Angels sign Hillenbrand

[ryno-mvp23]

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=2708779

[seanhopper]

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=2708779

 

It appears any Todd Helton trade would be off the table and the pie in the sky deal of Figgins for Jones will live as only a message board rumor.

[Bruno7481]

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=2708779

 

It appears any Todd Helton trade would be off the table and the pie in the sky deal of Figgins for Jones will live as only a message board rumor.

 

Why would anyone want Figgins over Jones?

 

.267/.336/.376 last year. That was worse than Pierre.

 

I knew people didn't like Jones, but this is getting ridiculous.

[cheapseats]

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=2708779

 

It appears any Todd Helton trade would be off the table and the pie in the sky deal of Figgins for Jones will live as only a message board rumor.

 

Why would anyone want Figgins over Jones?

 

.267/.336/.376 last year. That was worse than Pierre.

 

I knew people didn't like Jones, but this is getting ridiculous.

 

Yep.

[Pickle]

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=2708779

 

It appears any Todd Helton trade would be off the table and the pie in the sky deal of Figgins for Jones will live as only a message board rumor.

 

Why would anyone want Figgins over Jones?

 

.267/.336/.376 last year. That was worse than Pierre.

 

I knew people didn't like Jones, but this is getting ridiculous.

 

That just goes to show the seriousness of the hate-ons people have for Jones. Ridiculous is the perfect word.

[jjgman21]

people were talking some Vlad talk in another thread, so this applies to that too...

 

didn't I see that Rivera busted up his leg pretty bad in Venezuala? if so, look for Angels rumors to abound from now until April.

[goonys evil twin]

One year 6.5m, seems like a pretty team friendly deal in this market. Although if I was a fan, I'd be pissed if Shea and GMJ were the two biggest offensive acquisitions. He's kind of like a Jacque Jones, in that he's capable of providing average to above average production, but he's not as productive as you'd like for his position. He's also OBP deficient, but has had a few seasons with at least a respectable OBP. I guess the question is where is he going to play, and whether or not they are going to find another bat. That offense was pretty poor last year, and they don't seem to me to be in a position to be any better this season.

 

The Angels are kind of like the Cubs in that they are trying to win with an offense that depends heavily on their average, and they need their pitching to be superb. The difference of course is they have been more successful carrying out that rather inefficient and volatile strategy.

[Twiggy]

Nice deal for the halos. 1 year deal 6.5 mil sounds about right for him.

[goonys evil twin]

people were talking some Vlad talk in another thread, so this applies to that too...

 

didn't I see that Rivera busted up his leg pretty bad in Venezuala? if so, look for Angels rumors to abound from now until April.

 

Yeah, Rivera was their 2nd most productive bat last season, even though he had less than 500 PA. I'd think they would want significantly more than Mathews and Hillenbrand to add to the lineup.

 

 

I'm not sure if you meant to bring up potential Vlad to the Cubs scenarios, but I wonder if there could be anything the Cubs could do to tickle their fancy. I know there are quite a few highly touted Angels prospects, but I believe a couple have fallen from their high perch and I'm not sure if any are poised to help them in 2007. That team seems to have a lot of average guys, and interestingly enough, they averaged out to a team OPS+ of 100. That was only good enough for 9th place in the AL in runs scored. They've been an average to well below average AL run scoring team every season since the 2002 WS victory. They might be interested in shaking things up, especially after being so disappointed in their offseason (reportedly).

 

I wonder if they'd be interested in trading Vlad. I'd be pretty ecstatic if the Cubs had an OF of Vlad, Pie and Soriano next season, obviously. That being said, I don't see much of a way to convince the Angels to deal Vlad.

[rawaction]

One year 6.5m, seems like a pretty team friendly deal in this market. Although if I was a fan, I'd be pissed if Shea and GMJ were the two biggest offensive acquisitions. He's kind of like a Jacque Jones, in that he's capable of providing average to above average production, but he's not as productive as you'd like for his position. He's also OBP deficient, but has had a few seasons with at least a respectable OBP. I guess the question is where is he going to play, and whether or not they are going to find another bat. That offense was pretty poor last year, and they don't seem to me to be in a position to be any better this season.

 

The Angels are kind of like the Cubs in that they are trying to win with an offense that depends heavily on their average, and they need their pitching to be superb. The difference of course is they have been more successful carrying out that rather inefficient and volatile strategy.

 

The Angels are almost a mirror image of the Cubs, but have a better farm system, which will possibly save them. Team with money to spend, but not much of an idea on how to spend it.