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Saturday, October 30, 2004

Angels Shaikin, Beltran Not Stirred

Yes, now that Bill Shaikin puts this piece of speculative fiction in the Times I suppose we're all supposed to salivate at the possibility of the Astros' unarguable postseason MVP appearing in an Angels' jersey. (Richard is already all over this one).
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.

"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."

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?

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.

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.

Yow. Well, we'll see how that goes. Martinez scares me. He's not the Pedro of years past, and he's aging, fast.
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.

Comments:
I wouldn't say the Beltran comment is all that speculative. All Shaikin is saying is that the Angels are "positioning" themselves for a move on Beltran. I doubt he ends up in Anaheim, but surely the Angels are interested, right?
 

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