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Are you tired of seeing your favorite Angels have a solid piece of hitting, only to run into outs at second, third, and home due to boneheaded baserunning or a lack of self-awareness? Are you tired of losing and want improved production from the tire fire that has been left field?
Well, fear no more because Ben Revere is here.
Revere's deal with the Angels -- one year, $4m.
— Buster Olney (@Buster_ESPN) December 23, 2016
Should Revere get more playing time in terms of plate appearances, Revere will reportedly have incentives of $2.25M on top of the $4M base salary.
This brings the Angels’ payroll to approximately $174.5M, which leaves them with breathing room to add pitching, take on a bad contract for prospects, or add reinforcements during the season before they run into the $195M luxury tax threshold.
As mentioned earlier, Revere owns a .285/.320/.342 across 7 MLB seasons, but his most valuable quality is definitely not his lefty bat, it’s his speed.
Revere’s speed and contact
| Stat | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stat | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | Total |
| BsR | 4.9 | 6.1 | 1.3 | 10.8 | 8 | 0.5 | 31.6 |
| Stolen Bases | 34 | 40 | 22 | 49 | 31 | 14 | 190 |
| K% | 8.5 | 9.8 | 10.7 | 7.8 | 10.1 | 9.1 | 9.3 |
| BABIP | 0.293 | 0.325 | 0.344 | 0.33 | 0.338 | 0.234 | 0.314 |
As you can see, Revere can flat out fly on the bases. He won’t be the starting left fielder, but he will nonetheless be useful in late-game situations as a pinch runner, in place of not-so-good baserunners like Yunel Escobar, Albert Pujols, C.J. Cron, and Jefry Marte. In this regard, Revere upgrades a major weakness.
He won’t be the starting left fielder, but he has definitely shown to be better than he performed last season. As far as defense is concerned, Revere shows excellent range but has a subpar arm, and can play any outfield position if necessary. In case of injury, Revere is a very capable fill-in.
He doesn’t draw walks, but he doesn’t strike out often either. Although he was downright awful last year, he dealt with a lingering oblique injury all season which led him to fall back on poor habits with his swing.
All in all though, Revere is an excellent signing. He’ll start the year as the Angels fourth outfielder but should opportunity arise, he can play his way into the lineup. His blazing speed will be the most useful, though, as a pinch runner in late-game situations. Even if Revere is ho-hum with the bat, the Angels should be quite pleased in their new addition.
And if you needed any more proof that Eppler and his team are wizards, well here it is.
Billy Eppler filled the #Angels holes with roughly $11M in free agency, four trades of non "top-5" prospects/Bandy, and four waiver claims
— Taylor Blake Ward (@TaylorBlakeWard) December 24, 2016
Eppler’s Christmas gift is an awesome Angels 2017 team. Stay safe out there everyone, and happy holidays.