Prospect Insider - AL West Movement: Volume VI

AL West Movement: Volume VI

By Chris Crawford

By 01-25-2011

Check out Rick Randall's countdown piece by clicking here.

Three and a half weeks til pitchers and catchers report, if last week wasn't the time to get excited, this week definitely is. That is, of course, unless you're a fan of a certain team in southern California.

{See WAR chat below}

Oakland Athletics
The signing of Andy Laroche won't get many headlines, but it could pay some nice dividends for the A's. Laroche -- a former Dodger prospect acquired in the Jason Bay trade -- was terrible in limited action last season, but was a 2.6 WAR player in 2009 and still can provide solid defense at third base. Laroche is no gimme -- and will have to beat out Kevin Kouzmanoff for playing time -- but don't be surprised if he makes an impact for Oakland in 2011.

Los Angeles Angels
Imagine being a surfer, waiting for a wave to appear. There's a few ripples, but nothing big enough for the surfer to attempt. Then,out of desperation, the surfer shoots a 747 plane out of a giant cannon into the ocean, causing a tsunami and killing the surfer. That's kinda what the Angels just did with the Vernon Wells trade, they killed their surfer.

To be fair, Wells is coming off of a productive season, putting up a wOBA of of .362 helping him be a 4.0 WAR player. But he's 32, can't hit left-handed pitching, and even with the solid season was still overpaid based on his contract. Not to mention that they just handed the keys to Jeff Mathis, one of the worst offensive players in baseball not playing for Seattle(-17.0 batting value last season). Tough to see this one ending well, Angels fans. Wish I could say I was sorry.

AL West Player Movement
Team	WAR In	WAR Out	Total
Oakland Athletics	8.1	4.5	3.6
Texas Rangers	9.5	9.3	0.2
Los Angeles Angels	6.8	5.1	1.7
Seattle Mariners	7.6	-0.1	7.7

Texas Rangers
With the market all but dried up, isn't it time for the Rangers to get back on the Vladimir Guerrero train? No, Guerrero isn't worth a long-term contract at this point and his defensive value is shot, but are the Rangers really going to have Michael Young DH? Young has had a solid career, but he was an average hitter last year at best. I realize that the contract says that Young has to be in the lineup somewhere, but the Rangers are significantly worse with Young as the Designated Hitter compared to Guerrero.

Seattle Mariners
Jason talked about Gerut and Nate Robertson earlier, but these are the type of moves you like to see as a Mariner fan right now. Inexpensive, short-term signings that can help you in 2011 and keep not-ready prospects in Tacoma and remaining financially sound. They aren't sexy, they won't make the team jump three places in the standings, and you probably won't hear about them again unless you go to a Rainier game or are related to one or the other. It's still nice to see.

al-west-movement:-volume-vi

Comments
The following 12 comment(s) for this article are shown below:

1. By: aerichner on 01-25-2011 14:36:35
Bad timing of the post lol - Mike Napoli to the Rangers for Frank Francisco and cash...i think

2. By: short on 01-25-2011 15:46:04
How in the heck can Milton Bradley help the Mariners this year? It just doesn't seem like he's worth the trouble, but Jack Z. is now saying they're bringing him to Spring Training. The only thing I see him doing is pinch hitting for Saunders and Cust against tough left-handers, with a few spot starts at DH against lefties. So that's about a hundred plate appearances all year. For $12 million, a roster spot, and having to corral a whole herd of crazy.

Give me Langerhans instead, please.

3. By: littlelinny6 on 01-25-2011 16:09:27
Despite his struggles last year nearly everything was mental or off the field, not a physical deterioration of skills. That being said, is he going to lead the AL in OPS again--probably not. However, on a team devoid of above average hitters not named Ichiro giving a guy with a $12 million dollar contract an opportunity to just show up to camp seems reasonable.

Remember, everyone is innocent until proven guilty and if he has legal issues that go into Spring Training those problems will take care of itself.

If Bradley makes the team I think it's OK because all three starting OF (Saunders, Gutierrez, Ichiro) are capable of playing all three positions. By having both Jack Wilson and Brendan Ryan, the M's can have IF that don't have to be able to play SS. Thus guys like Kennedy and Mangini that can maybe hit a little could at least make the bench not awful.

4. By: Rick Randall on 01-25-2011 16:27:04
Regardless of how Jack thinks the Bradley situation will shake out, saying what he has said to this point is exactly what everyone should expect. As usual, he is going to guard his words carefully. He isn't going to say, "We're looking through Milton's contract and the MLBPA guidelines to see if there is any fine print that would allow us to void his deal based on the off-the-field issue and get off the hook for the $12m+ that we owe him."

5. By: short on 01-25-2011 16:31:18
I wouldn't like to see Mangini on the bench...he should be starting in Tacoma to see if he can play third. I've raised the idea of bringing him up as a full-time DH who can at least not completely embarrass himself with the glove, but people seem to think that would be a waste. If he hits well enough I guess they could try him as a corner outfielder.

6. By: sexymarinersfan on 01-25-2011 20:02:26
The Mariners just signed Chris Ray to a minor league deal. Ray, 29, went 5-0 with a 3.72 ERA in 63 combined appearances with the Texas Rangers and San Francisco Giants.

He was traded to the Giants on July 1 for catcher Bengie Molina, but did not appear in the postseason.

I'm guessing this is good right?

7. By: Chris Crawford on 01-25-2011 20:22:59
Solid pickup. Again, low risk, medium reward. Nothing wrong with it.

8. By: sexymarinersfan on 01-25-2011 20:40:15
That's what I thought. Kind of reminds me of the deal we just did with Adam Kennedy.

9. By: Jason A. Churchill on 01-25-2011 21:08:26
There is nice upside with Ray, a former league-average closer.

short,

Mangini can't play third. Pretty sure there is no NEED to assess those inabilities any longer in order to make the decision.

He can hit, though, and should be playing another position in attempt to prepare him for a role he might actually serve in with the big club.

10. By: short on 01-25-2011 23:11:10
Well that's what I thought from the few times I watched him and his very large number of errors. So that's why I wondered why they don't look at bringing him up as a full time DH, assuming his hitting continues to project well. Can't recall if it was here or LL, but others have suggested looking at Poythress and Rabin as full time DH candidates.

To me it makes sense, even if it's unconventional. Good DH's are expensive. They tend to be old players with long track records and are therefore in demand. And so far using that strategy since Edgar retired we've had almost uniformly terrible DH production. It may pigeonhole a young player for life, but it's better than letting their talent completely go to waste if they can't field well and first base is filled.

11. By: eknpdx on 01-25-2011 23:36:52
JAC, how well do minor league splits translate? I seem to recall Mangini having a good one against RH pitchers.

12. By: Timberwolf on 01-26-2011 00:06:40
He is not worth what he is getting paid, but Vernon Wells is still a good player. The change of scenery may do him some good. Alex Rios eventually dug out of his overpaid in Toronto funk. Chris Ray used to be a real useful pitcher. Sure seems like a worthwhile minimal risk.

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