Not To Be A "Debbie Downer" About Carl Crawford but...

That might not be a bad thing. He is a very good ballplayer no doubt, but he will certainly not be worth the money he is going to be paid, given his skill set.

There’s simply no way this team opens 2011 with Juan Rivera on the roster. He has value, other teams wouldn’t mind having him for 5 million, but he has no spot on this team with the emergence of Peter Bourjos, displacing Hunter and Abreu.

The Angels will also not carry 3 catchers again, not when Hank Conger is so close to being ready. Even if he doesn’t start the year with the Angels, you can bet he will finish it. I think Jeff Mathis will be non-tendered. The charade has gone on long enough. I expect Brian Stokes will also be allowed to walk, we have too many inexpensive, younger, better options.

While it is clear that Napoli will cost us more than we’d like, this team simply cannot live without his production and it will get him into the lineup at DH as often as he catches, so you can expect 120 games.

The Angels will go “all in” for Carl Crawford, offering him 5 years at 16-17 million a year. We might have to bite the bullet next year with an inflated payroll, but the following years will clear up plenty of cap space to make this move reasonable.

- The ball club is simply lost on the base paths, and Carl Crawford plays Angels style baseball.
- He provides the additional pop we need (he’s a career .309 hitter with RISP).
- He would more than likely give us the best defensive OF in baseball, something the Angels have missed for years
- He makes it so Callaspo, Izturis, Aybar and Kendrick all remain on the bottom half of the order, where they are effective and where they belong.

Carl Crawford just makes too much sense, and fills too many holes for the Angels not to outbid EVERYONE. You can count on this guys, with Carl Crawford and Kendry Morales being infused into this lineup, we will be very effective.

Unfortunately, the Angels have absolutely not played that style this year. With the way they have performed, I think that the organization will try very hard to go back to that style (It worked after all). I agree with you that they will go all in on Crawford.

I have to wonder how that style of baseball deteriorated so precipitously this year when the only thing that was different was the loss of Figgins, Guerrero, and Morales, and only one of those cats played “Angels style” baseball.

However I’d be totally stoked if Ninja can somehow package a trade involving Napoli going to the Doyers for Matt Kemp. The Dodgers need a hard hitting catcher since Russell Martin is proving to be a complete & total bust and Matt Kemp has made it no secret that he wants out of Chavez Latrine.

As I’ve said before on this blog, Carl is going to get WAY overpaid by some team and chances are it ISNT going to be the Angels. Since letting the Reagins-era commence, Del Ninja has showcased his reluctancy in dishing out big, long-term contracts with Torii Hunter (his FIRST signing) being the only exception.

We seem to be entering an era where it has become a norm for players to get overpaid. Lackey is one example. If you follow an iota of the MLB, you could probably name about 400 other players who have received ridiculously high and wholly underserved contracts over the past 5-6 years. QUESTION: What makes you think Carl Crawford will end up any different. Get a clue people, Mr. Crawford is going to the highest bidder and it aint us…and you all should be thankful that there is some sense in the FO who wont be willing to shell those kind of bucks too.

Its not the angels style. Tony’s style is making trades at the trade deadline and making small, essential signings in the off-season. YES, Tony has overpaid but not in tens of millions of dollars…only in small increments. And frankly, in the grand-scheme of things, paying a reliever like Rodney six milllion instead of the 2.5 million that he probably should have gotten is small beans. If we DO get Crawford it will be because the major players like the Phillies, Yankees, Red Sox are content with their left-fielders…but looking at their rosters….i think they might throw in an ante for Carl.

would be better than C-Craw in his early 30s at league minimum.

As for “angels baseball”…IMO it starts with defense and this year has been subpar.

but i see know that it couldve been to try and free up some cap space
i would miss him if he left
he is one of my favorite angels

Thanks for the pure speculation and nice job of pimping your insider blog.

   How does one go about being an insider? Do I have to move to the O.C.? And is it as great as the T.V. show?

IF he really wants to play in the same OF as Torii (as has been reported elsewhere), he and his agent can massage the dollars and come up with a deal which might not be top dollar but which can be satisfying to both sides.

If he backloads the deal, for example, he can take a much smaller salary in 2011 and have it escalate in 2012 and again in 2013, when the Angels lose other deals from the books. Likewise, he can compensate with a signing bonus instead of straight salary, which, from accounting perspective, is handled differently on the books.

That said, I remain unconvinced he’s the right player for a long-term deal to play for the Angels. I just don’t think this is as unworkable a situation as the Insider post maintained. If he wants to play here, he’ll make it happen.

Keep the team as it is and go with what we got one more year. Keep Fuentes and Matsui if we need the left hand bat (if the price is right on both). Then evaluate. Time to reload but now is not the time. After we dump the GMJ contract and keep expenses down then we can reload in 2012. Bite the bullet for the long term. Don’t be knee jerk fans that have to win now at the expense of the future. Let’s spend big on free agents when we have the money.

Although he’s not the same player Crawford is, it’d take less years and probably at least half the cost. More bang for the buck.

As I sit cross legged in my cubical, meditating on our future, I see a river, flowing through the gentle plain that is Angel Stadium’s outfield… Hunter ages gracefulish in RF as Pete becomes a solid contributor in center, we sign Crawford for 5yrs 17-20 mill max, we are not suffocated by our payroll because of the post 2012 departures, Aramastia coming in at 2nd, a bullpen that is young and cheap, etc. So a couple years of a Crawford, Bourjos, Hunter outfield. When Hunter falls off our books, Crawford becomes our slightly over paid outfielder (after providing good production and defense for three years) Now Trout, Moore, Grichuk are howling for playing time from Salt Lake. If one of them develops faster than a couple years, cough cough TROUT, then Torii becomes a DH a little faster.

I say throw money at Crawford, he’ll help keep our outfield fast and offensively effective while we allow our young beasties to learn to hit curvy pitches, etc. He’ll be 36 when that contract expires… just in time to give his job to a Bee.

I know I’m spending a little bit of Arte’s money for him here, but a couple years of Pete, Aybar, Callaspo, Hunter, Morales, Napoli, Crawford, and Kendrick (who I still foolishly believe will hit .300 more often than .270 most seasons) may not be as powerful as Texas’ players, but it’ll be a team that can come at you a lot of ways…. and we’ll have kick ass starting pitching at least one of those seasons too…. With one big spending kick we can rebuild and compete, like the Braves.