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Slugging Catcher Claimed Off Waivers

I was alarmed  last week when I saw Mike Napoli’s name among the list of players placed on waivers by the Angels. So when he was claimed this weekend by the Red Sox I had even more cause for concern.

While most sources are reporting a deal for Napoli (to the Red Sox or anyone else) this season is unlikely, I still find it alarming that the Angels are even considering parting ways with Naps. The two sides have to strike a deal today (August 30th) or Napoli will likely remain an Angel, at least for the remainder of the season.

Its really baffling that on a team long starved for power, Angels brass is not content with Napoli’s production. Mike Napoli is a lock to hit .250 – .270 with 20 -25 HR and decent OBP and SLG numbers virtually every year. He needs to improve with RISP but he still is among the elite catchers in the game from an offensive standpoint.

There aren’t many catchers currently available that have consistently put up this kind of offensive production. His defense/game calling both leave a lot to be desired,   but he more than makes up for it with the bat.

Napoli should be the “mainstay” at catcher and locked up long term. He’s currently under team control through next season and is “reasonably priced’ at 3.6 million dollars. Napoli offers premium power from a historically offensively challenged position (catcher).

In an off season that will have many question marks Napoli provides the Angels with a more than capable proven answer at catcher. That’s a piece the club should build on not remove from the equation.

I say no deal!

Vladimir Guerrero

It’s hard to believe Guerrero was only with the Angels for six years. Somehow, at least to me, it seemed like he’d been around for a long time, along with guys like Lackey and Figgins. As far as a six year stretch goes, though, it would’ve been hard for the Angels to find someone that would give them a better one. His time with the Angels were not his peak years – those clearly happened in near obscurity with Montreal, where he was able to put together a .323/.390/.588 slash line and an OPS 51 points better than the one he posted with the Angels – but for a guy that was off his peak years, he still destroyed the ball with the best of them.

In a move that was met with mixed reaction from the fanbase (though as you can see from the very first post here at Halo Hangout, it was an unquestionably negative reaction from me), the Angels’ Front Office let Vladimir Guerrero walk, though he didn’t go far. The Texas Rangers, thinking Guerrero still had something left in the tank, snatched him up from their AL West rivals, and only paying $6.5MM in

2010, plus a mutual $9MM option in 2011 to do it. It was a move that proved to be nearly brilliant, as Guerrero went on to completely destroy American League pitching in the first half of this season. In March/April, June, and July he put up wOBA’s of .374, .405, and .437 respectively, and he was a large part of the offense that helped put space between the Rangers and Angels as the season made its way towards the middle of summer. He has since scuffled some, his wOBA in July and August falling to .275 and .230 respectively. There could be a couple of reasons for this, including Guerrero tiring due to already surpassing his games played total from 2009. I think the largest part of it, however, is due to the sharp drop in his BABIP, which fell from .338 in June to .212 in July, and so it’s quite possible that Guerrero has just run into some bad luck. Either way, he’s already been worth nearly 2 WAR and $7.5MM for the Rangers this season, making his contract more than worth it. A comparison between Guerrero and Matsui, the man who replaced him in Anaheim, would seem to me to only be adding salt to the wounds that Guerrero’s bat opened against us this season. Suffice it to say 92 additional points of OPS from the DH spot would have been a big help to the Angels this season. Let’s hope this one was a learning experience for the front office.

Chone Figgins

Figgins was only the second of three big-name free agents that left the Angels for more money, and found it at yet another rival. Unlike Guerrero, who went south to the potent lineup of the Rangers, Figgins went north to Seattle, where a new GM was putting a new philosophy in place. As part of that philosophy – one of run prevention due to pitching and defense helping to pick up a less than stellar offense – Figgins and his fantastic glove were given four years and $36MM. At the time, the deal seemed like a pretty solid one given Figgins’ glove (in 2009 he was only behind Evan Longoria in UZR totals for 3B), and his surprisingly solid bat to go along with it (posting a .358 wOBA in 2009, and a .371 wOBA only two seasons before that). Unfortunately for both Figgins and the Mariners, things haven’t gone quite as they expected upon the signing. For starters, the Mariners moved Figgins to 2B, where he’s played all 1038 of his defensive innings this season. The problem with this is, Figgins has always been a better defender at 3B than 2B, and his -9.1 UZR at the position this season only helps to reinforce that

fact. Contrast that with his 10.6 and 16.6 UZR in 2008 and 2009, respectively, at 3B, and you see just how much better his defense is at the hot corner. Jose Lopez, who had previously spent the majority of his time at 2B, moved to 3B to make room for Figgins, though I don’t think the move has been a net gain for Seattle. Lopez was a slightly below average defender at 2B, but his worst season at the position, a -3.6 in 2008, was still better than what Figgins’ has given them this season. Outside of that, he’s only been able to put together a 2.5 UZR at 3B this season, which is clearly a far cry from Figgins’ sparkling 16.6 UZR last season. I wouldn’t be entirely shocked to see Figgins shift back to 3B in 2011, but that is 100% speculation on my part. It’s the move I’d make, though.

Figgins’ bat also seemed to forget to take the trip north with him, and unless his recent improvements continue he’ll finish with his first sub-.300 wOBA season since he became a full-time starter. A large part of Figgins’ struggles seem to be related to luck, with his BABIP dropping 53 points from last season, all the way to the .303 it’s currently sitting at. Even that .303 is an improvement over what he’s seen for most of this season, when his BABIP for three of the five months of baseball in 2010 have seen Figgins’ with numbers at .292 or below. Each of those months saw Chone with a vastly sub-par wOBA, ranging only between .283-.288. August, however, has been a bit of a resurgence for Figgins’ bat, his BABIP climbing to .378 and his wOBA jumping right along with it, to a season-high of .328. I think it’s pretty much a given that Figgins’ punchless bat is due almost entirely to bad luck, something much of the Mariners team seems to have suffered from this season, and I expected it to rebound in 2011.

In his time with the Angels, Figgins was a bit of an unsung hero. He was the single most valuable player on the team in 2009, outpacing even Kendry Morales by more than 1.5 WAR. The problem with that is, Morales had the HR and RBI, and that’s what people love. So, Figgins was quietly awesome last season, and far too few Angels fans even knew it. It’s interesting to me the way guys like David Eckstein are practically buried under the praise they get for being “gritty little guys,” but Eckstein has yet in his career to come close to the production Figgins was able to provide us. This is, I suppose, the sort of thing that the “stat geeks” get annoyed by the most, watching great players get much less attention for their ability and production than less talented, less productive players get, almost precisely because they’re less talented and less productive. I know he plays for our rivals now, but it will always be hard for me to root against Figgins succeeding.

Gary Matthews Jr

There are few people that have worn an Angels uniform that I actively disliked. In fact, unlike many fellow fans I know that openly dislike people like K-Rod and John Lackey, the list of past and present Angels I truly didn’t like contains only one name: Gary Matthews Jr. A couple years back I made this image, using my rather pedestrian Photoshop skills, but I think it explains my feelings pretty clearly.

GMJ is, without question, the worst signing of Bill Stoneman’s tenure as Angels’ GM. In fact, eight months after sending him to the New York Mets in exchange for Brian Stokes, the Angels are still paying Matthews $10.5MM this season, along with another $11MM next season. When all is said and done, the Angels will end up paying $48.5MM for a .248/.325/.383 over 1416 PA in three seasons with the Angels. On top of that, GMJ added a -24.4 UZR in CF, -7.9 UZR in LF, and a -4.0 UZR in RF. In short, he sucked defensively. Add all this together, and the Angels ended up with a grand total of a -1.1 WAR in three seasons from GMJ. If you factor in the negative value he provided while on the team, the Angels ended up losing a total of $53.5MM in the deal. What a depressing thing to type.

As Matthews’ playing time evaporated on the Angels, he began to rumble a bit about wanting a trade, apparently thinking he could still be a productive player. In short, he was wrong. While only playing 36 games for the Mets this season, he posted a .233 wOBA in 65 PA, which was a new career low for him. He only started 10 games in the field for New York, making his UZR all but irrelevant in his time with them. The Mets, finally getting to see live the incompetence that is Gary Matthews Jr., released him almost five months to the day after acquiring him from the Angels. The Reds decided to pick him up, and in 23 games for their AAA affiliate he’s put up a .317/.361/.495 line. As good as that is, it’s not something I would remotely expect to carry over to the Majors, and I seriously doubt we see GMJ before September, if even then. Either way, the demise of Gary Matthews Jr. is clearly proceeding on schedule, and it’s hard to imagine anyone else giving him any significant amount of money once the Angels are done giving him a barge full or money in exchange for literally nothing.

These players aren’t robots. Morales might be too stubborn to be forced to defend the hot corner, and Hunter who has prided himself on defense his entire career will absolutely not be willing to DH for the rest of his career. It’s a good idea statistically, but a terrible idea in the real world. Managing teams goes beyond stats. I really hope we can trade Abreu, and keep Rivera on the bench. If I had to choose between Crawford and Werth, I think I’d go with Werth. He will give us a good arm in RF and he has raw power. Speed guys (though Crawford is more than just a “speed guy”) are easier to find on the market than big bats. Why would we want a lineup of Aybar, Bourjos, Kendrick, AND Crawford? Not saying I don’t want Crawford, but I’d go after Werth first.

There are a couple of things to address here. First, this is not simply a matter of “managing by stats.” Hunter has shown that his bat is good enough to be a quality DH, and his defense has clearly been on the decline. If he truly is about “whatever will help the team win,” then this is a move he’ll accept. As I also said, having Hunter as our DH would allow us to rest all three of our OFers occasionally, while still giving Torii a chance to play the OF. It wouldn’t be nearly as much as he’s used to, obviously, but he wouldn’t be the DH and nothing but the DH. On top of that, with the positive defense Werth and Crawford bring on the corners, and the defensive prodigy Bourjos is in CF, the Angels OF defense would almost go from worst to first overnight.

As far as Morales playing 3B, it’s a gamble moving him there, but one I think he could handle. I don’t think he’d be the second coming of Scott Rolen, but he’s also not too big to play the position, since he’s listed as smaller than both Rolen and Troy Glaus.

I think Crawford is a long shot, but he would be a good acquisition. If the Angels take a run at Adam Dunn (the unknown team that is negotiating for him), then that would be a good long term solution if they can resign him. I do not even would want Werth on our team. It still revolves around Adam Dunn in my mind.

1. Napoli needs to play everyday
2. Adam Dunn needs to play 1B/DH
3. Trade Willits, Rivera, and Matsui
4. Trade Fuentes, Rodney (failed experiment)
5. Move Kazmir to the bullpen
6. Make a serious offer for Crawford (still skeptical)

If we picked up Dunn on the waiver:

SS Aybar (Lead off Bourjos next year)
LF Abreu (Trade Abreu and sign Crawford)
RF Hunter
1B/DH Dunn (Morales next year and move Dunn to 5th up if he signs)
DH/1B Trumbo/Napoli
2B Kendrick/Itzuris
3B Callapso/Itzuris
C Napoli/Mathis/Wilson
CF Bourjos

Where to begin?

Let’s start with “I don’t even want Werth on our team.” This is logic (perhaps I should say “logic”) I don’t understand. Jayson Werth is currently finishing up his fourth straight season with a wOBA over .380. Factor in his defense, and he’s also finishing up his fourth straight season of at least a 3.2 WAR. Our current RF (though he’s now in LF with Hunter’s switch), on the other hand, is finishing up his fourth straight season with a wOBA below .370. His WAR hasn’t been above 3.0 in four straight season as well. Replacing him with someone that is clearly better than him, both offensively and defensively, is the very definition of improving the team. It’s practically a no-brainer, unless you’re of the misguided opinion that Abreu has somehow helped this team become “more patient.”

When it comes to Rodney being a “failed experiment,” I am admittedly forced to chuckle a little. The only people Rodney was ever an “experiment” to were those that still cling to the belief that saves mean something. To anyone that dared look beyond his saves total and checked out things like his walk and K rates, or even something as simple as his ERA, it’s clear that turning 30 was not a good thing for Rodney. He hasn’t seen an ERA below 4.00 or a WHIP below 1.30 since his 20’s, and with four straight seasons with his numbers in that elevation, there’s just no reason to expect some kind of turn-around. It was a terrible signing when it happened, and it’s a terrible signing now that the season’s ending. At no point was it an “experiment” that I expected to work, and for clearly good reasons.

The other major point that needs to be addressed is Bourjos batting leadoff next season. As we discussed when he was called up, Bourjos bat is going to leave something to be desired for a while. While we have an impossibly small sample size to look at right now, I don’t know what about a .220 OBP in his first 11 games with the Halos makes anyone think he can be a leadoff hitter. His speed is great, no doubt, but he has to be able to make it safely to a base before it can even mean anything, and so far I haven’t seen anything from him that makes me think he can do that. It’s certainly something that can (and hopefully will) change as he gets more time with the coaching staff and more time to see Major League pitching, but it’s not something that is going to change overnight. Aybar is far from a perfect solution, but he’s still going to be better than Bourjos would be. Either way, whether it’s Aybar or someone else, it should not be Bourjos until he can show that he can maintain a high OBP.

Lastly, the batting order he lays out is seriously flawed. Dunn is a picture-perfect #2 hitter, with high OBP, tons of power, and few GIDP. He’s a guy that will very frequently advance or drive in your leadoff runner, while very rarely erasing him on a double play. Bobby Abreu is far from that player, with double-digit GIDP for five straight seasons now, while Dunn has double-digit GIDP exactly once in his career. Sticking him at 5th is a waste of his power and his OBP skills, and is far from the best lineup construction one can make with that group of players.

Hunter will be our RF until his contract ends, unless Bourjos doesn’t start hitting. Morales is a converted outfielder, so we can move him out to LF or RF next year if Dunn is signed. Callaspo looks to be settling in at 3B, just need him to lift some weights in the offseason to get his slugging up. This of course is if Crawford doesn’t sign and we get Dunn.

Napoli needs to be the everyday catcher or DH. He’s just too good of a hitter to not play everyday. I think Rivera is a goner no matter how you look at it, along with Matsui.

Then again, I’d be fine with signing Crawford and some relievers in the offseason, and getting rid of some of the dead Wood (a pun intended). Morales and Napoli in the middle of our lineup is pretty scary if you ask me. If Bourjos doesn’t start hitting, it will really limit our moves in the offseason.

A nice pun, and an idea I agree with… I like it! And really, I agree with a number of the things said here. Some of them are a tad on the crazy side, however. Callaspo is never going to be a power hitter, or even close enough to be mistaken for one by Joe Morgan. He has more pop than someone like David Eckstein, but asking for much more out of a guy with 19 career HRs over 5 seasons is pretty clearly a pipe dream. Outside of his SLG issues, his career OBP is only .333, and he doesn’t even appear to have a ton of speed to make up for that, going converting only 62% of his stolen base attempts over his career. The fact that he’s an upgrade tells us just how bad Wood has been this season, but we shouldn’t accept that improvement as the best we could get at 3B, because Callaspo really is not that great. I don’t know about you, but a career .322 wOBA doesn’t really blow me away.

On Napoli, he is right on. Whatever defensive value Mathis may provide us, and I’m skeptical of just how much it is, it’s simply not enough to make up for the Swiss cheese that is his bat.  While Napoli is not going to be mistaken for Yadier Molina behind the plate, he can bring the lumber in a way few catchers in baseball can, and there’s a ton of value in that as well. We simply need Scioscia & Co. to actually recognize this fact.

Lastly, I want to close with one from someone that, at least to some degree, agreed with me:

I honestly don’t know what the argument is here. Are people actually against getting Dunn and Werth? Why? Because we have players at the same position already that are making money?

I mean you’re gonna be spending money at each position anyway, so why not maximize the results you get from the respective position? Sure Hunter is a flashy player who makes some good catches, but why not sign a guy who improves our offense and can potentially improve that side of the field defensively as well? Are people actually afraid of getting proven players because they cost money? Is that where this argument is going to? At the end of the day, I want the money being spent on someone that can produce most sufficiently to his playing time and opportunities to do so regardless of the money it takes to bring him in. That would be Werth and Dunn.

In the words of comedian Jimmy Pardo: This guy gets it.

(Nate Proctor is the lead writer for Halo Hangout.  You can stay up to date on all of Nate’s work by following him on Twitter, Facebook, or by way of the Halo Hangout RSS feed.)