Los Angeles Angels add outfield depth, speed signing Ben Revere

Los Angeles Angels general manager Billy Eppler  gave fans and manager Mike Scioscia one more Christmas gift as he signed speedy outfielder Ben Revere to a one-year contract worth four million dollars Friday afternoon.

This move may not seem like much, but it gives the Los Angeles Angels so much needed insurance in the outfield and also a potential leadoff hitter with some speed. You might remember back in 2015 with the Angels desperately needing a left fielder that Revere’s name came up, then interim general manager Bill Stoneman not wanting to pull the trigger. The Angels instead settled on a trio of outfielders David Dejesus, Shane Victorino, and David Murphy.

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Murphy is the only one of the three that panned out, and Revere went on to the Blue Jays helping them down the stretch to nail down their first playoff berth since 1993 as the American League Eastern Division Champions.  The Angels on the other sputtered in August, rallied in September, but fell just short of a playoff berth.

A lot has changed since then for Revere.  For starters he is two years older as Revere is now 28.  Not only that he is no longer on the Blue Jays, instead playing for the Washington Nationals in 2016 and making a return trip to the post-season.  However, unlike 2015 where Revere hit .255 with an RBI and two stolen bases in 11 post-season games for the Blue Jays, Revere was not even on the Nationals post-season roster.

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Down the stretch in 2015 Revere was a big lift for the Blue Jays hitting .315 with a .354 OBP in 56 games after being traded to Toronto by the Phillies.  In 2016 Revere suffered through an abysmal year in the Nation’s capital hitting just .217 with a .260 OBP playing in 103 games for Washington.  Revere hit two homers while driving in 24 runs and stealing 14 bases for the Nationals.

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Revere is a career .285 hitter in six seasons with the Phillies, Blue Jays, and Nationals. Revere has 190 stolen bases in his career with a .320 OBP.  Defensively Revere is very strong sporting a .990 fielding percentage only 16 career errors in 1627 chances.  Over the past six seasons Revere has hit over .300 in four of those seasons and .298 in 2014, with only last year being subpar.

The Angels signed Revere with hopes that he will return to his previous form from the previous five seasons. Another thing about Revere is that he hits well from both sides of the plate.  Revere hits .315 from the left-side and .275 from the right side of the plate,  however he does not have much power with only six career homers.

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Overall, Revere is a nice and cost-effective addition to the team, lets hope he erases the memories of 2016 and gets back to the way he performed in his first five big league seasons. Thanks to Santa Eppler I say Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night.