Sign – Mark Teixeira.
Let walk – Anderson, K-Rod, Rivera, Garland

I say we move Figgins to LF, Morales to RF, Vlad to DH and Wood to 3B. Napoli is the everyday catcher, Aybar and Izturis platoon again until someone takes over. Matthews is still a very high-priced 5th OF (unless someone is dumb enough to trade for him) and hopefully Willits never again sees the field at the Big A.

 Make a run at CC, but don’t break the bank. Someone will step up in Spring Training. Also make a run at Fuentes… but only a 2 year deal, of possible. If not, take your shot with Arredondo at closer.

Lineup:

Figgins LF
Kendrick 2B
Teixeira 1B
Guerrero DH
Hunter CF
Napoli C
Morales RF
Wood 3B
Izturis/Aybar SS

Rotation:

Lackey
Santana
Saunders
Weaver
??? <- free agent/Moseley/Adenhart/Green/take your pick

:( I can hope.

And try hard for s’more Tex.

First Sign Rivera, and Tex…….
Figgins – 3B
Tex – 1B
Vlad – RF
Hunter – CF
Morales – DH
Rivera – LF
Napoli – C
Howie – 2B (If he keeps getting hurt…….screw him and go with S-Rod)
Wood – SS

Rotation
Lackey
Santana
Saunders
Weaver
Adenhart / Escobar (If we can sign CC then he would be our #2 starter)

Pen
Arredondo – Closer
Shields
Oliver (SIGN HIM)
Jespin
Bulger
O-Day
Sign another……

Bench
Evans
S-Rod
Aybar
Izzy
Matthews (Hope he waves his No Trade and we can get a prospect for him.)

Note to free agents: If we make you a good offer and you still decide to leave, then you can kiss my ass and don’t let the door hit you in the ass on the way out.

Go Angels!

HAVE to sign: Tex. Dude is the best player we have. Give him 5 years and 100 large, hope he takes it.
Would like to sign: Oliver, Juan Rivera. Give him consistent playing time and he can produce, does anyone remember his monster second half in 2006?
So long Chief: GA. It’ll be tough to see the most productive Angel of all time go but it is well overdue. Had a nice year but hasn’t really given us anything since 2003.
Don’t let the door hit you on the way out: K-Rod, Garland
Do NOT Touch: CC Sabathia. Dude is damaged goods. The Brewers have absolutely thrown his arm off (as they should have) and I would not go anywhere near this guy.
Move to make: We HAVE to get a real third baseman. Figgins has been a nice substitute but the fact that we have gotten no power from the corner infield spot in the last several seasons is a joke. Move Figgins back to the middle infield and trade for Garrett Atkins because Colorado is ready to unload him.

that something must be done about 3B because Figgins, bless his heart, is no third baseman. I am just so weary of handing over full time starting jobs to unproven players like we have been doing a lot the past few years. Hell, look what it did to us in this series alone. Also, keep in mind that we played a majority of our games this September against the garbage from the AL West.

No one has mentioned this yet, but, I’m looking at the team contracts (http://mlbcontracts.blogspot.com/2005/01/los-angeles-angels-of-anaheim.html) and it shows figgins only signed through this season. How much money is he going to want and is it worth it?

Second, use the $30 mil in savings to sign Teixeira. Seven-year deal, if need be.

Third, pick up Vladdie’s option.

Fourth, trade Chone Figgins, and make Brandon Wood your everyday 3Bman. We need power, and salary savings.

Fourth, if you can package a trade around Chone Figgins to somehow dislodge Matt Kemp from the OF-heavy, IF-desperate Dodgers (by, say, including Maicer Izturis and someone else as a sweetener).

Fifth, tell GMJ he’ll never start in this town again, and see if you can use that to waive his no-trade.

Sixth, tell Kendry to play LF and RF in winter ball this year.

Seventh, explore any one-year Jon Garland/Paul Byrd types out there, as rotation insurance. Nothing more than a one-year contract, whether by F.A. or trade.

Eighth, plan on a bullpen with Bulger, Jepsen, and Rich Thompson. Time for some young (and cheap!) power arms back there.

Ninth, after all is said and done, if your salary level isn’t too high, and you’ve accomplished most of the above, go ahead and re-sign Frankie if you are able.

Tenth, send Howie Kendrick to Dagoba, to become a Man.

Matt Brown can be our next Quinlan/Wooten character, and back up Wood at 3B. S-Rod can be the third middle infielder if Izturis is traded, or the 4th if he’s not.

But if you can’t sign Teixeira, this whole scenario gets scrambled.

Tough loss last night.. I watched the whole game here in Nova Scotia… The one thing was the game were close,we just didn’t get the right momentum…..
Not sure what is in store for this team in the offseason.The one thing I will say is I still think Vlad can produce.. He had 30 doubles this year,hit .300 and had 27 hr..I would like to see him DH more and with his days off,I think he will have the same type of year he has always had..Pick up the option , work on a final 5 year deal…
I would love to see Tex resign,but I see him wanting an 8 year 160 mill deal… So will the franchise sign him to that… The Yanks and Mets will be right there 2 for his services.
Giambi is a rumor in Toronto as well..
As for GA,he is another model of consistency man. Highly underrated and respected…A great player who has had a marvelous career. If I was in charge I’d offer him 10 mill a year.. Looking at what GMJ gets paid,its a good offer.
I’d prob not sign K-Rod… I say go with sheilds and arrendondo,let them try it,save the money for Juan Rivera,GA,Tex and maybe sign a pitcher

Let walk: Garland, K-Rod, Rivera, Oliver, Izturis (total salary: $27.2 million)
Sign: Teixeira, cheap lefty reliever, Darren O’Day (he’s better than a lot of people think – his peripherals were great this year)
Replace: Garland with Escobar or Adenhart, K-Rod with Arredondo and Arredondo with O’Day, Rivera with Morales, Oliver with FA, Izturis with Wood/S-Rod
Extensions: Pick up Vlad and Lackey’s options and start working on extensions. Buyout Garret and give him a 3 year, $21 million deal. Start working on extensions for Santana and Napoli.
Trade: GMJ and Speier if at all possible

Essentially this is a wash as you’re saving $30 million total and spending about that on FA’s and extensions. This gives us a lineup and roster of:

Figgins, 3B
Kendrick, 2B
Teixeira, 1B
Vlad, DH
Hunter, CF
Anderson, LF
Morales, RF
Napoli, C
Wood, SS

Bench: Quinlan, Rodriguez, Aybar, Mathis, Willits

SP Lackey
SP Santana
SP Weaver
SP Saunders
SP Escobar/ Adenhart

RP Arredondo, Shields, O’Day, Speier/Trade Return, Jepsen, FA Lefty

Having Teix for a full year, Kendrick (if he stays healthy), and Morales instead of GMJ should improve our offense. Mathis will not get 100 starts again, hopefully not even 40. Our starting pitching will be just as good, if not better (assuming Saunders and Santana didn’t have career years). The big question mark will be our bullpen. Can Arredondo reproduce this performance? Will Shields hold up? Can Speier bounce back or can we trade him for someone better? Can we sign a decent FA lefty to replace Oliver (assuming Oliver will be too expensive)?

sorry. off topic, but i just saw a red sox merchandise ad at the top of the page. it does not make me happy

1. Figgins – rf
2. Crawford – lf
3. Guerrero – DH
4. Teixeira – 1b
5. Hunter – cf
6. Napoli – c
7. Feliz – 3b
8. Kendrick -2b