Angels Sign Jorge Cantu *Shrug*

Coming, possibly, to a bench near you…Jorge Cantu. *single golf clap* The Angels signed Cantu to a minor league deal and will let him compete for a bench spot with the big league club. I have a weird sense of humor. But if this is a joke, I don’t get Jerry Dipoto yet.

Cantu was last seen in 2011 collecting 155 plate appearances for the Padres to the tune of a .194/.232/.285 line. Forgettable, perhaps, as he was DFA’d and then played 30 games for the Rockies Triple-A squad. If you’d like to reminisce, 2008 was Cantu’s career season by WAR(P) when he hit 29 home runs and a .277/.327/.481 line. That was the only year he was worth more than 1.5 wins above replacement by the metric of your choosing.

Cantu has a career .316 OBP and has played 1B, 2B and 3B poorly over his career. Dipoto is a smart man so there’s surely a method to his madness. Maybe the studies have shown Cantu is quite popular in Salt Lake City and the Bees have their new star. Maybe, when Cantu turns 30 this month, he’ll return to his 2008 form. Maybe a can of Mountain Dew wouldn’t dissolve a mouse after all. But call me a pessimist…

I don’t understand the signing. Sure, there’s no risk but limited upside. As I tweeted, I’ll set the over/under on Angels MLB innings played by Cantu at 10 and take the under.