Erick Aybar Signs as an Angel Thru 2016

The Angels signed Shortstop Erick Aybar to a contract extension thru the 2016 season. The deal will pay him over $8 million a year for his Age 29-32 seasons, that is if you believe everything you read when you see that he is reported to have been born January 14, 1984.

Aybar has already accomplished quite a bit as an Angel. He holds a few top ten franchise offensive production numbers:

• His 29 triples as an Angel ranks 7th. Darin Erstad had 30 triples under the halo in over 3,300 more Plate Appearances than Aybar.
• His 45 sacrifice hits ranks 9th in club history.
• Despite a reputation for basepath blunders he has been a superlative base stealer. In 2,429 Plate Appearances as an Angel, legendary speedster Devon White recorded a successful stolen base percentage of 74.55% ...Aybar is a mere .02% behind Devo with a 74.53% stolen base success rate, good for 9th all time in club history. Chone Figgins ranks 10th with 74.47 in 4,075 PA as an Angel. With a minimum of 1,500 PA, the all-time leader in club history is current Rangers 1B coach Gary Pettis with a 79.83% success rate in 2,156 PA under the Halo.

Aybar's 2,420 Plate Appearances as an Angel are exactly 100 PA behind the 2,520 Angels PA accrued by legendary fan favorite David Eckstein. Let's look at what these two amassed in almost exactly the same amount of playing time:

HITS: Aybar has 606, Eckstein 614

DOUBLES: Aybar 98, Eckstein 94

TRIPLES: Aybar 29, Eckstein 10

HRs: Aybar 24 Eckstein 17

SB: Aybar 79 Ecstein 82

BB: Aybar 122 Eckstein 166

K: Aybar 296 Eckstein 198

Batting Avg.: Aybar .274 Eckstein .278

On Base Percentage: Aybar .317 Eckstein .347

Slugging: Aybar .377 Eckstein .353

OPS: Aybar .694 .Eckstein .700

Eckstein's final season in Anaheim was his Age 29 season where he recorded a 79 OPS+ after 2003's 75 OPS+. Then-General Manager Bill Stoneman elected to decline him arbitration and he signed with the Cardinals, where he had OPS+ seasons of 99, 80 and 93.

So Aybar might not have the fan love in abundance that was the trademark of David Eckstein, but he is not far off the numbers accrued by Eck, with Aybar having an edge in both age and staying healthy.