Angels -- Just show up.
Rangers -- Keep on hitting, maybe you can get this franchise up to respectability with a .500 season. Kind of sad about Ian Kinsler.
Athletics -- Gave up trying to win when they traded Rich Harden and Joe Blanton. Not that Joe Blanton's all that great. We'll probably see them in 2009.
Mariners -- On the bright side, you've still got Felix Hernandez and Ichiro. On the less bright side, you've got a $118 M payroll and you're 47-81 and thirty games out of first place.
Showing posts with label Angels. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Angels. Show all posts
Saturday, August 23, 2008
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
Casey Jones, You'd Better Watch Your Speed
The Atlanta Braves finally moved 1B Mark Teixeira in exchange for 1B Casey Kotchman and righthanded pitching prospect Stephen Marek.
Teixeira, everyone knows, is a stud with the bat, career OPS+ 132 (139 in 2008: .283/.390/.512, 20 HR) and is also very accomplished in the field. We also know that he's a rent-a-player who is going to command somewhere in the $20M range for his contract this offseason.
Kotchman, career OPS+ 101 is an okay hitter, but very slick defender in the Lyle Overbay mold, but with a bit more power and not quite as good at getting on base (2008: .287/.327/.448, 12 HR). At 25, he still has some time to develop more power, and a 6'3", 210 lb frame suggests that it is a possibility.
Marek seems to be a bit of a throw-in. At 24 years old and still at AA, he is striking out a ton (about 11K/9IP), but also walking a bunch (4BB/9IP). If they can straighten out his control issues, he could become a decent relief pitcher. I don't really know anything about his stuff (though his high dominance and low control rates indicate that he is likely a power pitcher), so I do not want to comment too much on him right now.
Basically, this trade gives the Angels (65-40, 11.5 games ahead of 2nd Place Texas) a much needed offensive boost (they are currently 9th in the AL with 4.51 Runs/Game and just a 93 team OPS+). Thus far, they have outplayed their Pythagorean Record by eight games. Obviously, this trade was executed with an eye to the postseason, as they have a comfortable lead in the division. If Teixeira does not deliver this October, the deal should be deemed a failure.
Teixeira, everyone knows, is a stud with the bat, career OPS+ 132 (139 in 2008: .283/.390/.512, 20 HR) and is also very accomplished in the field. We also know that he's a rent-a-player who is going to command somewhere in the $20M range for his contract this offseason.
Kotchman, career OPS+ 101 is an okay hitter, but very slick defender in the Lyle Overbay mold, but with a bit more power and not quite as good at getting on base (2008: .287/.327/.448, 12 HR). At 25, he still has some time to develop more power, and a 6'3", 210 lb frame suggests that it is a possibility.
Marek seems to be a bit of a throw-in. At 24 years old and still at AA, he is striking out a ton (about 11K/9IP), but also walking a bunch (4BB/9IP). If they can straighten out his control issues, he could become a decent relief pitcher. I don't really know anything about his stuff (though his high dominance and low control rates indicate that he is likely a power pitcher), so I do not want to comment too much on him right now.
Basically, this trade gives the Angels (65-40, 11.5 games ahead of 2nd Place Texas) a much needed offensive boost (they are currently 9th in the AL with 4.51 Runs/Game and just a 93 team OPS+). Thus far, they have outplayed their Pythagorean Record by eight games. Obviously, this trade was executed with an eye to the postseason, as they have a comfortable lead in the division. If Teixeira does not deliver this October, the deal should be deemed a failure.
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