Orange County Register

We all make mistakes, but to blunder one has to make a mistake that is self-evidently wrong at the time of the decision. Does Jon Garland’s decision to pass up arbitration — a decision that likely cost him a few million dollars in 2009 — qualify?

Ken Rosenthal takes a good, long look and concludes that it doesn’t:

On Dec. 7, the day he and other selected free agents made their arbitration decisions, Garland still had every reason to believe that he would command a significant multi-year deal.

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At the time, Garland also had other considerations. The Angels were weighing a run at Sabathia or a trade for Padres right-hander Jake Peavy. Either move could have pushed Garland to the bullpen, potentially damaging his free-agent value next offseason, or forced him out through a trade.

At the time, I looked at Garland’s decision from the Angels’ perspective, and concluded that it was close enough that they couldn’t lose either way, but that it was best for them if Garland walked. I also thought at the time it was best for Garland to make a play for a multi-year deal now, before his skills deteriorated further. Of course, no multi-year deal came through.

One more interesting note: We’ve been assuming that Garland would have earned no less than $9.6 million if he’d accepted arbitration, as arbitration-eligible players can’t have their pay cut by more than 20 percent. But Rosenthal says the rule doesn’t apply for free agents. Any experts in collective bargaining who can vouch for this?

Previous Angels posts:

• Angels, FSN announce tv schedule
• Another young pitcher gets multi-year deal
• Choose your own GM adventure
• Revisiting Catcher ERA and Napoli vs Mathis
• Where is GA going?
• USA Today takes on Angels
• Can Angels remain kings of clutch?
• Aybar, Santana help Licey win title
• The next great Angels
• Good pitching, or just luck?
• Saunders to skip WBC, too
• Sheets also in bargain bin
• Is Dunn deal really going to be so low?
• Angels top pitching bargains
• Wood’s winter struggles common among Americans
• Vlad’s Hall of Fame case

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