Baseball Primer Newsblog— The Best News Links from the Baseball Newsstand
Friday, January 21, 2011
WOW.
5:38 PM: We weren’t expecting that! Rosenthal reports that the Angels have traded Mike Napoli to the Blue Jays. No word on the return. Giving up one of the team’s better bats makes some sense if you can get some good young Rays talent. The Jays system isn’t quite as stocked. Here’s hoping for Angels fans that they’re getting some value back.
Man. You just never know.
UPDATE: If this trade didn’t surprise you already, this certainly will. According to Ken Rosenthal of FOXSports.com, Vernon Wells is headed to the Blue Jays in the Mike Napoli trade. In a word, woah. More when we get it.
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And it's Gary Matthews II for the Angels. Didn't this used to be a smart organization?
edit: the Jays must be paying for some of that contract, right? Even if so, this still seems like a dumbass move.
Of course, the problem people are going to have is that they will evaluate this trade objectively. You can't do that with the Angels. You can't really evaluate Napoli's value per se. You have to evaluate his value to the Angels, which is minimal so long as they have Scioscia' wonderboy Jeff Mathis. So really, they got an aging slightly above average on occasion left fielder with a huge contract for pretty much nothing! Joy!
OK, Toronto's also getting Juan Rivera in the deal. Now I just hate everything.
2011:$23M
2012:$21M
2013:$21M
2014:$21M
Basically, that's a somewhat cheaper version of Carl Crawford's contract. For a guy who:
a) has 10 fewer WAR than Crawford in a year less than Crawford;
b) is incredibly inconsistent from year to year, unlike (putting it mildly) Crawford;
c) isn't really a good center fielder; and
d) is two and a half years older than Crawford.
I suppose Wells might not play center in LAA, but if he doesn't, the offensive bar just went up for him.
And hell, we thought the Crawford contract was too much money. Christ.
The only way this deal isn't complete insanity is if someone the Angels have figured out with 95% or better certainty that Wells has a) found the Fountain of Youth, and b) covered himself in enough Bautista superhero-pheromones to last the next four years.
Even if we assume that, production-wise, Wells = Napoli + Rivera (a dubious conclusion), the Jays would need to kick in around $20M to help even things out. And there's no way that MLB is going to allow a team to kick in that much money--AFAIK they never have before.
If you base that on only last year, sure. Not to mention that most guys hit better when they're penciled in as a regular.
2011:$23M
2012:$21M
2013:$21M
2014:$21M
$50-55M? I don't think Wells is any better than Napoli. Let's call them equal. If Napoli averages $7M p.a. over the next 4 yrs., Toronto has to kick in at least $50M to even it out.
Of course, the problem people are going to have is that they will evaluate this trade objectively. You can't do that with the Angels. You can't really evaluate Napoli's value per se. You have to evaluate his value to the Angels, which is minimal so long as they have Scioscia' wonderboy Jeff Mathis.
Then a smart GM trades/cuts Mathis and doesn't give Scioscia the choice.
I suspect that Napoli will be worth more than that over the next four years. But you may well be right.
This.
Well, he's not a FA until 2013, and made $3.6M last year. He's playing below value for 2 of the 4 years.
I'll just stand over here and let that sink in.
Edit: A refreshing Coca-Cola beverage to OCD.
I doubt Toronto trades in division. Why give up Napoli? He's good.
Also, what does Boston have left on the farm that Toronto would want?
Why is a big market team like the Angels trying to hit inside straights with guys like Kazmir and Wells?
They have young catchers coming up and 6 million might be more than they want to pay for a DH/1B type. And do they really want to go into the season with Rajai Davis as their #1 CFer? I wouldn't give great odds on a trade but I think it's in the realm of possibility.
Because he'll make less over the life of the contract than Moreno paid for the team, and thus has an acceptable salary?
Naw. Wells was actually good last year, you dreamer.
Because they're being run by an owner who has about as much knowledge as the average fan and wants to win now. If I'm a GM who has a player with an albatross but name recognition, I'm calling up the Angels. Hell, they might even give you real players for the privilege of having that guy on their team.
The White Sox took on Rios's remaining 5 years/$59M and gave up nothing. The Angels take on Wells's remaining 4 years/$86M and give up two players.
):
1. It's good to be a dreamer!
2. World Series Champions
Like the other Angel fans here, I find the trade sickening. Wells' contract could very possibly cripple any other moves the Angels might want to make for a long time.
So, Ellsbury and what?
Adrian Gonzales?
Naw, I kid. Who is pencilled in CF for the Sawx this year anyway?
Anyway. What's going to happen to J.P. Arencibia now? This move doesn't really seem to make a ton of sense for either team, actually. Creates holes on both ends while covering up decent prospects. Bourjos is out a job now? Who plays center in Toronto? Maybe the logic is that you run Lind and Snider out there in the corners and tell them to keep a good eye on all the balls Raj Davis catches while OBP'ing under .300, with the plan that by getting so much rest in the field, their hitting will improve. Makes sense.
On the other hand JUAN RIVERA!!!!! AA is getting the band back together! Where's Bartolo? Oh wait...
Ellsbury with a side of Mike Cameron.
JP's only 24, and last year was his first big offensive year since high-A. Another half year in AAA won't kill him. Mid-year you can dump Molina and have JPA and Napoli split time, while Napoli also gets pt at DH and 1B.
There should be enough ABs in RF/LF/1B/DH for Lind and Snider. No one's going to worry about Encarnacion losing ABs.
I always suspected Rick Barry was black. I kid, of course, but it's good to see Hayward legend Shooty Babbit doing well.
When did this start? Oct, 2010?
Because they had a hell of a run the previous 8 or 9 years.
Mid-year! I wouldn't be able to wait that long. If I was Anthopoulos I would have already dispatched a pair of assassins to Molina's home.
Given Molina's speed, one assassin should do. They're working on a budget, you know.
He may have already traded him...
Yes. This team just got worse with this trade. Conger is not a plus offensive player, not by a long shot and he'll likely never be the plus player than Napoli was. Rivera isn't good, but he is similar to Wells in that he has good years and bad years. Difference is that he does it for 1/5 the cost and is a FA after 2011.
Now the Halos have Wells penciled in for 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2014(!) to the tune of $20+ million per year? That is the money you could have dangled in front of Albert Pujols - or any other true superstar. This is maddening.
Lastly, before I commence drinking large quantities of rum so that I might forget this abysmal trade, why don't you just go over budget and give Beltre what he's asking for if you are fine with spending this kind of scratch? Beltre gives GG caliber defense, some positive offensive value AND they can keep Napoli as a 2/3 time catcher/occasional platoon DH and Rivera as a platoon LF'er and RH bat off the bench....
This is the worst possible return for a Mike Napoli trade - old, expensive players.
Reagins, Scioscia and Arte really screwed the pooch here - something they have been doing a lot of lately.
Yuk.
Given the bender Reagins and Moreno must be on, they might have gone for it.
He's not that old..
Probably to the Halos for Kendry Morales. Stop it with the one-sided trades, please!
This deal reminded me of the GMJ signing. What I'm saying is, they are a big market team that seems from time to time to be determined to spend money, but not quite enough money to get a good to great player. That's just me, maybe Angels fans love the front office.
Given the bender Reagins and Moreno must be on, they might have gone for it.
No way, they would just get angry at the insinuation that they are cheap and not willing to splash the cash.
If they were offered a quality player like Overbay on the other hand....
Primey!
Good lord, they still owe GMjr $11 M in 2011. And they still have arb contracts coming for Weaver, Aybar, Kendrick and Morales.
He'll be 23 next year and already projects as about big league average with the bat, for a catcher. His defense is bad, sure, but he's got a pretty chance to be a good hitting catcher at peak.
Unfortunately the big spending Pirates snatched him up. Would they settle for Encarnacion?
1. He's not exactly young himself; he's 29.
2. Last year was the first time he played a full schedule (granting that half of it was at 1B) - and he fell off badly in August and September.
3. He's had a fairly extreme platoon split the last two years.
Wells isn't that old, either - he's 32.
Leaving the money aside, I don't see this as heavily lopsided in Toronto's favor at all.
-- MWE
That's an awfully big thing to leave aside.
Mike, that's about the same as asking "Besides that how was the play Mrs. Lincoln?"
That's hard to do when one player is due the GDP of a small African country.
I stand by post 2.
Just un-freaking-believable. Alex Anthopolos must have photos of the Angels GM with a sheep or something. He just must. As a Jays fan I just hope he has more like it of the other GM's.
Initial word is that Wells will be in left. With Bourgos in CF and Hunter in RF, that's a pretty nice defensive outfield.
I see no reason why you would do that.
Wells is a Yankee by 2013
Bautista for Longoria?
Let John Buck sign elsewhere, received sandwich pick (#44 overall).
Traded PTBNL for Miguel Olivo, let him sign elsewhere, received sandwich pick (#51 overall).
Traded for Mike Napoli, incidentally ridding his team of an $86M contract.
No one's bailing LAA out of this one.
Twitter now says the Jays are sending $5M.
So, you know, it's all good.
I bet. You've got to have the guts of a burglar to pull this one off.
I mean if I was the Toronto GM and Reagins called to offer Napoli for Wells, I would have fallen all over myself to send $30M to get the deal done.
To hold out for no money changing hands is freaking brilliant.
AA should have to wear a mask and carry a gun to work for the next month.
So, you know, it's all good.
Did Reagins not even ask for AA to eat substantial salary? I can't believe that Toronto wouldn't have eaten half the contract to get this deal done.
Well, there's always the chance that Vernon exercises his opt out clause after this season.
*snicker*
Well I guess we could have hyper-inflation; the Fed is printing a lot of money.
That seems almost worse. Like the Angels acknowledge he is overpaid, but have no idea how much he is overpaid.
Rany tweeted:
So there's hope yet Mets fans!
Take it to the Dykstra thread.
In honor of JP's whining about being stuck with oppressive contracts when he came on, AA should have a brief statement along the lines of 'this loudmouth cried about salaries yet left me with this live grenade to deal with. Difference is that I actually did something about it. That's how it's done, clown.'
This trade alone should make AA a king in Toronto.
Remember when everybody on here was kvetching about how there's no way the Red Sox could get Napoli for anything resembling just Ellsbury or the equivalent? And before that, people scoffed when Red Sox fans suggested that they could get Adrian Gonzalez for players not too far from what the team actually gave up?
I need a bigger oven than mine for all the crow pie I'm having to bake.
Meh. It's not like Manny or Damon are really all that at this point (especially Damon). And CF in Toronto is now going to be manned by Rajai Davis. He might make fans wish for Wells back.
The Werth signing probably remains the craziest move of the offseason, but how far behind is this trade?
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