Comments on: Time to release Gary Matthews Jr.?

By: Oldski

Oldski — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 22:59:41 +0000

Clearly, you keep Matthews. It makes no sense from a monetary standpoint to release him, pay his contract, then replace him with a rookie or another free-agent for additional money, someone who would probably not produce as much as Matthews anyway. Free-agents have always been mostly losing propositions for the Angels; Bartolo Colon? And, oh yeah, Whatzisname, the the big-deal first baseman from Boston? Moe Vaughn? Slipped on a banana on the dugout steps the first year, never heard from again? Keep Matthews, big-dollar free-agents never pay-off in the long-term.

By: Terry

Terry — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 15:12:29 +0000

In regards to players having ups and downs: The time of the year has everything to do with it. Figgins chokes in the playoffs every year. He can’t handle the pressure. Guess who wins the playoffs: those players who rise above play off pressure and perform on the field. Figgie doesn’t.

By: Adam

Adam — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 03:23:08 +0000

Garbage Matthews Jr. is deplorable in left field, or any other position he is filling in for. 50 Mil. for 5 years is absolutely rediculous for a player who had ONE career year in Texas of all places. I wish we could trade him but no one wants this piece of garbage. And you can’t use two years of being injured as an excuse for not producing. If your able to be on the field and make “spectacular” catches and have great defense, you should be able to square one up every once in a while and send it over the fence. Every time I see Garbage Mathews Jr. step in the box I say to myself, ” Oh great, here comes another ground out the either second base or shortstop!” and it never fails. This guy isn’t worth the paper he wipes his ass with. Get rid of him!

By: Tom

Tom — Sun, 09 Nov 2008 17:48:53 +0000

Matthews Jr. was hurt and just had knee surgery. It’s very hard to hit with a bum knee. Releasing him is not the answer - financially. Let him get healthy next year. If he can get back to an above average player, the Angels can then at least trade him. They’d have to eat part of his contract. But getting a player in return, is much better than just eating the $30+ million remaining. Worst case, if he does get his game back, the Angels have a nice veteran 4th outfielder. No matter what, he will not hit 20 HR anymore. Both he & Torii came from a hitter’s park to a pitchers park in Anaheim. Torii’s offensive numbers were down too last year. Neither signing looks good right now. Angels locked up $140 mil. combined for 2 center fielders - and who opposing pitchers do not fear.

By: carlos

carlos — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 19:19:05 +0000

I’m not the biggest Figgy fan in the world, but who takes over at lead off? GMjr.? Um, abso-freakin-lutely not. Aybar? With that lousy OBP and bad baserunning instincts? No thanks. Over the last few seasons, Figgy has really honed his batting eye, and kept his average up to a respectable level. He’s still one of the best baserunners around, and plays a phenomenal third base. We can sit around and hope that Aybar eventually becomes a serviceable lead off hitter the way Figgy has in recent seasons, but since we have him for one more year, lets utilize him. And can we please do away with all this “choking in the playoffs” nonsense? Calling a player a choker because he wasn’t so hot over 3-4 games is ridiculous. If its June and Figgins goes 2-16 in a series against Oakland, no one bats an eye. In October things are magnified, but you should not overreact to someone’s performance over a handful of games when you have the player’s whole career to judge his ability. I don’t hear any Sox fans calling Pedroia a choaker after his performance against the Angels in the playoffs. Its baseball. Players get hot and get cold. The time of the year has very little to do with it.

By: Terry

Terry — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 17:54:07 +0000

I agree with keeping Rivera. He always produces when he’s playing regularly. Keep GMJ as a back up outfielder and hope his poor 2008 was due to injuries. Time for Figgie to go. Yeah, he’s fast but chokes in the playoffs every year. Wood can fill his shoes for a lot less money.

By: Mike

Mike — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 19:44:34 +0000

You can’t just release him. As people above have said, he at least makes a capable defensive backup and can run if his knee heals correctly. Yes the Angels have others who can do that, but how long till those same people who say release him start complaining about the fact we are paying him to play for someone else if he puts up good numbers again, especially if he comes in and robs a homerun or two in center, as he has done before.
Unless we can trade him, we might as well keep him as an extra outfielder and the Angels really should look to resign Juan Rivera and put him in left.

By: Angel Fan88

Angel Fan88 — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 20:25:37 +0000

I think that we have no choice but to keep him. Bill Stoneman’s wonderful contract deal with GMJ will be hanging over our heads for a few more years to come. Nothing we can do so we might as well utilize him. While GMJ is an average player at best, I believe that the more that he plays the better he will become. Let’s face it, GA and Juan probably won’t be back in 09, so that leaves an open spot for Gary and Reggie to share.

By: Craig

Craig — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 04:45:58 +0000

What’s with the bashing of announcer Rex Hudler? The guy has a “freshness” that other announcers lack and always presents a positive outgoing attitude. He’s fun to listen to and gets people fired up! These are actually traits that preserved him through a long major league baseball career with marginal talent. But his abilities as an announcer are abounding. Give credit ware credit is due!

By: carlos

carlos — Sun, 02 Nov 2008 19:23:43 +0000

Um, yeah. And that ballpark has nothing to do with all the great offenses Texas produces. If anything, credit their scouting and player development. Hitting coaches make very little difference, though I’d be willing to bet that Hatcher’s teachings, if you can call them that, do more harm than good.