His .330 was 2007, his 62 bags was 2005.

It is 2009. His trade value will never be higher.

He is getting OLD and is no longer fast.

He is not the sparkplug he used to be.

HE is not ANYTHING he used to be, especially cheap.

If Chone Figgins qualifies as a “GREAT” player in his 2009 game-ready version, than the Agels have 38 “GREAT” players on the 40-Man roster.

The Angels will be better with an improvised lineup that omits a certain “sparkplugginess” than to even consider handing over 1/9 of our offense to a singles-hitting groundout machine.

Sell high.

Not hate, but reality. The Angels have gotten as much out of him as they can. I agree with rjcicc “sell high” although the pre-2008 Figgins was much more valuable than the present-day one.

In Chone’s defense, (I have mentioned this before sorry for being redundant if you have read this), his poor 2008 performance may be related to off-the-field issues with his father’s health. I didn’t see the usual Figgy cheer and fire in his eyes in 2008. I think his father’s condition was really a distraction (very understandibly) to Chone.

Once again, my prayers and thoughts are with Figgins’ dad for a speedy recovery, not only to help the Angels team, but to help Papa Figgins get through a tough time.

if theres a team that really values him and matches up with us, why not capitalize?

I agree though that the leadoff position would get tricky with him gone, but its not something we cant overcome. We did well with Chone leading off last year when he was pretty mediocre.

I think our failure to sign Teixeira coupled with next year’s weak free agent class has forced the front office to start being serious about building for the long haul. Wood, Morales and Aybar should all be getting their ABs this year to see if theyre part of the Angels beyond 2009. Chone complicates that.

A solid outfield prospect with plate discipline would certainly be a nice return for Chone’s contract year.

Going into last year, Kotch and Figgy were my favorite players. I really miss Kotch. And as much as I love Figgy, I have to admit that IF we could get a power bat or a quality arm for him, I’d be in favor of the trade.

I’m afraid we’ll all watch him fall off the table if we don’t sell high.

“hey he did something good 3 years ago so we need to keep him until he retires cuz he’s the greatest Angel ever!”

…we heard the same crap with GA. the time comes when you have to let it go. Figgy’s time is before the 2009 season starts.

I think you need to trade either Figgins or Izturis this offseason (or both) to clear up the infield logjam, and get available talent back. It’s no diss on either of those fine gentlemen. Figgins in particular has been a great Angel, and he may even be a great Angel this year.

How? Let’s say Izturis goes in a package for a pitcher, and we otherwise keep the offense as is (I hope not, but it’s possible). In April and May, while GMJ is still hurt, Figgins can play LF, allowing Vlad & Rivera to shuttle between RF & DH. Also during that period, Figgins can serve as insurance on 3B, 2B, and even SS (because if Aybar goes down, Wood can slide over). That is some valuable flexibility, and may allow Sean Rodriguez regular ABs in AAA, if that’s something we think is valuable. Meanwhile, the lineup can feature its only natural leadoff hitter aside from the (I think unfairly) reviled Reggie Willits.

So those are the first two months of the season. If a miracle happens and we are injury-free when GMJ comes back in June, Figgins can go back to being a nearly full-time rover. If, say, Rivera or Vlad gets hurt, you could even slot Figgy at DH against righties (career: .298/.361/.398), and put Napoli at DH against lefties. If, somehow, everyone’s healthy and he can’t crack the lineup anymore, trade him at the deadline for whatever we need (hopefully, people in their 20s who can play the outfield).

My fear, though, is that Scioscia uses Figgins (or Izturis for that matter) the way he did in ‘06 — as a way to blunt Dallas McPherson’s career, back when he was at least half-healthy. We need Brandon Wood to play and start growing, not another season of league-average slap-hitting from the 3B position.

   And he is a little guy like me, so i can relate to him. In fact I wonder if there is a correlation between HHer’s who want to trade him and them being bigger in stature , and those of us who want him to bat leadoff in 09 and perhaps beyond, being smaller in stature.

just yelling “FIGGGEEEEE” gets the entire stadium electrified.

there’s a saying for you figgy haters. I said it 2 yrs ago and the song remains the same

If all healthy, he will bat #1 and Iz #2.

Don’t like it, then blame the guy who just signed up till 2015.

This is my story and I’m sticking with it.