.

Losing Chone Figgins to a division rival also hurt but at some point if you’re the Angels you have to give Brandon Wood a shot especially after you saw what Kendry Morales was able to do with a starting job last season.

The Angels are basically handing the job over to Brandon Wood and I think it’ll be interesting to see how he does over a season. Wood hasn’t been able to hit consistently in the bigs in a few call ups but he has shown his power. It would’ve been nice to see the Angels bring in somebody to provide some competition at 3rd base for Brandon Wood or at least someone to back him up in case he starts off slowly…

And then there’s Gary Matthews Jr…

You know it’s really saying something when you’re willing to pay $21 million just to get someone out of your clubhouse and that distinction goes to Gary Matthews Jr. of the Anaheim Angels…

For whatever reason, even though his bat speed gets slower and slower every year and his defensive prowess in center continues to diminish, Gary Matthews Jr. felt like he was good enough to be in the starting line up every day and voiced his opinion to anyone who would listen in the clubhouse whenever it wasn’t.

It felt really good to see Gary Matthews Jr. get traded this week to the Mets but it didn’t feel good at all to see the Angels have to pick up $21 million of the $23.5 million left on his contract… OUCH

I don’t know how Arte Moreno does it… I’d be firing somebody…

Seriously what does it say about you when a club is willing to pay $21.5 million just to get your ass out of town?

Good luck in New York Gary Matthews Jr.

And the biggest signing for the Angels this off season was…

Without a doubt Hideki Matsui.

Look Vladdy Guerrero was my favorite Angel and I was as sad as anybody to see him go but a lot of people forget that Hideki Matsui is like Babe Ruth in Japan. Scratch that. Hideki Matsui is Babe Ruth in Japan.

Do you remember what Bobby Abreu did for the Angels last season?

Those long ass at bats that usually resulted in a walk or a base hit in clutch situations. Yea that’s exactly what Matsui is going to bring to the table. Yea that and a tremendous friggin’ work ethic. That and I also hear he has a huge porn collection…

All joking aside Bobby Abreu, Torii Hunter and Hideki Matsui these are all guys that hit in the clutch and will be great teachers for guys like Howie Kendrick, Kendry Morales, Juan Rivera, Brandon Wood and Manny Aybar.

Honarable Mention

The signing of Joel Pineiro. This guy is not an ace and he’s not an innings eater but he gives the Angels a very deep, talented and experienced starting five. Here’s the rotation as it looks for the season – Jered Weaver, Joe Saunders, Scott Kazmir, Joel Pineiro and Ervin Santana.

Pineiro isn’t sexy he’s a ground ball pitcher and if his sinker is working then the Angels will be in the game and he’s a pretty good value value at $16 million over two years. Well in terms of baseball anyway…

But think about it… Joel Pineiro or possibly Scott Kazmir and Ervin Santana going against another teams #4 or #5 pitcher?

Yea I’ll take the Angels too. And that’s why the Joel Pineiro signing is so important.

The Biggest Gamble This Off-Season

Goes to Fernando Rodney the former closer of the Detroit Tigers. On the plus side this guy gets the job done. Rodney closed on 37 of 38 opportunities last season. That’s friggin awesome. One the minus side a lot of guys get on base and a lot of guys get hits and basically he walks a tight rope BUT he gets the job done!

Fernando Rodney could pay off huge though because he throws hard and the Angels closer Brian Fuentes is more of an off speed pitcher so that combination could really confuse opposing hitters late in the game.

All in all not a bad season considered it started with losing Chone Figgins and John Lackey…

Los Angeles Dodgers Off Season Report

23-Jan-10

From: Dodgers Apparel

The most unfortunate thing for LA Dodgers fans this off-season has been the sad state of affairs that is the Los Angeles Dodgers…

The biggest piece of news coming out of the Los Angeles Dodgers camp this off-season has been that Dodgers center fielder Matt Kemp is dating Rihanna… The LA Dodgers have basically signed nobody, literally, and they’ve let go of some talented players.

Let’s first look at who’s gone…

Randy Wolf is gone and not that I expect him to repeat what he did last year but he was the closest thing to an ace the Dodgers had last year and they’re not picking up anybody to replace him.

The Dodgers haven’t had an ace since they let Derek Lowe walk to Atlanta and neither Chad Billingsley or Clayton Kershaw will be ready to be an ace this year. So the most Dodger fans can hope for this year is a National League West division title because they won’t have the pitching to win the playoffs.

The Los Angeles Dodgers also let Orlando Hudson walk and this guy was a great catalyst at the top of the lineup for them this past season. Anytime you lose a .300 hitting second baseman you’re going to shorten your lineup. Dodger fans can look forward to Blake DeWitt hitting in the 8th spot and batting .250 this season. I have nothing against DeWitt but I’d like to see the guy produce in the minors before he’s given a starting jobs at the major league level…

The Dodgers also traded back up outfielder Juan Pierre away and while that doesn’t seem like much remember what Pierre did for the Dodgers the past couple of season when Manny Ramirez and Rafael Furcal went down.

In particular remember what he did when Furcal went down because Furcal is getting older and when he goes down again (and he will) the Dodgers won’t have anybody to get on base and wreak havoc at the top of the lineup meaning they won’t be able to score runs and that’s going to be a problem with this team.

The Dodgers still have their young core of talent but they are thin and won’t be able to withstand many injuries this year because the talent behind the starters is unproven.

The biggest question mark the Dodgers will have to answer this season are:

Is catcher Russell Martin done? This will be a big season for Russell Martin as he’ll have to prove that all of his offensive production in the past wasn’t a result of steroids.

Can Blake DeWitt hit enough to start at second base? DeWitt came up as a third baseman and the Dodgers are hoping he can start at second for them this year.

Can Rafael Furcal stay healthy?

The rest of the lineup is pretty steady but the question is who on the bench will allow them to take time off? The Dodgers had a talented and deep bench last season and this year they have a bunch of unproven guys and another question they’ll have to answer is who is going to be delivering the clutch pinch hits late in the game?

Pitching wise the Dodgers need someone out of the trio of Chad Billingsley, Hiroki Kuroda and Clayton Kershaw to become their ace this season.

Kuroda is a proven #2 and possible #1 in the post-season but he’s getting older and his health may be a concern during the long season. Billingsley has ace “stuff” but mentally hasn’t been able to deliver in big situations and he needs to overcome that hurdle this season or he might be the second-coming of Jeff Weaver… Clayton Kershaw is the wildcard because this guy has great stuff but is this his year?

The bullpen is going to get killed this season. None of the Dodgers starters are known for pitching deep into games and you’re going to have inexperienced guys in the 4th nd 5th spots int he rotation, The Dodgers are fine at the back of the bullpen with Jonanthan Broxton, Hong Chi-Kuo and George Sherill but getting the ball to them could be a problem.