Although, I'm not convinced of Juan Rivera's bat he still would have been my first choice for left field. Despite being buried in the Angels outfield and barely used, it's being reported that he will re-sign with them. Last off season the Angels had experimented with the idea of moving Rivera to first I wonder if this is an indication that they feel there missing out on Tex. It's amazing how much money they've spent in the outfield with Vlad, Mathews Jr., Hunter and now Rivera....The Los Angeles Angels on Thursday night were nearing agreement with outfielder Juan Rivera on a three-year contract, according to baseball sources. source Yahoo sports
Rocco Baldelli is a 27 y/o right handed outfielder who would be considered one of the rising players in the league if it were not for his medical condition. It's a triumph of his character that he has even returned to baseball, Baldelli has suffered through extreme fatigue and muscle cramping due to mitochondrial disorder. This has limited to being a part-time and many teams have been leery of him. Now it's being reported that improved tests have found that he was mis-diagnosed and has channelopathy, a condition that can be better treated. I'm sure this will make him a hot commodity.
"It's definitely an encouraging development,'' Baldelli said this morning from his Rhode Island home. "Knowing this is a treatable condition, I feel this is a very positive thing for me and my baseball career. With this less-severe diagnosis, I hope to be on the field on a much more regular basis.''source Tampabay.com
An idea that makes sense while it makes me cringe, Ken Rosenthal took a look at the top free agents and where he believes they'll end up. At #8 is none other then Pat the Bat, Rosenthal sees the former Met Killer as joining the team he's grown accustom to coming up big against. 20% of Burell's home runs have come against the the Mets, hopefully he would have that same productivity against the Phillies. He's awful defensively and an all or nothing hitter but I do think the line-up needs a right handed power threat and to opposing pitchers I think Burrell has the intimidation factor over Tatis. It's funny how much my point of view has changed on Burrell. here's a link to a post from August where I wanted nothing to do with Burrell but there's also a link to PCP who saw him as a good fit and an encounter Metsblog posted about Burrell sounding interested in the Mets.
Burrell's overall numbers paint the picture of a dynamic slugger who offers an all-or-nothing to his team. He can jack it out of the park with the best of them, but is prone to long lulls as evidenced by his .210 batting average in the second half last season. But still, 30 homers is 30 homers, and that may be too much to resist for a team in need of a power stick. Rosenthal's likely destination: Mets. source Fox sports
Finally, Bobby Abreu and his great OBP have been linked to the Mets several times. It would be nice to have Abreu in the three slot but he's another lefty had bat and older playing looking for a multi-year contract. I've also read that he's another non-fiery guy and I can't stand his fear of the wall. The Abreu market is quiet but yesterday there were remarks by Ozzie Guillen the White Sox mgr. has spoken to Abreu and is interested in him.
Asked about his interest in signing free agent Bobby Abreu, Guillen said that he had spoken with the outfielder."The interest exists, but other teams have also shown interest," he said. "Bob will decide with whom he will play. He needs to choose a contract that allows him to play many years in the major leagues." source AP
The primary focus of this team is pitching and rightfully so, the offense scored the second most runs in the league. But the line-up has not been changed at all and this line-up was built with Moises Alou's bat in mind. A platoon of Tatis/Murphy over the course of a season will not equal what they expected from an 80-90 game Alou. I'm concerned that Murphy will have sophomore struggles and Tatis will see a decline in production. They need to replace Alou's bat with a player of equal offensive potential, I don't think the platoon will get that done. Of the free agent group Burrell might not put up Alou's numbers but he is a threat with each at-bat that lengths the line-up putting more stress on the pitcher and the bench is deepened; Tatis, Murphy, Castro, Cora (Aaron Miles), Reed and if you carry a sixth man you choose from Pagan or Anderson.
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