Hunter only makes AL West champs that much better
Talk about your extra Thanksgiving stuffing: The Los Angeles Angels bagged free-agent center fielder Torii Hunter late Wednesday night, one year after improving their defense by landing center fielder Gary Matthews Jr.
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| Torii Hunter is known for his defense, but he must swing a big bat to truly earn his $90 million. (Getty Images) |
Scioscia and first-year general manager Tony Reagins were adamant on a late-night conference call that Hunter will be their everyday center fielder, meaning Matthews will be shoved over to one of the corner outfield positions, which will leave Vladimir Guerrero or Garrett Anderson to play the other corner outfield slot and the odd man out to DH.
It is the second eye-opening deal of the week for the Angels, who earlier dealt Gold Glove shortstop Orlando Cabrera to the Chicago White Sox for starting pitcher Jon Garland. Say this for the rookie GM Reagins: He's not afraid to jump into the deep end of the pool.
"I saw this as an opportunity to make our club better," said Reagins, who put together this deal with Hunter in a whirlwind 24-hour period. "This gives us depth and offensive punch. It really didn't fall into the category of 'big bat.' "
Despite winning the AL West title three of the past four seasons, the Angels haven't been back to the World Series since winning it in 2002 and have acknowledged for the past three seasons that they've lacked a big bat in the middle of the lineup to protect Guerrero.
They were hot on the trail of Florida third baseman Miguel Cabrera earlier this winter and, according to sources, haven't necessarily given up on the idea of acquiring him. The Marlins are looking to trade the 24-year-old slugger because he is expected to command $10 million or more in 2008 via salary arbitration, and they want a package of three or four players close to being major league ready in return.
While Reagins declined comment on the Cabrera talks during the Late Night With the Angels session as households in the Eastern time zone were closing in on putting their Thanksgiving turkeys in the oven, he clearly now is dealing from a position of strength.
As a result of their moves this week, the Angels are well fortified in starting pitching, with John Lackey (who finished third in the AL Cy Young voting in 2007), Garland, Kelvim Escobar, Jered Weaver, Ervin Santana, Joe Saunders and even Dustin Mosely.
And in Hunter, Guerrero, Matthews, Anderson, Chone Figgins, Reggie Willits and Juan Rivera, they have excess outfielders as well.
For now, fielding whiz Erick Aybar will replace Cabrera as the shortstop, Figgins will play third ... and Scioscia can rotate his outfielders through the DH spot as often as rest requirements, physical ailments, slumps or anything else dictate.
The deal with Hunter came together so quickly that the Angels still haven't even had a chance to talk with Matthews about his impending move. But Scioscia does not see that as an issue.
"We want Gary Matthews as part of this," Scioscia said. "I don't think there was a happier guy in our clubhouse last year when we clinched the division title. He wants that ring on his finger, as Torii does.
