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The Los Angeles Angels have added free agent Ben Revere to their outfield mix for 2017.  

ESPN’s Buster Olney and the Los Angeles Times‘ Mike DiGiovanna reported Revere’s agreement with the Angels. Olney wrote Revere’s deal is for one year and $4 million.

The Angels will be hoping Revere is due for a bounce-back season in 2017. The 28-year-old never got going last season with the Washington Nationals, suffering an oblique injury on Opening Day that kept him out until May 6. He wound up losing his starting spot to Trea Turner in the second half. 

Revere’s performance when he did play was lacking. He hit just .217/.260/.300 in 103 games with an OPS more than 100 points below his career mark (.662), per Baseball-Reference.com. 

Despite his own numbers, Revere never caused problems for the Nationals. He told Jorge Castillo of the Washington Post in August that winning was all he focused on:

I don’t want to be the teammate pouting and everything. I want to do everything I can to be a good teammate, help him out in the outfield and feeling good at the plate. The main thing now for me to do is just anything I can to help this team win a championship. Get to the playoffs, win a championship. There will be some times when they may need me. If that case comes, I got to be ready.

The poor offensive numbers caused Revere’s stock to plummet heading into free agency, though there are reasons to believe he can be successful for the Angels in 2017. 

Age isn’t a problem for Revere, who is among the youngest free agents this offseason with other outfielders like Yoenis Cespedes and Dexter Fowler over the age of 30. He is just one year removed from posting a .306/.342/.377 slash line in 152 games for the Philadelphia Phillies and Toronto Blue Jays. 

Revere does have to prove his injury woes are a thing of the past. He’s only reached the 150-game mark twice in six full MLB seasons. 

The Angels can plug Revere into a corner spot with Mike Trout entrenched in center, as he has played all three positions in his career. His ability to get on base and set the table for run producers like Trout, C.J. Cron and Kole Calhoun in the middle of the lineup gives Los Angeles’ lineup more depth. 

There are plenty of questions for Revere to answer on this contract, but a successful season for the Angels would give him a chance to rebuild his value and hit free agency next winter at the age of 29. It’s a smart short-term investment for both the player and team. 

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The Washington Nationals placed outfielder Ben Revere on the 15-day disabled list with a right oblique strain, per Mark Zuckerman of MASNsports.com.

Continue for updates.

Den Dekker to Take Revere’s Spot on MLB Roster

Wednesday, April 6

As a result of Revere’s trip to the DL, the Nationals called up Matt den Dekker from their Triple-A affiliate. Den Dekker hit five home runs, drove in 12 runs and batted .253 in 55 games for the team last year.

Washington’s outfield takes a hit here in losing Revere, who signed a one-year, $6.25 million deal this offseason as a free agent, via Spotrac.com.

Last season with the Philadelphia Phillies and Toronto Blue Jays, Revere pieced together another solid campaign and showed that he is a threat at the top of any lineup. He recorded 181 hits with 31 stolen bases while batting .306 along with a career-high .342 on-base percentage.

With the Nationals, he was expected to be setting the table for the likes of Ryan Zimmerman and reigning National League MVP Bryce Harper in their quest to take the NL East back from the New York Mets.

But in losing the pace and contact ability of Revere, there will be fewer ducks on the pond for the big bats of Washington.

He’s proved that he can produce runs on the basepaths too, as the Blue Jays showed:

In his absence, look for the young Michael Taylor to jump at the chance for regular playing time in his second full season in the majors. Last season as a 24-year-old, Taylor hit 14 home runs with 63 RBI in 138 games.

While he does have good speed too, stealing 16 bases, he doesn’t have Revere’s speed. Pair that with a lower on-base percentage and he might not be the best option to lead off games like Revere could.

That honor might fall to third baseman Anthony Rendon.

Stats courtesy of Baseball-Reference.com.

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The Toronto Blue Jays have reportedly agreed to trade Ben Revere to the Washington Nationals for relief pitcher Drew Storen.

Jon Heyman of MLB Network was the first to report the news. Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports confirmed the deal.

The Washington Nationals were immediately seeking to fill the void in center field left by Denard Span, who signed a three-year deal with the San Francisco Giants on Friday (per the team’s official Twitter account).

Heyman first named Revere as a potential target just before the deal was agreed to.

Revere joined the Blue Jays last season and was a critical cog in their first run to the playoffs since 1993.

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On Friday, Ben Revere experienced the type of nightmare that causes outfielders to wake up in a cold sweat.

Baltimore Orioles catcher Matt Wieters belted a ball deep to left in the sixth inning of his team’s 10-2 win, and the Toronto Blue Jays outfielder got on his horse. He leaped and got some leather on it but accidentally knocked the ball over the fence.

Without some help, the bomb definitely would not have cleared the wall. The Orioles loved it:

Revere won’t be able to sleep for quite some time after this.

[Major League Baseball]

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The Philadelphia Phillies are noticeably and understandably excited about the start of spring training in Clearwater, Fla.:

Given the painfully dull and disappointing offseason, it is no wonder the Phillies want to talk about something else. 

With pitchers and catchers set to report on Feb. 13, baseball is set to make its annual re-emergence as the days steadily lengthen and spring gets ever nearer.

The Phillies are an old team who, more than most, will need to run very lucky with health to compete for a playoff berth in 2014. That starts with their overall condition going into spring training.

You will recall that a number of prominent Phillies ended the 2013 season on the shelf.

Ryan Howard is the biggest name of the sometimes walking wounded. The Phillies have $85 million more left to pay Howard on his abominable contract extension. They would love to see him do something to earn that money in 2014.

Phillies general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. is optimistic that Howard can bounce back. “Ryan Howard is at one hundred percent, finally. It’s the first time he’s actually felt normal. He’s down there at Clearwater hitting and working out,” Amaro Jr. recently told Angelo Cataldi on the WIP-FM 94 morning show (h/t CBS.com).

In that same interview, Amaro Jr. indicated that setup man Mike Adams is “throwing well” and that he had received “very good news” about the right-hander from Phillies coaches who watched Adams work.

Center fielder Ben Revere did not play again in 2013 after breaking his his right foot on July 13. The best news on Revere’s injury is no news—there has been no recent indication from any news outlets that Revere will not be ready for spring training or anything less than 100 percent when the season starts.

Likewise, right-handed starting pitcher Kyle Kendrick ended the season on the disabled list. But the Phillies just gave him a one-year contract for almost $7.7 million to avoid an arbitration hearing, so presumably he is fit to pitch.

Finally, fellow right-hander Jonathan Pettibone is coming back from a shoulder strain that ended his 2013 season in late July. Pettibone recently told Jim Salisbury of csnphilly.com that “I feel good now. Going into a season, it’s the best I’ve felt in a while. I’m ready to go.”

Without a medical degree, it is nearly impossible to know just how healthy any of these players really are. The good news is that, as of right now, none of them are disabled and none of them are complaining of pain.

The Phillies need those good feelings to last all summer long.

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In this day and age, home runs get the most “ooh’s” and “aah’s” at baseball games from spectators. Fans come to the ballpark to see guys like Prince Fielder and Giancarlo Stanton hit mammoth tater shots that come close to reaching Mars’ orbit.

But there’s more than one dynamic to a baseball game. The stolen base is a key aspect to any successful player and team. Of course, players who can hit the long ball, and steal some bases are exponentially more valuable than the one-dimensional player. All-Stars such as Ryan Braun and David Wright are some examples of sluggers who are also bag-swipers.

In 2012, rookie sensation Mike Trout paced the Major Leagues with 49 stolen bases (the Padres’ Everth Cabrera seemingly came out of nowhere to lead the National League with 46 bags). Braun had his second consecutive 30/30 season (30 home runs, 30 stolen bases). And Jose Reyes reached 40 stolen bases for the fifth time in his career (he had 39 in 2011).

So as we sprint towards the start of the 2013 season, here is a look at who will likely be the tops in the stole base category when all is said and done.

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