6-4-2 — an Angels/Dodgers double play blog: More Random Rumors

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Thursday, November 11, 2004

More Random Rumors

From Gammons by way of Athletics Nation: as expected, Billy Beane has put a price tag on his starting pitchers, starting with Tim Hudson, for who the Bosox allegedly offered Byung-Hyun Kim and Bronson Arroyo in exchange, to no avail. No way will the Yanks get their hands on Huddy, not without actual prospects, and the way this offseason's going down, that's unlikely unless they somehow reach into somebody else's farm. Right. Regardless, the possibility of an AL West minus Tim Hudson has to feel pretty good to Angels fans.
The Daily News speculates that the Angels are interested in "Toronto's Vernon Wells, Minnesota's Torii Hunter and Florida's Juan Pierre", all of whom could play centerfield, in the event that the team doesn't get Carlos Beltran. (Always good to have a Plan B.) Also, the club might be on the lookout for a lefty reliever, but "he must be high quality. Among free agents, perhaps only Ron Villone or Steve Kline meet that criteria." Expect Kline's name to be scratched off that list after declaring Cardinals GM Walt Jocketty "ignorant" after leaving Kline off the postseason roster.
Regarding the perennial problem of starting pitching:
The Angels' No. 1 objective again is signing a starting pitcher. Sources have indicated their primary free-agent target will be right-hander Carl Pavano. If Pavano, a Connecticut native, prefers to stay in the East, right-hander Brad Radke and left-hander Eric Milton are the Angels' top fallback options, with right-hander Pedro Martinez a possibility.
My own feeling is that Beltran at the right price is a good deal, but given Boras's absurd demands and the Yankees' bottomless pit of cash to work with, winning the Beltran sweepstakes might become a pyrrhic victory for the Angels. Dumb as I think Stoneman can be at times, this is not the sort of mistake I think he's likely to make (but see also, Bartolo Colon).
The Indians have placed Troy Percival "close to the top of the list" of available closers (based on performance) in their offseason wishlist. The fact that he's never blown a save against Minnesota is one of the key bonuses for the Tribe, I'm sure.
Also on the list of ex-Angels going elsewhere is interest in Troy Glaus from the Diamondbacks according to the Tucson Citizen. This feeds my belief that Glaus will take a shorter, lower-dollar contract to play somewhere in order to prove his shoulder hasn't hurt his power.