Feb
19
Abreu could be best value of offseason
Written by The Prez 0 Comments
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If you aren't a big baseball fan or follow a team other than the Los Angeles Angels, the fact that the Halos signed Bobby Abreu to a one-year, $5 million contract probably didn't mean too much to you in the grand scheme of things.
But it could have been the best value signing of the entire baseball offseason.
Oh sure, that Yankees made all the noise with their $483 million worth of CC Sabathia, A.J. Burnett and Mark Teixeira. And there were rumors early on that the Angels might try to make a big splash by signing Manny Ramirez, especially when they couldn't bring back Teixeira.
Instead, they got a likely 20 home run, 20 steal, 90 RBI, 100 runs scored guy in Abreu for pennies on the dollar – his base salary is $5 million less than the injury-prone Milton Bradley, who somehow got a three-year, $30 million deal from the Cubs. And Adam Dunn, who is one-dimensional, got $20 million from the Nationals.
Abreu is a .300 career hitter who has stolen at least 22 bases for 10 consecutive seasons and has hit 20 or more homers eight times. And he is a very patient hitter (career .405 on-base percentage last year), so he probably will bat second in the Angels' lineup ahead of Vladimir Guerrero and Torii Hunter. Thus his RBI totals may not reach triple digits from that spot, but his runs scored and steals might go up despite being 35 in March. The Angels are very aggressive in going after steals and have ranked in the top five in the league in that category for seven straight years. So Abreu should have a green light often.
The Angels weren't expected to be a player for Abreu since they have a glut of outfielders in Guerrero, Hunter, Gary Matthews Jr., Juan Rivera and Reggie Willits. Long-time Angel Garret Anderson is a free agent and won't be back.
But the Halos want to keep Guerrero fresh, so he will DH semi-frequently. And Matthews had knee surgery in October, so he might not be right at the start of the season. Abreu will rotate in at DH occasionally, although he said he wants to play 150 games in the outfield. He will have to play left field for the first time since 1997, however.
"We were content going to spring training with the club we had in place," GM Tony Reagins said the day of the signing. "This opportunity just made a lot of sense to us, to be able to add a player of Bobby's caliber."
According to Baseball Prospectus, the Angels were poised to finish behind Oakland, failing to win the AL West for only the second time in six years. This signing raised their BP projected win total from 80 to 84 – the Angels' over/under for wins on Bodog is 87.5 games.
In addition, the Angels desperately need a left-handed bat to replace those of Anderson and Teixeira (a switch hitter). The only left-handed power bat projected in the starting lineup had been switch-hitter Kendry Morales, replacing Teixeira at first base.
The Angels still aren't perfect - Brian Fuentes is no Francisco Rodriguez, and Jon Garland's innings will be missed in the rotation - but they should now hold off Oakland in the AL West and will have some money to spend at the trading deadline since they got Abreu on the cheap. It's in late July when teams are selling talent cheap due to the economy that this signing could pay off yet again.