Could be worse, I would have liked Huff...

oh well.

"Free-agent first baseman Shea Hillenbrand agreed to join the Anaheim Angels on Tuesday"

He is here to platoon and he doesn't cry about playing everyday, I think it is a good move.  He can play 3rd base and DH while Rivera is out.  I'd rather had Hillenbrand at 3rd than Figgy.  I think it's a good insurance policy and if it doesn't work out, we cut him.  No big loss.  Rivera getting hurt really forced Stoneman's hand to sign someone who can DH so we don't have a slap hitter filling that spot.  If Kotch and McPherson play great than we don't need Shea.  If not, than we do.  Simple as that.

We needed another stick in the lineup. One that doesn't work a count, get on base and is slow. We needed a stick that wouldn't hit 20 HR. We needed a stick to block any progress of three young prospects (Kotchman, McPherson, Morales).

We needed a guy that will be a problem in the clubhouse.

It's a perfect signing for a perfect off-season.

**walks off stage and vomits**

Just don't want him playing 1st over Kotchman/McPherson/Morales.

my guess: $5 million

before Juan went down, back up another 20 home runs per season. Let Hillenbrand, Kotchman and Morales duke it out for first in spring training (or as LosAngel said, maybe he can play third instead of   Figgy). If either Kotch or Morales really start to rake, stick Shea at third or he can ride the pine (and have his option refused).

He made $5.8M last year, so I guess he gets a 10% raise to $6.4M.

$7 million.

$9 million club option.

a clubhouse cancer.

they'd better resign erstad for the sole purpose of keeping hillenbrand in line if he tries to fight scioscia for not playing him everyday.

great in the first half of the season when we'll need him most.  He usually starts the season off on fire so hopefully we will get off to a better start this year than last.

$3.8 million loaded with incentives. He isn't better than Marcus Giles, and Marcus got just over $3 mil with plenty of teams able to use his services (Mets, Red Sox, etc).

Oh, and only way Shea should be near 3B is as a base runner.

but Hillenbrand is a fine signing.  He is known for starting off hot, which could be good if Kotchman and / or McPherson take some time to get into the swing of things.

after being so reluctant to trade kotchman, morales, or mcpherson in a package deal for someone productive (read: better than .275/21/67/764OPS (ouch)), why would you take a risk a guy with a history of attitude problems to potentially block those guys?

the only way it makes a shred of sense, is if they know rivera is out for most of the year and expect GA to put in a full season in left, with hillendbrand DH'ing

you put hillenbrand at 1st, he blocks kotchman, morales, quinlan, and ppossibly mcpherson.  you put him at 3rd, and you have nowhere to put figgy.  you put him in your clubhouse and you're bound to have problems.

and yes, i'm being pessimistic again, but hey...that's what i do.

see the link on the initial post.

hillenbrand is a horrible, horrible signing.  for a 1st baseman that peaked in his year28 season hitting .310/.348/.464 in Arizona's bandbox to sign with the angels is a disgrace.  

angel management has become a joke.  why? why are we signing a below-average 1st baseman on the wrong side of 30 when you can pick those guys of the scrap heap anywhere? please give me a reason why?  WHY?  

what does it take to be a GM? stoneman is the biggest joke on the west coast.

I personally like the Hillenbrand signing. It gives us flexibility. With Juan being down till God knows when, he'll be able to spell at 1st, 3rd, DH, and in left for GA. This in mind, given the Shea signing allows us to swoop in and sign Zito which in turn will allow us to trade Figgy, Santana, Mathis, and Morales to the Yankees for A-Rod. Hell, you can even throw DMac in the trade if the Yankess demand it, but hopefully not. Hillenbrand will have to learn to play a solid left (Which he hs played in his career) and DH w/ split time for GA. Kotch and DMac (If not traded) can duke it out at 1st. If they're both raking the ball, one can play first while the other fills in at DH.... sorry Shea, if you want to play the entire season, you have to produce beyond the 1st half. We have a lot of possibilities but the ket to all of this is what I've been preaching all along, SIGN ZITO.

C: Napoli, Molina.
1st: Kotchman, Hillenbrand, Quinlan, Erstad.
2nd: Kendrick, Izturis.
SS: Cabrera, Izturis.
3rd: A-Rod, Hillenbrand, Quinlan, Izturis.
LF: Anderson, Hillenbrand, Erstad, (*Rivera).
CF: Matthews Jr., Murphy, Erstad, (*Rivera).
RF: Guerrero, Murphy, (*Rivera).
DH: Kotchman, Hillenbrand, Quinlan, A-Rod, Guerrero, Anderson, (*Rivera).
Bench: Murphy, Izturis, Quinlan, Erstad.

SP1: Lackey.
SP2: Escobar.
SP3: Zito.
SP4: Weaver.
SP5: Saunders. (Till Colon comes back.)
RP: Spiers.
RP: Carrasco.
RP: Shields.
CP: K-Rod.

*When Rivera comes back from his minors rehab assignment, we can drop Murphy to the minors. That fills out your 25 man roster. Plus, IF Colon comes back healthy, Saunders goes to the pen for long relief and you can still send down Murphy then too. The likelihood of both coming back at the same time are slim to none. If they do, trade Hillenbrand for relief pitching at the July 31st deadline.

I'm okay with my starting line-up on opening day
looking like this:

1. Matthews Jr.
   
2. Cabrera.
   
3. A-rod.
   
4. Vlad.
   
5. Kendrick or Anderson.
   
6. Anderson or Kendrick.
   
7. Hillenbrand
   
8. Kotchman.
   
9. Napoli.

Ace: Lackey.

I should be GM.

Trading for Morales will give them the 1st baseman the covet. Mathis will eventually dethrone Posada after his contract exspires after this year. Santana will give them the depth at pitching after the Randy Johnson deal. Figgy can play 3rd for them of if they must have DMac, he can play 3rd. Figgy can spell anywhere. I don't think A-Rod and they Yankees feel their relationship is a match made in heaven. Yanks also wouldn't mind shedding a few dollars after that big 26 million dollar luxory tax they just got hit with. All the options the Angels deal them are cheaper and have multi year deals. Eat that up and let it sit. I want feedback!