Angels non-tender three

The Angels non-tendered three players yesterday; Jose Arredondo, Dustin Moseley, and Matt Brown. The players become free agents, free to sign with any team. Each has an interesting story and history with the Angels and Angel fans.

Jose Arredondo had an incredibly bright future. After his astounding 2008 season with the Angels, many Angel fans were ready to anoint Arredondo as the Angels next closer. Francisco Rodriguez was about to become a free agent and despite saving a record 62 games in 2008, many Angel fans were ready for a change. Mostly because many chose to focus on the seven blown saves and the countless times he put their hearts through roller-coaster-like finishes.

When the Angels signed Brian Fuentes as their new closer, some fans gave pause and wondered why? Arredondo clearly looked like he was ready to step in and become the next big thing. Well, baseball is a funny game. One season a player looks invincible and the next he looks like he doesn’t belong at all. Such was the case for Arredondo who struggled mightily in 2009.

Turns out, Arredondo may not have been healthy, thus explaining his poor season. On Friday the Angels announced that Arredondo would have Tommy John surgery and miss the entire 2010 season. Adding insult to injury, he was then non-tendered.

This is why you can never have too much pitching and also goes to show that Angel fans don’t make the best general managers. A once bright future now appears to have a black cloud hovering over it.

Matt Brown is another curious Angel with an interesting history. In 2008 Brown had a solid AAA season with the Salt Lake Bees; hitting .320 with a .953 OPS. Many fans saw him as the heir apparent to Robb Quinlan’s role on the team and in some cases saw even a bigger role for him. Brown even had impressive Spring Trainings and did everything asked of him.

Then 2009 happened. Unlike the previous two seasons, Brown never got a call up and struggled in Salt Lake City; hitting just .245 with a .748 OPS. Now 27 years old, Brown no longer looks like a promising prospect and his window for a career in the majors looks to be all but closed. Perhaps he became frustrated about not getting an opportunity, despite solid minor league numbers. Perhaps we simply saw the best we were ever going to see in 2008. In any case, Brown will most likely have to prove himself elsewhere in 2010.

Dustin Moseley is one of the most well spoken young men I have ever seen. When his friend and teammate Nick Adenhart died tragically, Moseley stepped in front of the cameras and delivered an emotional tribute to his buddy



The video is a permanet link on my list of favorites. It's moments like the one in the video that make baseball players more than just names and numbers to me. I root for players not only because of their statistics and what they can do on the field, but also because many of them are fine young men. I will miss Moseley.

No matter what Moseley does or doesn’t do moving forward, I will always remember him for the way he honored Nick. You hate to see young men of such character leaving your favorite team. Moseley spent parts of the last four seasons in the Angels rotation, but also spent most of the last two on the disabled list. We probably never saw the best he could do and that’s unfortunate.

All three are now footnotes in the Angels history book. Each showed some promise; however, in two of the cases (Moseley and Arredondo) injuries got the better of them. Baseball can be a cruel game and an even meaner business. Sometimes good guys just don’t make it.

I wish all three the best. Perhaps they’ll find their way back on the Angels roster down the road; although that’s unlikely.

DGXRA25JZWTR

Calling on the Angels to call on Chad Tracy

While Matt Holliday, Jason Bay and John Lackey are clearly the headliners in this year’s version of the Hot Stove League, I would like to talk about a guy who will fly under the radar (for the most part) and yet have the potential to be a nice pick up for someone (hopefully the Angels).

I’m talking about none other than Chad Tracy. Tracy is just 29 years old and has had more than his share of injuries the last three years. Those injuries have hindered his ability to fulfill his potential, the same potential that convinced the Arizona Diamondbacks to sign him to a three year, $13.25 million contract in 2006. At the time he looked like a bargain having come off a 2005 season where he hit .308 (6th best in the NL) with 27 homeruns and a .911 OPS (16th best in the NL). In 2006 he hit 20 homeruns and his OPS slipped to .794; however, he had become a solid run producer before succumbing to injuries to his knee and oblique over the next three seasons (including 2009).

The Diamondbacks did not pick up his $7 million 2010 option yesterday and instead bought him out for $1 million. Tracy is now a free agent and I’d like to see him in Anaheim. I see him as a low risk, medium to high reward investment. He’s a left handed bat with a little pop. His career OPS is significantly higher versus right handed pitching (.840 vs. .614), suggesting he might be a solid platoon guy. I know platoon guys don’t usually make the headlines in the Host Stove League, but I think Tracy could make some noise.

He also seems to do his best hitting late in the year with a career best .931 OPS in September/October. He's also hit more homeruns during that time period as compared to other months. I love guys who can play at a high level that time of the year.

Why the Angels? He could be an insurance policy for Brandon Wood (assuming Wood becomes the 3B next year). I don’t necessarily see him as an every day guy, but could flourish in a platoon situation with Wood (at least until Wood gets his feet wet). Scioscia loves to platoon young guys. He did this with Casey Kotchman and he’s done with Howie Kendrick and Kendry Morales.

Tracy is versatile. He can play 1B, 3B or LF. The Angels are going to need some additional pop from the left side. Outside of Kendry Morales (who is a switch hitter), they really don’t have another left handed power threat. Abreu can drive in runs, but has never been a huge long ball threat. Aybar and Izturis are solid switch hitters, but neither have hit digit homeruns in a season – even in the minor leagues (other than the one year Aybar hit 14 homeruns at Rancho Cucamonga).

He’s not the sexy choice people most people want to talk about, but I think he could help a team. Don’t get me wrong, the Angels #1 priority should still be John Lackey. I’m also hopeful Figgins and Oliver will be back and that the Angels can some how manage to sign Jason Bay. Tracy isn’t going to invoke comparisons to Troy Glaus or even Doug DeCinces, but could be added as a complimentary piece of the puzzle for next year. At the very least he could be a new and improved version of Robb Quinlan; albeit from the left side.

I know some might see Freddy Sandoval as the logical replacement for “Q.” Not me. Sandoval is only two years younger than Tracy and has had an average minor league career, in my opinion. Tracy is a “young” veteran and would likely fit the role better.

Another choice might have been Matt Brown. This past spring – some were hoping to see Brown take Quinlan’s place. Brown had a good spring, but didn’t follow it up with a solid minor league season. He hit a mere .249 with a .749 OPS with Salt Lake City. In fact Brown has a career .267 average in the minors. I’m afraid the window is closing on both Sandoval and Brown. Neither has the upside of Tracy.

I know it’s been three years since Tracy was last productive. I know he’s been injured a lot. Those are the downsides of Tracy. The upside is that Tracy hopefully has something to prove and sometimes guys who have that kind of attitude can pay off big time. The potential is definitely there and he would be a nice story if he comes through.