Former Travs Eyeing Big Paydays--Free Agency Primer

Two former Travs, Chone Figgins and John Lackey, are in line to seek their employment elsewhere. Both played for the Travs in 2001 and have been stalwarts of Angels franchise that has produced playoff teams almost every year since they have been affiliated with the Travs. 2001, '03, and '06 are the only exceptions. Both Lackey and Figgins have been designated by the Elias Sports Bureau as "Type A" free agents. I'm fully expecting both players to be allowed to walk. I expect the Angels to make more of push for Lackey, but perhaps that is just what I want them to do. Vlad falls in the potential "Type B" category.

As the ace of the Angels' staff, Lackey has consistently put up great numbers. Lackey got the call to the big leagues in 2002. In his rookie year all Lackey did was win Game 7 of the World Series. During the regular season he went 9-4 while posting a 3.66 ERA. He also posted he lowest K/9 ratio (5.7) and lowest K/BB (2.09) ratio that season. He struck out only 69 hitters and walked 33 in only 108 IP. Since that season he has consistently held a K/9 rate slightly greater than 7 and has kept his K/BB rate to almost 3. His finest season was 2007. That year he went 19-9 (the closest he's came to hitting the 20 win mark), put up a phenomenal league leading 3.01 ERA. He did all of this in 224 IP. He struck out 179 hitters and walked 52. He made the All-Star team, was 3rd in Cy Young voting and 17th in MVP voting. His last two seasons have basically started with him on the DL, but once healthy he has proven that he's one of the top pitchers in the game. I hope you've enjoyed watching him because I'm guessing that next year he'll be a NY Met, win 20 games and have a sub 3.00 ERA.
Career:
102-71, 3.81 ERA, 14 CG, 8 SHO, 1501 IP, 441 BB, 1201 K, 1.30 WHIP, BB/9 2.6, K/9 7.2

Chone Figgins got his half of a cup of coffee in 2002. It was 2003 before he started to see any significant playing time. Figgins has been the Angels third baseman now for 3 seasons. But in his career he's played all over the diamond. Figgins has logged more than 100 games played at 3 different positions 3rd, CF, and 2B. As near as I can tell the only spots he has never played are 1st base, catcher and pitcher. He's been a phenomenal utility man and has hit at the top of the order for years. He lacks the power of a traditional corner infielder (has never hit double digit dingers) and with Brandon Wood out of options, I suspect the Angels will let the somebody else pay for Figgins' aging set of wheels. Or at least I suspect they SHOULD let somebody else pay for them. Figgins was an All-Star in 2009.
Career:
4075 PA, 3585 AB, 596 R, 1045 H, 148 2B, 53 3B, 31 HR, 341 RBI, 240 SB, .291/.363/.388

What is the non-sense about Type A and Type B free agents and why does it matter? I've pasted a Baseball America explanation below. The designation is important because any team that signs another teams Type A or Type B free agent must surrender a compensatory draft pick to the team losing the player. In the past this hasn't been a huge concern but over the last few years teams are seeing the value of those 1st round or sandwich round picks rise. That is part of the reason many players were left scrambling for employment as the off-season dragged on last year..

Players are sorted into position groups by league: catchers; designated hitters, first basemen and outfielders; second basemen, third basemen and shortstops; starting pitchers; and relief pitchers.

All hitters are graded on plate appearances, batting average, on-base percentage, home runs and RBIs. Fielding percentage and assists also are considered for catchers, and fielding percentage and total chances also matter for second basemen, third basemen and shortstops. The categories for pitchers are starts, innings, wins, winning percentage, ERA and strikeouts for starters; and relief appearances, innings, wins plus saves, ERA, hits per nine innings and strikeout/walk ratio for relievers.

Players who rate in the top 20 percent of their position group are designated as Type A free agents, and those in the 21-40 percent bracket are designated as Type B. To receive compensation for a Type A or B free agent, the player's former club must offer him arbitration.

Type A free agents yield the signing team's first-round choice and a supplemental first-rounder, while Type B free agents produce only the sandwich pick. Clubs that finished in the bottom half of the major league standings have their first-round selections protected from compensation, and consolation picks for failure to sign draftees from the previous year can't change hands either. If a team signs multiple Type A free agents, the club that lost the higher-ranking player gets the better pick.

Pujols Not PURE Evil After All

I don't know how somebody with a deep revulsion to Albert Pujols is supposed to process this. It's like finding out the Son of Sam is also your favorite uncle. It just doesn't make sense. I don't think anybody that was in attendance the night Mike Coolbaugh died will ever look at baseball games or life quite the same. Coolbaugh was struck by a line drive that was screaming toward him and seemed to follow him with every step he took. It was, in every sense, a true tragedy. The result of that tragedy is a single mom, raising three children. I can't imagine the family was basking in money to begin with. My guess is people coach at the AA level for two reasons: a) the love the game b) to work there way to the Bigs as a coach/manager. I am quite sure they don't do it for the pay. Anyway, there was golf tournament held to help raise money for the Coolbaugh family. Pujols, as is all to often the case, delivered in a big way.

At the last minute, a sponsor to pay for the dinner at the event backed out. Enter Pujols to the rescue. When Josh Goldberg, the Director of Public Relations for Pujols' agency, Beverly Hills Sports Council, approached the All-Star first baseman about the issue, he immediately remembered Coolbaugh -- the two played together in St. Louis in 2002 -- and donated well above what was needed to cover the cost of the dinner.

Pujols won the Clemente Award in 2008, honored for the work he's done with his foundation. Pujols puts on over 30 events a year for kids with Down Syndrome, including a golf tournament that raises over $350,000. He also makes annual trips to the Dominican Republic to help impoverished families and orphans with medical care and supplies.

I'll likely only admit this once in my lifetime. I enjoy watching that guy play, in the same way I enjoyed watching Michael Jordan play. I can't stand the player or the team but I feel like if I don't make the effort to watch him play one day I'm gonna wake up and wonder why the heck I didn't try to see his every atbat. They guy is a monster and in my opinion, he's easily the best hitter in the game. If he doesn't win the Triple Crown in his career nobody will ever win it again. Stay free of the juice, Pujols. I'd like my signed bat to retain it's value.

Tommy Mendoza Starts in Tonight's AFL Rising Stars Game

The Arizona Fall League's Rising Stars game is tonight. You can watch on the MLB network at 7:15 Central. Two former Travs are on the roster and Tommy Mendoza is one of the starting pitchers. In my opinion Mendoza was one of the more pleasant surprises of the 2009 season. I didn't know anything about him when he was sent to AA. Steven Strasburg was scheduled to start but will be withheld due to injury. Hank Conger is also playing but will probably be the second catcher in the game. Buster Posey will likely get the start.

Tommy Mendoza 1-1, 5.40 ERA, 15 IP, 10 K, 0 BB
Hank Conger .226/.326/.398, 2 HR, 8 RBI, 7 BB, 10 K
Marco Albano has given up 7 ER in 10 IP.
Tim Kiely 0-0, 2.08 ERA, 8.2 IP, 3 BB, 4 K, 7 H
Ryan Mount .165/.203/.243, 37 AB, 2 BB, 8 K
PJ Phillips (Rancho) .311/.340/.444, 5 SB in 45 AB

New Logo...Yawn

To the right you will see the new Dickey-Stephens Park logo. Underwhelmed yet? Yeah, me too. Isn't the park supposed to be a railroad theme? Is there anything to indicate that DSP is related to baseball? Couldn't they at least put some red baseball threads on that thing and change the background color? I suppose that logo could be like a tag for a steam engine or something. Plain and simple, the old logo is better. What about a logo with a conductors hat and some bats. Or one of those yellow railroad crossing signs with Dickey Stephens written on it? Or something that doesn't look like an add on a race car. Maybe Earnhart Jr, will put the patch on his racing uniform. My apologies to the designer. It's nothing personal. It just doesn't seem to fit a baseball park. But hey, now the gift shop will have all new shirts to sell.

BP Angels Wrap

As part of Baseball Prospectus' "Kiss 'em Goodbye" series. Here's some tidbits from it.
Buster Olney's take:

Biggest puzzler on the drawing board: The Angels have a ton of prospective free
agents, including Vladimir Guerrero, John Lackey, and Chone Figgins. It's evident that the Angels—who have seen John Lackey start each of the last two seasons with forearm trouble—are not comfortable with the notion of giving him a nine-figure deal, so if somebody else is willing to give him an A.J. Burnett-like contract in the range of $82.5 million, well, the Angels will say goodbye. While Jered Weaver
continues to improve and Scott Kazmir had moments of excellence after joining the Angels, they really don't have a lot of number one-type starting pitchers. "They've got a number two and and maybe a couple of number threes," said one rival GM, "but they don't really have that number one guy."

I love Lackey as much as any redblooded Travs fan and I would HATE to seem him go. But I couldn't blame the Angels for hedging their bets and lettinghim collect what is sure to be a huge payday from one of the other big market teams. Lord knows the Mets need a pitcher or four. And all the worry about the Wilpon's losing his money in the Madoff scheme has been put to
rest. Put Lackey in that huge park against the NL, man he'll get a Cy Young out of that. (Assuming anybody ever beats Lincecum).

As for Figgins, all I have to say is "it's been real". He's aging and speed is his game. The Angels have had him at the apex of his value. It's all gonna be downhill from here. Let somebody else pay him based on his last 5 years. He's a great utility guy and will be valuable to a lot of clubs but if it comes down to a choice between Figgins and Lackey, I'll take Lackey. I suspect both are gone, which she be good news for Brandon Wood fans.

Key Stat: .505
While this year's bullpen troubles received (and deserved) plenty of headlines, bullpens can frequently be fixed with less-expensive roster tweaks informed by scouting and performance analysis. Fixing a rotation isn't quite so easy, and that number of .505 is the Support-Neutral Winning Percentage of the Angels' rotation this year. Being just a few ticks above .500 means exactly what it sounds like—and not the sort of thing you can bank on for continued success when the other teams in the division aren't patsies. Add in the impending free agency of John Lackey and the uneven performances of holdovers Ervin Santana, Joe Saunders, and Scott Kazmir, the Angels don't just need Jered Weaver to replicate this year's success, they need unit-wide improvement, especially if the addition of Kazmir prices the Halos out of any big-game hunting of free-agent starting pitching.

It was a crazy year for the Angels pitching staff and I hesitate to make too many decisions based on what happened to the staff this year. I still believe that Ervin "don't call me Johan" Santana can be a top tier pitcher. (Sorry Joe, I don't believe the same for you.) I think a rotation featuring Weaver, Santana, Kazmir, and Saunders, needs another solid pitcher if the team wants to have a shot at the playoffs in 2010.

Who 2 Watch 4: Trevor Reckling, LHP
During Reckling's full-season debut in 2008, Midwest League scouts were baffled as to how Reckling fell as far as the eighth round of the 2007 draft. They saw an ultra-athletic left-hander with average velocity but a pair of truly plus secondary offerings in the form of his slider and changeup. After beginning the 2009 season with three dominant California League starts, the Angels moved Reckling up to the Double-A Texas league a month before his 20th birthday, and he finished fourth in the circuit
with a 2.93 ERA. The bad news is that he also led the league with 75 walks and 14 wild pitches, but with some refinements in his command and control, he could reach the big leagues as early as next September.

Hey, I hope Reckling makes the big leagues next September, but he's gonna' have to cut out those 7 walk games to get there.

Money: If the Angels let Lackey walk, they could invest the perhaps $60 million they might have been willing to hand him and go in another direction—say, South, by way of Miami. That's right, the Angels are now being considered a strong entrant in the Aroldis Chapman sweepstakes. Scouting director Eddie Bane confirmed to the LA Times this week that the team is definitely going to meet with Chapman after they see him pitch. When you combine what the Angels have coming off the books, they might have the most flexibility of any team outside the Bronx. (Isn't that always the case?)

I hope this is true. Aroldis in a Travs uni, coming soon! And the Angels could stand to add some top of the line prospects to their pitching depth. Maybe Walden and O'Sullivan turn out to be solid big leaguers. Maybe Chapman turns out to be a number one.

From Ray Winder to Dickey Stephens

Evidently, there is a documentary, to be shown at the Hot Springs film festival, called From Ray Winder to Dickey Stephens (link takes you to the film's facebook page). Showtime is 10:05 am on Sunday the 18th. I wish I was off. Apparently the movie was made by a student in the Honors College at UCA. Um, can I get copy of this thing?

thanks for the tip, Sidd.

ALCS Rotation and Getting Dissed.

The Angels ALCS rotation starts off with the 3 former Travs starters. Joe Saunders gets his first 2009 post-season start in game 2. The Yankees are said to be leaning towards a 3-man rotation. One of which is CAC alumni AJ Burnett. Philadelphia hasn't announced their playoff rotation yet. Thus far we know only that Cole Hamels is scheduled to start game 1 of the NLCS

Game 1: 10/16 @ NYY Lackey v Sabathia 6:57 CST
Game 2: 10/17 @ NYY Saunders v Burnett 6:57 CST
Game 3: 10/20 @ LAA Pettitte v Weaver 3:13 CST
Game 4: 10/21 @ LAA ?? v Kazmir 6:57 CST
Game 5: 10/22 @ LAA 6:57 CST
Game 6: 10/24 @ NYY 3:13 or 7:20 CST
Game 7: 10/25 @ NYY 7:20 CST


In other non-news, the ADG has a blurb on page 7C about the NWA Naturals' Jeff Bianchi making Baseball America's top 20 Texas League Prospect list. The article even goes so far as to mention NWA's David Lough making the Carolina League's top 20 and that Dan Cortes, who is no longer in the Royals organization, was on the top 20 TL list. The article even mentions former Razorback Logan Forsythe. There is not a single mention of the Travs' big 3 (Reckling, Bourjos, and Conger) who were reanked in the top 10. Maybe there was an article yesterday and I just missed it, but I doubt it. That's weak sauce. I hope this means the ADG is planning a big article on the Travs that made the list. Otherwise this looks like a point blank attempt to ignore the Travs. Going so far as to include players not in the Royals organization and not include the Travs is pretty ridiculous. Maybe the ADG got a copy of that included only the second half of the top 20 list. So, boo to the ADG and Rich Polikoff, the article's author.

3 Travs Make Post-Season Top 20 Prospects

The big 3 from the 2009 edition of the Travs found a home on Baseball America's post-season list of the Texas League's top 20 prospects. Trevor Reckling, Peter Bourjos and Hank Conger came in at numbers 8, 9 and 10 respectively. Former Razorback Logan Forsythe, now in the Padres system came in at number 17. BA's full scouting reports on the top 20 can be found here (subscriber only).

On Reckling:

With a solid-average fastball that sits at 87-91 mph, as well as plus pitches in his slider and changeup, Reckling has the arsenal to dominate. Most people think his breaking ball is his best pitch, with its sharp, late break, though he also has good arm speed on his changeup and commands it as well.

Questions about Reckling stem from his over-the-top delivery, which has a lot of moving parts and can get jerky, affecting his command. His mechanics do give him deception and a good downhill plane, but he has trouble repeating his delivery and loses his release point at times. He's athletic enough that he should be able to smooth things out.

On Bourjos

...the excitement stems from Bourjos' plus-plus speed, which is legitimate yet deceptive. He never looks like he's running particularly hard, but watching him go from first to third always leaves an impression. He's also a well above-average defender in center field, with a strong, accurate arm.

Bourjos has an unorthodox swing but he makes it work, and he is improving his bunting ability as well as his pitch recognition. He shows some pop when he gets good extension, though it's just gap power.

On Conger

He's still raw behind the plate, however, because of his inexperience. He shows athleticism and quickness with good hands and good blocking skills, and he works well with pitchers. While he has raw arm strength, though, he lacks accuracy and needs work on his game-calling. He threw out 30 percent of basestealers this season.

Few doubt Conger's bat, and most liked his approach and swing and think he'll be a run producer. He has a quick bat and generates a lot of power. Those who doubt him think his swing is too violent and he needs to tone it down, though the bigger concerns are his health and his ability to stay behind the plate.

The same list from 5 years ago contains Dallas McPherson, Alberto Callaspo and Jeff Mathis.

more quotes from the chat on this article:

Q: How does Mark Trumbo fall short of the top-20? He seems like the Angels' 1B'man of the future--perhaps sometime in 2010...agree?
---my own answer. What? did you somehow miss the year Morales put up? Or miss the subpar season Trumbo put up? Trumbo is so blocked at first base that the Angels moved him to rightfield.

Will Lingo: The general consensus on Trumbo is that he doesn't have a lot to offer beyond his power. He's not a great hitter overall and is a below-average runner. He played a little bit in the outfield but is probably limited to first base. He is a gamer and a proven run producer, and that power is intriguing enough that he'll get plenty of chances to prove himself. I don't see him as a significant big leaguer, though.

Q: Just how far off the Top 20 did Jordan Walden fall this year, and what are scouts saying about him?
Will Lingo: .... Walden probably would have made the list had he not been injured. I think the general consensus was that people weren't seeing the real guy this year for the most part, though some saw him at 90-94 mph with a good fastball-slider combo. His changeup needs work and he has command and control issues, so he could end up working at the back of the bullpen.

There was another question about Corpus Christi's Jason Castro being ranked 6th overall, ahead of Conger. Basically, Lingo said that he's not convinced Conger will make it as a catcher.

ALCS Schedule

After an old fashioned trouncing of the Red Sox, the Former Travs have secured a spot in the ALCS. Their opponenet will be the Yankees. The Yankees feature another Arkansas native, AJ Burnett. (somehow I missed the CAC alumnus in the Travs in the post-season article. I guess I was in a bit of hurry.) Here's the schedule, no times have been announced. Cliff Lee marches on in the NLCS as his Phillies take on the Dodgers.

Game 1: 10/16 LAA @ NYY
Game 2: 10/17 LAA @ NYY
Game 3: 10/19 NYY @ LAA
Game 4: 10/20 NYY @ LAA
Game 5: 10/22 NYY @ LAA
Game 6: 10/24 LAA @ NYY
Game 7: 10/25 LAA @ NYY

The rotations haven't been posted but I imagine they will be similar to the one used in the Divisional Series. It will likely be something to the effect of:

Game 1 Lackey v Sabathia
Game 2 Weaver v Burnett
Game 3 Kazmir v Pettitt
Game 4 Saunders v ?

By the way, Baseball Prospectus has the Angels' odds at winning the ALCS at 29.5% and their odds of winning the whole enchilada at 12.3%.