Angels Re-Sign Abreu
Last year, Bobby Abreu sat around all winter trying to figure out where he was going to play. He apparently didn’t want to do that again, as he re-signed with the Angels on the first day of the off-season.
According to Ed Price, the deal is for $9 million a year in 2010 and 2011, with a vesting option for 2012 or a $1 million buyout. The deal guarantees Abreu $19 million over his age 36 and 37 seasons. A few weeks ago, when reports of Abreu turning down a $16 million offer over two years surfaced, I suggested he take it. This deal is a very small premium over that offer, so that’s essentially what Abreu did.
The more interesting aspect of this, to me, is to see how aggressive teams and players are about getting deals done before the market officially opens up. Last year, the players who signed quickly ended up escaping the carnage of the collapsing economy – Kyle Lohse and Ryan Dempster came out looking like big winners for taking the money to re-sign rather than shopping themselves around, and Raul Ibanez was the only defensively challenged outfielder to cash in after signing with Philadelphia quickly.
In this scenario, Abreu took an essentially fair offer for the security of not going through another winter freeze out. The Angels have the cash to make deals like this, and Abreu is a good fit for their team, but I wonder how many other teams will be rushing to lock up players before the market has a chance to set prices this winter. Given the events of last winter and the questionable status of the economy, I’d imagine caution will be the strategy of many big league clubs.
Abreu was smart to take this deal and avoid the risk. If this winter is anything like last year, there will be better players settling for lesser contracts once they hit the market.
Dave is the Managing Editor of FanGraphs.
I imagine the market for outfielders will be somewhat in favor of ballclubs this winter, especially with Milton Bradley and Pat Burrell on the trade market, stripped of their respective premiums.
But the Angels already have a DH.
who? Vlad is a FA.
$3 million is not a “very small premium over that offer.” Just go ahead and admit you were wrong, dummy.
In baseball terms, where the smallest number you can talk about is the league minimum at about half a million per year, that is small change.
Oh, and calling one of the site’s contributers “dummy” just makes you yet another example of the GIDT.
That’s $2 over $16 million, with $1 million as a third year option (i.e. for something not given in the $16 million rumor). That’s a small premium.
He got $3 million more over two years and has a vesting option that could be worth another $8 million. I’d say he did significantly better.
I would imagine this means that Vlad is gone, but you never know with the Angels. They may just stick Abreu in RF again and resign Vlad to DH. Evaluating outfield defense doesn’t seem to be a particular strength of Scioscia and company.
I think re-signing Abreu is essentially tossing Vlad out. Abreu at this stage of his career is a better option, and Guerrero will probably be overpaid in the FA market. Even if you think Guerrero’s true talent level is closer to his ’08 season, that’s a lot of $ for a high-800 OPS DH.
Vlad has already said he would take a very large pay cut to stay with the Angels. I would imagine that they know where his health is, and his playoff performance couldn’t have hurt, and would sign him to a deal similar to the one Abreu signed last year if he is healthy and will take it. That isn’t bad at all for a high .800/low .900 OPS DH, and all the better if he can play some outfield.
As for evaluating outfield defense, you need to stop just looking at UZR. Plus/Minus still has Torii Hunter as an excellent defensive player and Juan Rivera has always been underrated in his ability to play defense. The metrics say Rivera has been an above-average defender for a long time when playing a corner. Garret Anderson played excellent defense for years as well.
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