Hamilton to Angels?!?

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

Mystery team!

Speculation naturally is that they'd then swap out Bourjos and Trumbo to the Mets for Dickey.

[Edgy MD]

That would make them instant favorites in my book.

[bmfc1]

Both of the teams in Los Angeles are getting the name free agents! As a Mets fan, I hate it when the big market teams do that.

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

This is a done deal apparently. 5 years.

Now to work that trade.

[Edgy MD]

You like it as described?

A slugger without a position who doesn't walk, and a glove-first centerfielder. Both still have time to improve.

This deal would really shore the team up, but neither is a game-changing talent.

[Edgy MD]

Josh Hamilton's no angel
No, Josh is no stranger to the streets
Josh got his label
So Josh won't crumble at your feet
And Josh knows, baby
So Josh got scars upon his cheek
And Josh's half crazy
Come on and love Josh, baby

So you find Josh hard to handle, well...
He's easier to hold
So you like Josh's spurs that jingle
And he'll never leave you cold
So Josh might steal your diamonds, he'll ...
Bring you back some gold
Josh is no angel!

No Josh is no angel
No Josh no stranger to the dark
Let Josh rock your cradle
Let Josh start a fire with your spark
Oh come on baby
Come and let Josh show you jos tattoo
Let Josh drive you crazy
Come on and love Josh, baby

So you don't give a darn about Josh
He'll never treat you bad
Josh won't ever lift a hand to hurt you, and...
He'll always leave you glad
So Josh might steal your diamonds, he'll...
Bring you back some gold
Josh is angel!

No, Josh is no angel
No, Josh is no stranger to the dark
Let Josh rock your cradle
Let Josh start a fire in your heart
Oh, come on baby
Come and let Josh show you his tattoo
Let Josh drive you crazy
Come on and love Josh, baby

Oh come on, baby
Drive Josh crazy
Drive Josh crazy
Oh, come on, baby

NWNKHi2joJE

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

This probably amps up the Rangers-Angels rivalry a little.

[seawolf17]

NO to Dickey for Trumbo & Bourjos.

[Edgy MD]

I probably agree. Anybody else?

[Benjamin Grimm]

Doesn't tempt me either. I'd instead see if this makes the Rangers a bit more desperate.

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

Throw in Trout and I'm in. Those guys are useful pieces-- potentially-- but not game-changers.

[Edgy MD]

It'd be kinda like trading Seaver all over, but only getting Steve Henderson and Dan Norman.

[Edgy MD]

The Phillies were in on Hambone at the end, so... bullet dodged.

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

I kinda like it better than this Olt thing being bandied about, but hey I'm all for them doing better. Yeah, throw in Trout too.

We just ought not underestimate what a right-handed slugger and a centerfielder who can go get it would mean to the club.

[Ceetar]

John Cougar Lunchbucket wrote: I kinda like it better than this Olt thing being bandied about, but hey I'm all for them doing better. Yeah, throw in Trout too. We just ought not underestimate what a right-handed slugger and a centerfielder who can go get it would mean to the club.

I expect it will look a lot like Hairston and Torres except with more runs scored against by the lack of Dickey pitching.

[Benjamin Grimm]

What's the deal on Mike Olt? He sounds like he's a good player (He's 24 and .288/.398/.579 with 28 homers in 95 games in the Texas League in 2012), but the Mets seem unenthusiastic and I also read that the Braves didn't want him.

Is it because of questions about his ability to play the outfield? His lack of AAA experience? Or is it something else?

[Edgy MD]

Angels deny Bourjos/Trumbo-Dickey proposal.

[Ceetar]

Benjamin Grimm wrote: What's the deal on Mike Olt? He sounds like he's a good player (He's 24 and .288/.398/.579 with 28 homers in 95 games in the Texas League in 2012), but the Mets seem unenthusiastic and I also read that the Braves didn't want him. Is it because of questions about his ability to play the outfield? His lack of AAA experience? Or is it something else?

might not be major league ready yet for one and the Mets need major league outfielders. Doesn't play the outfield. Maybe he can, maybe he can't..do we need another guy learning on the job?

[Frayed Knot]

Trumbo, as far as I can tell, would be limited to strictly LF, and I'm not real sure how good he'd be there. He also plays 1B & 3B but not here he isn't.
Real good power, walks are low-ish and he's never going to be a high-BA guy so the OBA stays low too.
Funny thing is, when I went looking up Angels stats at BB-Ref a link directs you to a Mets blog the writer of which was slobbering over Trumbo while wondering who, in addition to Dickey!! we'd have to give up in order to get him.

Bourjos, if he plays like he did in 2011, would be worthwhile but that season is, as of now, a sample size of one. He got <200 ABs this season.
A legit GG-caliber CF and a speedster, the question is the bat.

The article on MLB.com mentions Kendry Morales also (Angels have a ton of redundant players now - aka DH types) but he's more positionally limited than Trumbo.



I'd be more tempted to go after prospects at this point even though unproven if you had a reasonable guess that they can be an impact hitter (Olt, Myers). Not sure that any of those guys are.

[Frayed Knot]

Benjamin Grimm wrote: What's the deal on Mike Olt? He sounds like he's a good player (He's 24 and .288/.398/.579 with 28 homers in 95 games in the Texas League in 2012), but the Mets seem unenthusiastic and I also read that the Braves didn't want him. Is it because of questions about his ability to play the outfield? His lack of AAA experience? Or is it something else?

I'm not sure who's down on Olt.
He has limited OF play under his belt but should be young enough and athletic enough to handle a corner spot anyway and he's as close to being ML ready as you're going to get.

[ashie62]

Olt's fine..geez..Texas made room for him to start at 3B

Is Dickey still a Met?

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

Olt's fine..geez..Texas made room for him to start at 3B

... by signing Adrian Beltre to a 6-year deal that runs through 2016?

Olt is a good power prospect (though one that strikes out a LOT, with decent walk rates) and a good-to-very-good defensive 3B. We're a little occupied there. If you move him to a corner OF position, not only does it remove value for offensive-position-scarcity reasons, it also removes a good portion of what his value is as is.

Put another way: Olt MAY be a good player, but he's a bad fit for this team.

[Frayed Knot]

If Olt's going to be an elite hitter - certainly not a given one way or the other at this point but he did put up just shy of 300/400/600 in AA this year - and is even competent as a corner OF, and would be under club control for at least his age 24 thru 30 seasons, he'll be a good fit just about anywhere.
The question which remains (assuming Texas is even thinking about this sort of trade) is how highly Sandy et al think of his chances to be that guy.

[ashie62]

Trumbo and Bourjos would fill 2/3 of the OF

and are Wilpon priced.

[Frayed Knot]

Angels make the first step in getting rid of so of their outfield/1B/DH clutter by dealing Kendrys Morales to the Mariners for LHP Jason Vargas.

Morales is the 29 y/o Cuban emigre who broke his leg in a home plate celebration in May of '11 and didn't play again until the beginning of 2012 - and even then he played just 120 games and only 28 of them in the field.

Anyone remember Jason Vargas? Yeah, me either - but he was a Met for about 20 minutes in 2007.
The 2nd round 2004 draft pick by the Marlins, Vargas was acquired in November of '06 from Florida along with Adam Bostick for reliever Matt Lindstrom and catcher-turned-pitcher Henry Owens. Vargas pitched a whopping 10 innings for the Mets and managed to give up 14 runs on 17 hits and as many HRs and Ks (4) while doing so. He spent the rest of the 2007 season in AAA New Orleans pitching only marginally better and then missed all of 2008 with an injury.
So there were certainly few tears when he re-surfaced at the end of 2008 on his way to Seattle as part of the massive 3-team deal that brought JJ Putz & reliever Sean Green to the Mets.
He split 2009 between AAA and Seattle. Since then has been a full-time an increasingly effective starter in 2010-2012 to where he was 14-11; 3.85; 1.18 this past year effectively being the Mariners' #2 starter behind Felix Hernandez.

[RealityChuck]

Jack Hamilton? Tony Conigliaro won't be happy.

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

The Mets pissed away Vargas to make a show of obtaining worthless but Brand Name Closer in JJ Putz. The very deal that showed you how far off the tracks they'd take the club as long as the illusion of improvement was achieved.