Upsides to Shea Hillenbrand

While the Hillenbrand and Matthews signings don't send me jumping for joy, one was financially prudent and necessary while the other was, well, hopefully something that we won't regret.

All in all, though, I think we made a number of upgrades to our roster.  Of course, it never feels good to be promised the moon and receive swiss cheese.  Still, I give management credit for making the moves it had to make (a viable center fielder, another arm in the bullpen, two lefty pitchers, getting rid of Donnelly, and finding a stopgap when Rivera went down).

For that, Stoneman gets a C in my book, with the offseason itself being a disaster because of the loss of Rivera.

no matter though. he can start a D. but he'll finish an F.

i'd rather have Edgardo Alfonozo.

Hillenbrand is Quinlan, except worse in every way.  Lifetime OPS+ of 99 (Q at 112), Q also hits righty and hits LHP even better than Shea.

Q is better on D at every position that Shea could possibly play.  I have never heard Q complain about anything, he is a year younger and what 6M cheaper?

I guess they had to spend that money, and Shea is a hacker, which we know they love.

(cut and pasted because it's from ESPN insider)

I can't think of a team that needed Shea Hillenbrand less than the Angels did. For one thing, he doesn't address any of their major holes (low walk rates, inability to work pitchers, not enough home run power). For another, his signing means that one or both of Casey Kotchman and Kendry Morales will be benched, demoted, or given away, as there's not enough playing time to go around. And if Juan Rivera's winter-league injury doesn't keep him out for a good chunk of 2007, then both Kotchman and Morales will be out of luck.

The Angels play in a good pitchers' park, but even in that context, their offensive performance in 2006 was poor. They finished 10th in the AL in OBP in 2006 and 11th in unintentional walks drawn, and also finished 12th in home runs ahead of only the Twins and Royals. They also lack any kind of major power presence to pair with Vlad Guerrero. While the lack of "protection" hasn't hurt Vlad's performance overall, it does lead to a lot of intentional walks when Guerrero comes to the plate in a critical spot -- he led the league in IBBs with 25.

Hillenbrand -- who once went 141 plate appearances without drawing a walk in 2005 -- doesn't solve any of these problems, and only makes the Angels' lineup lean more heavily to the right, with six right-handed bats in their projected lineup if and when Rivera returns. Hillenbrand's primary benefit is his durability, but the Angels have two other first basemen ready to play in the majors, so they're well-equipped to handle an injury at that position. It's the sort of non-move that keeps the Angels stuck in neutral, although they're one big bat away from being the AL West favorite in 2007.

it's a bum out when you're two biggest moves of the offseason are universally slammed by experts.

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