Kennedy, who will turn 37 this Thursday, has posted a respectable .272/.327/.384 batting line in 6,055 plate appearances over his 14-year career. Kennedy has also lined 288 doubles, smoked 42 triples, and smashed 80 jimmy-jacks.

July 4, 2012; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Los Angeles Dodgers third baseman Adam Kennedy (3) hits a sacrifice RBI in the eighth inning against the Cincinnati Reds at Dodger Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports

If you are an Angels fan, you’ll probably never forget AK’s most memorable moment as an Angel when he belted three home runs in game 5 of the ALCS to help the Halos advance to the World Series. Kennedy was a fantastic Angel. In fact, Halos Heaven ranked Kennedy as the 24th best Angel EVER.

It has recently been reported that the soon to be 37-year-old has opened up his own training facility — which happens to only be about six miles from Angel Stadium.

Former #Angels and #Dodgers INF Adam Kennedy hasn’t officially retired but is opening a baseball development facility in Anaheim next week.

— Mike DiGiovanna (@MikeDiGiovanna) January 2, 2013

I believe that Kennedy — even at his rather “old” age — would be a great fit for an Angels team that lacks depth on the bench. It is unclear whether Kennedy is in good shape or not, but there’s only one way to find out! I think it is quite obvious that if Kennedy was to play this year, he would want to play in SoCal. Adam can play more than one position in the infield, so it would be safe to say that he would assume the backup role at each infield position — excluding first base. However, Kennedy would have some competition. At the moment, infielder Andrew Romine is in line to take over the role of  backup infielder.

Many believe that Romine is capable of great things, but that’s just it…”capable”. In other words, he is a young, unproven talent. I’m sure Andy would do just fine if he was given 350-400 at-bats in a season, and I’m also sure that he would play decent defense. However, what if Kennedy was given the same chance and was able to do better than “just fine”?

I guess the point I’m trying to make here is, why not? Why not sign Kennedy to a one-year deal? Why not give the ex-Angel an invitation to Spring Training? I can guarantee that every Angel fan would love seeing Kennedy back in Angels red one last time.

Just to clarify, there have not been any rumors surrounding Adam and the Angels, it is simply speculation.

Moving on, awkwardly (Kelvin Kuo-US PRESSWIRE)

Hunter spent five seasons in Anaheim after signing a $90 million deal in 2008 with the Angels. He was an ambassador for both the team and MLB, a prankster, a mentor and a fine baseball player. If you believe in the value given to his WAR (wins above replacement) by Fangraphs, Hunter even almost earned his mega-deal. Fangraphs had him worth $79.5 million over the five years. Hunter’s final year for the Angels was his best as a pro hitting .313/.365/.451 and playing good outfield defense. For all of that, the Angels didn’t extend Hunter the $13.5 million qualifying offer and only showed near minimal interest in bringing Hunter back by putting $5 million on the negotiating table.

Hunter’s departure leaves the Angels with Peter Bourjos reclaiming center, Mike Trout moving to left and Mark Trumbo in right with Vernon Wells sprinkled in for people to complain. Some fans are upset that Hunter was basically shown the door while others are rather indifferent. Either way, it’s going to be okay.

It’s hard to fault the Angels for not wanting to give nearly $30 million to a 37-year-old player coming off of a career year. Hunter probably didn’t develop new skills to suggest his career high .389 BABIP is sustainable so some regression can be expected. I’m not suggesting Hunter becomes a bad baseball player over the next two seasons but he’s not the 5.5 rWAR (Baseball-Reference wins above replacement) player we saw in 2012.

For comparisons sake, here are two other gentleman with career years at the ripe-ish age of 36.

Jose Cruz

Randy Velarde

Velarade missed time from 2000 to 2002 and then his career was over but he was also an infielder. It’s not the best comp but the numbers at the plate could be eerily similar to Hunter going forward. Cruz might be the better scenario for Hunter. Cruz was capable in the field and still valuable offensively after his big year-36 season. If Hunter replicates Cruz’s numbers, his 5.4 WAR would make him worth ~$27 million (assuming a win is worth $5MM). Detroit will get their money’s worth. If he follows Velarde’s track, Hunter would be worth ~$18.5 million.

It’s a risk the Angels didn’t want to pay. Of course, the Angels are risking Trumbo repeating his mind-numbing .227/.271/.359 second half from 2012. Trumbo still had a 2.3 WAR and at a fraction of the cost.

Losing Torii Hunter is going to be okay. Unless his years 37 and 38 are more Ted Williams than Jose Cruz or Randy Velarde. Then it looks pret-tah, pret-tah bad.