Tori Hunters deal with the Angels....?

Question

......at 90 million for 5 years; does this signal that baseball salaries are spiraling out of control? Or are the Angels the new Yankees? Remember, this is the team that left everyone scratching their heads when they Gave Matthews Jr. a 5 year, 50 million deal (they also look like they're going to get Cabrera; I imagine they're gonna try to sew him up with a long term, big bucks deal).

Answer 1

I think salaries have been spiraling out of control for years. The Angels' signing of Hunter wasn't the first and definitely won't be the last deal that involves a team greatly overpaying for talent.

Hunter is a great defensive centerfielder, a 2-time all-star and owns 7-Gold Glove awards. He has a career .271 average and a 192 home runs in 10 full big league seasons.

I think the Angels knew that to snag Hunter, they would need a bigger and better offer than what Texas or Chicago were willing to pay and both teams were ready to offer Hunter similar packages.

I think Hunter's biggest asset is what a positive influence he is, both in the clubhouse and off the field and the Angels wanted to add that type of veteran presence to what is a essentially a pretty young club. Hunter plays the game the right way and with great passion. His signing, despite the team already overpaying for Matthews last year, pretty much takes care of two issues for the team in one swoop.

With Matthews now in a corner outfield role, the team can alternate Guerrero and Anderson at DH to keep them both healthy and in the lineup. Thus, they've added a player who offers some right-handed pop to protect Guerrero in the lineup and they've shored up the outfield and DH issues.

Now the team can either repackage Matthews or some of the other outfielders (Willits or Rivera) with some infielders in a trade for Cabrera. All in all, I think it's just the Angels (already a big money club) doing their best to make a big splash to keep up after their embarassing first-round exit from the playoffs this year.

Good question.

Answer 2

A-Rod is getting around $275 million over 10 years and this has signaled to other good ballplayers that they could command a higher value on the open market, hence the big money deal that Hunter was afforded with. Don't forget that when Zito signed for huge money with the Giants, it was feared to be a signal to other pitchers throughout the leagues that they could demand more money as well.

The fact that the Angels threw big money at Hunter and will probably do the same with Cabrera indicates a number of things, the first being how badly they want a World Series trophy again --- as in NOW!

Secondly, I think the Matthews issue with the admission of substance abuse coupled with Garret Anderson's injury proneness is propelling ownership and management towards a retooling of their outfield. The school of thought is that Matthews will move to left field, Hunter of course will handle Center and right field becomes a platooning issue between Anderson, Guerrero, and Willits.

The outfield move also equates to more flexibility at the DH position. Signing Cabrera will add more power to the lineup, but the downside is that he needs to get his weight under control. Statements have already been all over the place as to his range and quickness being hindered by his ever expanding waistline.

Answer 3

I think the Angels are trying to build a team to compete with teh Red Sox & Yanks both who spend a ton of money each year.

Answer 4

Its hard to get a CF who hits 20-30 homeruns a year and plays gold glove defense.

Answer 5

i think the angels are trying to get a package of players together to get miguel tejada