What should we do with 40 Million Dollars?

…for basically doing nothing. Wow, where do I sign up for that gig? lol

I think Abreu will end up coming back for slightly more than the $16 million / 2 year deal that we apparently offered him recently and which he rejected. Saito is a FA and while no longer the dominant force he was with the Dodgers, it looks like he’s healthy and I’d much rather have him close next year and make sure Fuentes doesn’t finish 55 games in 2010, which would make his $9 million option for 2011 vest. I’m thinking Matsui’s inability to play the field this year will keep his price depressed and he could end up being an Abreu-like bargain next year. He’d obviously be risky, but an incentive laden deal to Bedard with a club option for 2011 might pay off handsomely. And I’m thinking all four of these guys can be had for under $30 million next year.

1) Re-sign Lackey. Though I am aware that this is rather unlikely at this point. Rumors say that our pursuit of Aroldis Chapman is the beginning of the Lackey replacement process.

2) Sign Holliday or Bay. I’m not sure which one I prefer. Bay has more power and I think our lineup needs that but Holliday is more suited to the “Angel way” since his defense isn’t as bad as Bay’s and he has more speed and can swipe a bag from time to time. Also, Holliday hits for a better average. Both are good OBP machines.

3) Re-sign Abreu and Oliver. Not much needed to be said here.

4) Sign a good veteran power arm out of the bullpen. Rafael Soriano, Mike Gonzalez, Jose Valverde, and Fernando Rodney come to mind but all of these guys might be looking for closer gigs we may or may not be willing or able to offer. This move isn’t as necessary IMO because with the emergence of Jepsen and Bulger, the return of Scott Shields, and the real possibility of a bounce-back year from Arredondo, our bullpen should be better equipped to enter 2010 than it was in 2009.

I am not going to say that we should re-sign Figgins because I’m torn on the situation. One one hand, he is the only legitimate lead off hitter we have. I don’t think Izturis or Aybar are ideal leadoff candidates since they do not pose the same basestealing threat nor do they have the OBP skills that Figgins has. However, Figgins is getting older and while he still steals a high volume of bases, his stolen base percentage isn’t all that great and it’s safe to assume his speed numbers will go down as years progress. Also since he had a career year, he might end up getting more than he’s actually worth. But if we DO keep him, then we have virtually no choice but to trade Brandon Wood and his trade value isn’t all that high since he’s never really been given a real shot at succeeding in the big leagues.

Mathis, Wood, Arredondo, Kazmir for Joe Mauer (provided Mauer signs a contract extension). The Twins need starting and relief pitching, 3rd base and may not want to spend the money it takes to resign Mauer. Resign Lackey,Figgins, Oliver and Abreu. The 2010 lineup would be:

1. Figgy — 3rd
2. Abreu — RF
3. Mauer — C
4. Kendry — 1b
5. Torii — CF
6. Rivera — LF
7. Howie/Izzy — 2b
8. Napoli — DH
9. Aybar — SS

SP Lackey, Weaver, Saunders, Santana, Palmer/O’sullivan
RP Fuentes, Shields, Jepsen, Bulger, Oliver

The addition of just 1 big bat is all it will take to beat the Yanks and Red Sox in October

people within the Twins Management. Publically, they are saying that they will do all it takes to resign Joe Mauer. However, there is a debate as to whether resigning Mauer at such a high cost will handicap the team and prevent them from filling gaping holes in infield, starting rotation and bullpen. They project that the new stadium will bring in an additional 40 million a year in revenue half of which will go to player salaries and half to organizational maintenance. If they spend all 20 million on Mauer, then they will have nothing left for free agents and mandatory player salary raises. There is a vocal minority arguing that Mauer or Morneau be traded for major league-ready talent to fill their other holes and not break the bank.

I am sorry, But i see so many people saying that the Angels should get Holliday.

Don’t get me wrong, He is a good player, but he was with Oakland at the Begining of the year and didn’t do very well, then he went back to the National League and did awesome for the Cardinals (Minus tha mishap in the 9th inning in Game 2 of the NLDS)

In my opinion, if he came to the AL and didn’t perform well, but performs awesome in the NL, then he should stay in the NL. I feel that if the Angels go after Holliday, then he will look almost similiar to how he did with Oakland.

“I don’t expect to be back; it’s time to move on,” outfielder Gary Matthews Jr. said as he packed his belongings in the team’s Angel Stadium clubhouse today. “I’m ready to play for an organization that wants me to play every day. This organization has other plans, and that’s OK.”

As for the money, Sarge Jr. doesn’t think it’ll be much of a hurdle.

“It’s definitely not as big as it was a year ago,” Matthews said. “Obviously, there are some teams that can’t afford it, but when I’m playing every day, I feel I can be a top-line center fielder, and that, I would think, is what a lot of teams want.”

Theres no guarantee anyone takes these offers but heres the offers that should be made

Guerrero: 1 yr/ 5-6 mill with incentives that could go up to 8 mill
Lackey: 4 yrs/ 60 mil
Escobar: No offer
Figgins : 3 yrs/ 21 mill
Abreu: 2 yrs/ 18-22 mill maybe add a 10 mil option
Oliver: 1 yr/ 3 mill
Quinlan: No offer

I dont think Lackey or Figgins will take the offers proposed, but I dont believe its in the interest of the Angels to give long term deals to any of their free agents due to age and injury history and 15 mil for a SP and 7 mill for a solid 3B is extremely fair, while protecting some long-term team interests. But I think both are gone.

I think Abreu takes the offer and Guerrero takes his after he finds nothing else much better. Oliver is simply a matter of whether he retires.

Assuming those numbers, the Angels will spend about 15-21 mill on those free agents, leaving another 20-25 mill leftover for this year…Sign two bullpen arms, and I think most importantly lock up Weaver and Morales long term.

i would offer ARB to our FA, except to Vlad and Escobar, Quinlan. most would probably reject except of DO. i would love to bring him back(1Y/4M). my gut tells me that we will lose Lackey, Figgins, Abreau, Quinlan, Escobar, due to being outbid or not having serious interest.

i would try to sign Bay, he has a pure power bat that we are lacking in the lineup. solid OF. 4yrs in the 16-17 range. try to sign him before Holliday signs because then we dont have to wait and see Boras set the market. kinda like TB did with Burrell even though that was kinda a bad signing. i would resign Vlad if he’s willing to take 1yr at a big discount. 7M with incentives that can bring it to 10M

I don’t think we will have Lackey. so hopefully and this is a big wish that Halladay goes on the market. with Boston and YAnks in the same div, TOR won’t deal to them unless their willing to go way beyond ridiculous for him. the big question is what will it realistically take to land him? before it was combination of Aybar, Saunders and some prospects. i don’t see that happening because Aybar has finally established himself as a premier SS. so i would offer Weaver, O’Sullivan, Bulger, Nap, Rivera for Halladay only if we can have a window to talk to his agent and sign a extension. 4yrs @17M might get it done? i’m hoping he would maybe take less now and not want to test the market in a year from now and be part of a winning organization like the Angels.

our INF i think is set: Morales, Kendrick, Aybar, Wood, Mathis. with Izzy as our backup INf. i think we have enough 4A guys in the system that can fill in our rest of the reserve spots. such as Wilson for backup C. OF will have Hunter, Bay, Matthews(only because we can’t get rid of him) for sure. DH will be Vald. SP(Halladay,Kazmir, Saunders, Santana) sign a high risk/ high reward type to be our 5th starter.(Harden or Sheets) RP(Shields, Jepsen, Oliver, Fuentes(turn him into a expensive setup guy) Palmer, Arredondo(hopefully he finds his control).
Lineup up: Aybar, HK, KM, VLAD, Bay, Hunter, Wood, Mathis, GMjr.

i think that can come out to like 120-130M payroll.

What do you guys think? am i just crazy like everyone else? :)

Offer Arb. to every type A.

Sign Abreu for whatever it takes. Bring back Lackey if the price is at all within reason.

Invite MySpaceCobar with an incentive laden deal to work the bullpen. Sign Oliver if he doesn’t retire.

Use the rest to pay all those draft picks we get as compensation, and we should be set for the next decade.