Saturday, October 30, 2004 |
Angels Shaikin, Beltran Not Stirred
The Angels plan to cut ties with third baseman Troy Glaus, handing the position to rookie Dallas McPherson and positioning the team for a possible run at center fielder Carlos Beltran [emphasis mine], the crown jewel of free agency.So, translated, Bill Shaikin is writing a story he hopes gets the rest of us in a lather. But let us look a little more closely at this. You may recall last year the Angels were ill-disposed to pick up Vlad because he turned down a 5/$75M contract with the Expos. At that point, wrote MLB.com's Barry Bloom, Stoneman "came away daunted by his asking price". Considering some suggest (and I agree) he might fetch as much as a 5/$85M contract, what makes anyone think Beltran is in the Angels' offseason plans?"From a financial standpoint, McPherson fits better than Glaus and we've got other needs," Angel General Manager Bill Stoneman said Friday. "We'll probably make use of our resources in other areas."
Aside: One note of interest for those (myself included) who hope to see Adrian Beltre back in Blue next year: this adds another high/mid-tier third-baseman to the free agency mix.
The Angels plan to move center fielder Garret Anderson to left and keep former center fielder Darin Erstad at first base, leaving starting pitching and center field as the top two winter priorities.Yow. Well, we'll see how that goes. Martinez scares me. He's not the Pedro of years past, and he's aging, fast.With the contracts of Glaus and pitchers Troy Percival, Kevin Appier, Ramon Ortiz and Aaron Sele expiring, the Angels could drop $41.5 million from their 2004 payroll, more than enough to join the New York Yankees, Chicago Cubs and Houston Astros as top bidders for Beltran. The Angels also might bid on pitcher Pedro Martinez.
Stoneman does not comment on potential acquisitions. Scott Boras, the agent for Beltran, did not return a call for comment. Boras, whose office is in Orange County, has developed a cordial working relationship with Angel owner Arte Moreno.Hypothetical phone call:
Boras: Hey, Arte, got cash?
Moreno: crickets chirping
Regarding both Troys:
"We're not through having conversations," Stoneman said. "I'll talk about it after we've hashed it out with Paul and Troy."Sounds to me like Shaikin's jumped the gun deciding where things will end up. For all we know, this article could be posturing to get Glaus and/or Percival to lower their salary sights a bit.
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