The LA Angels coming into the offseason finished 2nd in the AL West standings and have missed the playoffs in back-to-back seasons for the first time since 2000-01. They will be looking to repair their offense and relief pitching. So here are some Free Agents/Trade Targets the Angels should maybe try to target.
1. David Wright 3b NYM Trade Target
LA will be more focused on the FA market than the Trade market but David Wright could prove to be the missing link in the middle of the Angels lineup. Wright is coming off possibly his worst season ever in his 8 year tenure with the New York Mets while hitting just .254 and hitting only 14 homers and driving in 61 runs. Wright has not hit over the .300 mark since 2009 and the closest he got was a solid .283 average in 2010, when he made his 5th and 5th straight All Star appearance. Wright is likely to improve and has a decent contract with a team that is rebuilding by trading big money players for future prospects. The Angels could trade one of their utility infielders such as Maicer Izturis and Alberto Callaspo and a prospect like slugger Randal Grichuk. Wright has a career batting average of .300 and has hit 183 home runs and 725 career RBI. He also has 2 gold gloves and 2 silver sluggers both at third base. I expect Wright to hit at least 25 home runs in 2012.
2. Ramon Hernandez C CIN FA target
With probably the worst catching depth in the majors, the Angel will be amazingly happy to sign a cheap catcher like Reds catcher Ramon Hernandez from free agency. With major prospect Devin Mesoraco coming up from the minor leagues next season, Hernandez will probably not be re-signed again. The odds for the LA Angels to land this catcher are probably about 80-1. I expect him to be signed by any team for 2 years and $31 million. Hernandez finished with a solid .341 on- base percentage and a .282 batting average and slugged 12 home runs but with only 36 runs batted in. Hernandez's career stat sheet are similar to Wright's(.266, 161, 723). Hernandez has not averaged much more than 100 games a year for the past seasons and is turning 36 but can still boost the Angels lineup. Here is my prediction for Ramon Hernandez in 2012: .287, 22, 91.
3. Freddy Garcia P NYY
Freddy Garcia had a solid campaign in 2011 with the Yankees and is my 13th best starting pitcher in free agency. Garcia won 12 games in each of the last 2 seasons (spent 2010 with Chicago White Sox)and posted a 3.62 ERA in 2011. In his rookie season with Seattle, Garcia broke out by winning 17 and finishing 2nd in the AL Rookie of The Year balloting and 9th in the Cy Young Award voting. Garcia has 145 wins and 95 losses to go with a decent 4.09 earned run average. Garcia also is a 1 time world series champion with the White Sox and has compiled 1,486 career strikeouts. In addition to these impressive stats, Garcia is a 2 time all star and an ERA and innings pitched champion. Garcia could fit extremely well with the Angels at the back of the rotation. Pirates left-hander Paul Maholm could also help the Angels in this position.
Hope you liked this post everybody. Thanks for reading!
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