The Angels Have a Lot of Money

by ~ January 8th, 2012 at 11:49 pm

File this one under “bad news.”  Bob Nightengale tweets that the Angels have locked up Howie Kendrick:

Howard Kendrick deal believed to be $33.5 million over four years #Angels#MLB

I definitely thought the Pujols and Wilson signings would preclude the Angels from locking up other core players for a long time.  Apparently I was wrong.

Howie Kendrick hit .285/.338/.464, hit 18 home runs, and was worth almost 6 WAR last year (due in no small part to a radical 16.7 UZR).  He’s probably a 5-win player for the foreseeable future and he is 28 years old.

This is a great deal for Jerry DiPoto and the Angels, who get Kendrick for a lot less than he’s worth, and it consequently sucks for the Mariners.  It’s tempting to throw up your arms and despair, but remember this:The Angels have committed 351 million dollars to three players this offseason, which even under the circumstances is not something I would ever be comfortable doing.  If either Pujols or Wilson falls off a cliff, the Angels won’t have the financial flexibility to right their ship.  There is a time to despair, but this isn’t it.

(Fun fact: the Angels owe Vernon Wells 63 million dollars over the next three years.  Wells has averaged 1.4 WAR the last four seasons.)

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  • Anonymous

    Oh no!  Now the M’s have to sign Fielder, trade for Votto, trade Pineda, trade Felix, trade for Lincecum, trade Ackley, build a newer ballpark, take over the St. Louis Cardinal radio network and sign every other remaining free-agent to keep up with the Angels!

    • http://twitter.com/rfield3 Rhett Fieldsted

      yup

    • http://twitter.com/TaylorRobot Taylor

      Let’s bring back Griffey while we’re at it.

      • Anonymous

        Oh,…and hugs!!!  We need Sweeney!!!

  • Anonymous

    Seattle’s TV market is less than a third of LA’s, the M’s will never have the revenue stream to equal LAA of A.  The fact that they spend that additional revenue stupidly sure helps a lot though. 

  • Anonymous

    I don’t see how Kendrick is “probably a 5-win player for the foreseeable future,” when he’s only had one year above 3 wins, and to me, doesn’t really show the signs of a playing trending upward. Add in the mountain of data that suggests that Kendrick is nowhere near the ~16 UZR that he was last year, and I think Kendrick is probably not that foreseeable All-Star that you suggest.

    It’s not a far fetched idea, but I just don’t get how he has a great 2011, aided largely by defense, and he’s all of a sudden primed to remain at this level?

    • http://twitter.com/TaylorRobot Taylor

      Good points – you’ve changed my mind.  Still a great deal for the Halos.