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Angels reportedly ‘interested’ in top free agent Holliday

November 16th, 2009, 10:11 am · 8 Comments · posted by Sam Miller, The Orange County Register

Fox Sports’ Jon Paul Morosi says Matt Holliday will end up with either the Yankees, the Red Sox or the Angels, and that the Angels are interested. * He also concludes that the Curtis Granderson rumors will only help one of those teams drive down Holliday’s price:

“All three GMs can tell Boras that they are also shopping in a trade market that suddenly includes Detroit’s Curtis Granderson, who has played left field in the past and would probably be willing to do so again.

“A robust trade market could harm Boras’ leverage, but he will be in command again if Bay, represented by Joe Urbon, signs before Holliday.”

If the Angels do sign Holliday, it will either mean payroll is going to go up or that someone — Mike Napoli? Juan Rivera? Maicer Izturis? — will be traded.

I earlier ranked Holliday the most helpful free agent available to the Angels, despite what many consider an unsuccessful stint in the AL last year. It’s true that his April was a disaster — a .622 OPS and zero home runs through his first 17 games with the A’s. After that, though, he hit .300/.400/.480 in the 75 games before he was traded to the Cardinals. The defensive metric UZR loves him in left field, averaging 10 runs above average there over the past three seasons. He’s been one of the 15 most valuable everyday players in each of the past three seasons, by Wins Above Replacement. He’s still only 29, younger than Bay, Figgins and the other top free agent hitters.

But if they Angels sign him — and especially if they can’t shed payroll elsewhere — we should probably assume (for now, at least) that they won’t have money to sign anybody else. That leaves a core of:

C. Napoli/Mathis

1B. Morales

2B. Kendrick/Izturis

SS. Aybar

3B. Wood

LF. Holliday

CF. Hunter

RF. Rivera

DH. Abreu

SP: Weaver, Santana, Kazmir, Saunders, Bell/Palmer/O’Sullivan

RP: Everybody returns

The outfield defense is better, the infield defense a bit worse. More power, less speed. A slightly weaker rotation than the Angels had for much of the year, but a worse rotation than they had in October.

Almost certainly, that’s a team that wins 90+ games and makes October. But do you think it’s better or worse than the 2009 unit? And, is it good enough to make you feel confident the Angels can win three rounds in the postseason?

*Worth noting that Holliday is represented by Scott Boras, which will make some skeptical of any reports of teams’ interest. There is also this.

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 8 Comments

  • Terryvan says:
    November 16, 2009 at 10:35 am

    If we need to shed payroll let’s trade away Napoli. He’s paid a lot more than Mathis and Wilson can back up Mathis. That’s been the natural progression in our organization (Angels) and makes sense here. I think he is scheduled to make 4 mil this season and it would free up payroll and we could get some good prospects for a frontline starting catcher. I would love to see Holliday in left and Rivera DH’ing.

    Post Reply
    • matt says:
      November 16, 2009 at 11:06 am

      hey, we need to shed payroll, so let’s trade away one of our good hitters! brilliant. Who are we, the Marlins? Gimme a break.

      If Arte Moreno decides that he wants Matt Holliday, they’ll do their best to get Matt Holliday. Period. If that means raising payroll a touch (I’m not talking $20+MM), then they’ll do it.

      Post Reply
  • Richard Chen says:
    November 16, 2009 at 10:49 am

    I have a very hard time with UZR. Check out http://www.fangraphs.com/leaders.aspx?pos=1b&stats=fld&lg=all&qual=y&type=0&season=2009&month=0
    It’s got Morales as the highest ranked 1B with Teixeira 5th from last. How is that possible? I’m extremely glad Morales broke through, but is there 1 Angel fan who thinks he’s even as good defensively as Tex?

    As for Holliday, what does UZR say about medium-hard line drives hit right at you with 2 outs in the ninth?

    Post Reply
  • matt says:
    November 16, 2009 at 11:07 am

    I like the lineup better, but the rotation is a little weak. If they went into the season with that group, they’d be a good team, but I couldn’t imagine them not doing something about the pitching, unless all of our youngsters decided to have career years.

    Post Reply
    • LA Guy says:
      November 16, 2009 at 1:52 pm

      You’re right. They need a true number one ala Lee, Sabitha, Halladay, Grienke, King Felix, Carpenter, Lester, etc… Lackey is not in the category.

      Post Reply
  • LA Guy says:
    November 16, 2009 at 1:42 pm

    I’m not sure why you think adding Holiday taps out their payroll? The Angels are losing a lot of salaries off the books, including Vlad’s 14 million. Signing Holliday to a 16 or 17 million a year deal is nearly a wash. They would more than likely trade Rivera in a package for Halladay with maybe Napoli, Wood, and a top minor league pitching prospect. They’re losing Escobar’s salary as well. To pay Figgins 10 million a year and whatever they’d need to pay Halladay to pitch would be fairly in line with what they are paying now, and certainly a deserving investment for the 3 million plus fans coming out every year. I think you underestimate Moreno’s desire to win. I don’t think being second best every year is to satisfying. The fact is the Angels are a power bat and a true number one away from winning it all, and the opportunity to acquire what they need is there without breaking the bank.

    Post Reply

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