Angels outfield with Torri Hunter?

Question

I am a diehard angels fan. I am glad that they aqquired Hunter. IN my mind, this is the OF:
LF=GMJ
CF=HUNTER
RF=VLAD
DH=GA
but there is one little thing, the angels also have Regiie Willits, a speedy runnner who can hit .330 easily. what do they do with him?
Trade him?
Send him to AAA? If they do, that suks, I feel bad for him. he did all this work and is going back down
Also, do you think that the Angels can use hunter or willits as a bargain chip to trade for miguel cabrera?
Allla answers appreciated.
Best Answers=10 Points

Answer 1

I think they can keep him around as a fourth outfielder, but I don't think he makes great trade bail. Sure he hit .330, but his slugging percentage was an abysmal .344. Even Gary Matthews - who stunk last season - was at .419, which shows you how poorly Willits hits for power. I like guys who get on base, but he had no homers and only 21 extra base hits in 430 at-bats.....add the fact that he'll be 27 next year, and I don't think anyone will give much in return for him.

I'd say they keep the group they have, and let Willits slip into that fourth OF spot. As for Hunter, he doesn't work as trade material simply because of his monster contract. The Marlins would be dealing Cabrera for fear of not being able to afford him, and taking on Hunter's contract goes completely against that reasoning.

Answer 2

They should trade Gary Matthews Jr. It would be a good way to unload an oversized contract. Willits did a good job last season and helped spark the Angels' offense. I honestly don't think Hunter should have been signed for so much in the first place. The Angels are committing $18 million a year to a player with a career on-base percentage 24 points lower than Juan Pierre's. The Angels have effectively shackled themselves financially by committing $28 million a year to two overrated, but defensively talented outfielders.

Answer 3

You bring up a good point. Reggie Willits was a major part of the offense and got on base alot. Although he did not hit a homerun, he was still a major producer and a good defensive outfielder. All this aside, they angels will most likely do what you sugested becasue willits is not a power guy, and may not bring much trade value because he is so specific to the angels offense. He will probably hang around as a 4th outfield, which in the AL, he won't get much work. Its a shame, but i dont seem him replacing GMJ or vlad and tori will start and he cannot dh when anderson has much more power than him.

Answer 4

Well, if they do trade for Cabrera, they wont trade Hunter, and FLA wont take just Willits either. Also a trade between LAA and FLA is pretty unlikely, because im sure the angels dont want to part with much or any of their youth. Moreover, the marlins dont have very much $$ for payroll either. if they traded any of the OF players like matthews jr, thats money the marlins probably cant handle. It would also take a lot for the marlins to give up cabrera, they have been talking with the giants and its been rumored that in excange they would want a package deal with tim lincecum, noah lowry or matt cain. In my opinoin, LAA has too many outfielders....

Answer 5

The Angels are loaded, and they look like they're going to do some serious damage next season!

They're outfield is great, but I don't think they would've signed Hunter if they hadn't intended on doing something with Willitis. I mean, he had good numbers last year for a rookie (.293 AVG, .391 OBP, 34 RBIs last year in 136 games), but maybe they don't think he'll be able to keep those numbers up, or aren't patient enough for him to blossom into a better player. They're championship hungry, so they're trying to make a great team as fast as they can

Answer 6

On SportsCenter this morning, they had the starting outfield as:

LF- Anderson
CF - Hunter
RF - Vlad

With Matthews Jr. as the starting DH. They also mentioned they'd probably go with a rotating 4 outfield/DH. Using Matthews in left and Anderson at DH, and vice-versa.

I personally think they should use Mathews in left all year, he's a much better defensive player than Anderson at this point in their careers.
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