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Poll: Where is Figgins in 2010?
November 5th, 2009, 2:56 pm · 10 Comments · posted by Mark Whicker, ocregister.com
The Angels wasted no time in signing Bobby Abreu Thursday. Does that mean they’ll sign Chone Figgins when they still have exclusive negotiating rights?
You can’t rule it out, but the Angels did seem to protect themselves against Figgins leaving, and the leadoff man certainly goes into the free-agent season with tremendous momentum.
To me the Yankees are the toughest competition. They probably won’t sign Johnny Damon or Hideki Matsui, and they can use some speed, even though they have outfielder Brett Gardner. Figgins would fit in well as a left-fielder for the Yankees.
But then Atlanta, a late wild-card contender last year, might be able to use Figgins at a number of infield and outfield positions, and that would be a trip home, or near home for him.
I’m ranking Yankees, Angels and Braves in that order. How about you?
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That’s a bit of an odd perspective. One, if the Yankees don’t sign Damon, then who will? Seems he fit in pretty well over there and is coming off one of the best seasons of his career. Two, Figgins is not an outfielder. He played out there a bit in 06′ and hasn’t found his way back there since. If the Angels though he was good enough to play out there why did they invest in 4 outfielders over the last 3 off-seasons, especially considering their substantial infield depth? Why would a team such as the Yankees invest millions in him if they don’t even know what he’ll contribute defensively? I think he ends up playing second for one of the teams in Chicago.
From what I’ve read/heard, the Yankees are likely to re-sign Johnny Damon, less so with Matsui.
As a result, I don’t know where Chone Figgins would really fit with the Yankees.
What do you mean he’s not an outfielder? Do you really think he’s a natural 3rd baseman? Are you new to baseball? He started as a utility player.
Who cares where he goes! He’s not worth the increase in pay. Minimal power and can’t produce in the crunch!
Let him go to the cold country. It’s pretty obvious that he didn’t do well in Boston or NY.
It was nice having him here, but he’s not going to get us another World Series Championship.
I’m not saying he *can’t* play the outfield, because he did do it for a little while a few years ago. But as a free agent, his agent is being paid to make Chone look as good as possible. While having the ability to play multiple positions will appeal to some teams, you can bet his outstanding defense at third will be the biggest selling point, defensively. Its logical to assume he can slide right over into second and do just fine, but no one really knows how good of an outfielder he would be. And you mentioned his minimal power - I agree with you. His bat doesn’t really stand up to the best corner outfielders or third basemen. Get that production with good defense out of a middle infielder and I can see giving him that kind of contract. To be honest, I wouldn’t be shocked if the Red Sox picked him up to finally plug their gaping hole at short.
Agree tiotally with Tapnmarie.
Chones does well in the regular season. But history (seasons 2007 - 2009) has shown he does not produce in the post season.
The Yankees were the better team in the ALCS. But the Angels could have won with some clutch hitting and Figgins low batting percentage was a reason why the Angels never made the World Series.
Good, but not good enough.
Give someone else a chance.
Postseason history doesn’t really mean much. Alex Rodriguez is an obvious example, but right here at home, Guerrero was another one. And you can find examples of the opposite.
Yeah, Figgins deserves a lot of blame for the ALCS loss (maybe even the most), but he didn’t single-handedly lose it. And that doesn’t preclude him from having a good postseason in the future.
I’d prefer the Angels get a power guy at third, but his awful postseason wouldn’t be the main reason for letting him go.
The White Sox have always loved Figgins.
Then they can have him. I’d rather pay someone less and give them a try. Don’t these players know there’s a recession going on? The Spankees just bought their title. We don’t want that, we can earn one.
The guy saves a run a game with his glove. You realize just how good Figgins is when he’s not there and Brandon Wood is. Like a lot of guys who have come and gone, Wood does a great job in AAA, but can’t hit water from a boat when he gets to Anaheim. There is a reason he hasn’t stuck. Good points made about his lack of production in the playoffs, but you can add 5 other names to that list over the last couple of seasons. I predict he will wear red again next year. Unfortunately it’ll be in St. Louis.
I’m actually visiting this site because a couple of sources indicated Philadelphia is interested in Figgins… and it’s a good fit: a) The organization has just decided to not excercise the club option on current 3B Pedro Feliz, and b) this year Jimmy Rollins posted one of the lowest OBPs ever for a lead-off hitter.
Considering the power throughout the rest of their line-up, the Phillies can afford to field a light hitting third baseman and drop Rollins deeper in the order. Figgins also could play some 2B to keep Utley fresh, and gives the team some flexibility if they are looking to move Victorino.