Kuzul

I always knew that Arte Moreno would do something this offseason, I just didn’t know when he would strike or how conventional the move would be.  

The Angels’ owner struck in the quiet of the January offseason, making his trademark splash in the trade pool Friday by jettisoning out-of-position Mike Napoli and Juan Rivera for Gold Glove center fielder Vernon Wells.

While not a move that anyone had on the Angel radar, the move certainly carries significant impact for the team’s immediate and long-term future.  Initial reactions to the trade are mixed, so let’s dive in and break down the effect that it has on the Angels.

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On Friday the Los Angeles Angels landed former All-Star center fielder, Vernon Wells, in a trade with the Toronto Blue Jays.

The Blue Jays will receive catcher Mike Napoli and outfielder Juan Rivera, both of whom have only one year left on their current deals.

Wells will be waiving his no-trade clause with Toronto as the Angels will be forced to pay him an owed $86 million over the course of the next four seasons.

After other attempts at landing key free agents this offseason, the Angels have now successfully compiled one of the best starting outfield lineups in the major leagues with former All-Star Tori Hunter in right field and Bobby Abreu in left.

In 2010, Wells played in a total of 157 games and had a batting average of .273.

Wells took much criticism from the Canadian media in recent seasons as his power numbers took a significant decline from 2007 to 2009.

Wells’ 31 home runs in 2010 was his third-highest career total since he was called up to the majors in 1999. Wells also had a total of 41 doubles, which was his second-highest career total behind his 49 double season in 2003.

Toronto now opens some significant cap room heading into the upcoming season(s) as it seems that the Jays are now entering a total rebuilding phase and looking to unload their highest contracts.

The key to Wells’ success within Los Angeles will be his ability to now build on a very successful 2010 season as well as his ability to fit into his new role in the middle of possibly one of the best lineups in all of baseball.

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The hot stove is starting to cool, as we are less than a month from pitchers and catchers reporting. So, let’s stoke that fire a bit with more prospect talk. This series on prospects will cover a wide range of players as well as positions. We’ll cover sleepers and even some of the more obvious stars of the future.

The next prospect in this series is a player the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim are already clearing a spot for, even though he won’t be up to stay until next season. Mike Trout is a legitimate center fielder who brings all five tools to the game along with a makeup that seems to be missing in last week’s featured prospect, Bryce Harper.

Trout has a big league-ready approach to go with outstanding hands and bat speed. He makes consistent, hard contact to all fields and has a great approach at the plate. He has an advanced batting eye, a natural feel for hitting, and great plate discipline.

His best tool is his speed. He grades out at a pure 80, meaning his speed would likely be a waste anywhere but in center field. That fantastic speed already translates into big stolen base numbers, ripping off 56 bases in 2010.

He is likely to hit for a high average and get on base at a high rate in the Majors, similar to his 2010 season in Single-A where he hit .341 and got on base at a .428 clip. His 6’1″, 217-pound frame is likely to develop, enabling his power to continue improving in the coming years. As his body continues to fill out, there are fair concerns about him remaining a burner, but he’ll always have at least plus speed.

The weakest of his five tools is his arm. This will make a difference in his future days as a corner outfielder, but will not affect your desire to draft him for your fantasy squad.

To keep Trout’s body from aging much faster than desired and becoming the next Andruw Jones, he may end up in left field sooner rather than later. The less wear and tear on his body would be a big benefit for his bat long term.

Growing up in New Jersey, Trout snuck up on many people because he was a high school player from a cold weather state. He didn’t get the exposure players in the south at major colleges and universities do.

Trout replaced the injured Domonic Brown in the first inning of the Futures Game in July and ended up on base five times in four plate appearances.  Getting on base any way possible and finding ways for his team to score runs seems to be Trout’s game.

Trout has a rare combination of tools and baseball aptitude for a teenager and is a treat to watch. One scout said of Trout, “He does it all, and does it with a smile on his face…he just seems to love playing the game.” He looks like the rare kind of player who can be a game changer.

No one argued whether Trout was a prospect or not entering 2010, but few people expected the 25th overall pick in the 2009 draft to make the kind of impact he did. He had stretches where he looked like the best player in the minor leagues.

He will likely start 2011 at Double-A. It will be interesting to note how well he fares against better pitching to see just how good his approach is. If he does as well as expected, a September call-up is a reasonable expectation, giving him a chance to turn 20 first, and he should be up for good to start 2012. He’s a must-own in long-term keeper leagues and worthy of stashing in AL-only formats.

If his power fully develops, he will be the complete package. If not, he will still be an excellent player, one that could help your fantasy team for the next decade. He most closely compares to a Grady Sizemore with a better average and, hopefully, fewer injuries.

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It’s been a brutal winter in Anaheim.

While the rest of sunny Southern California basks in bright blue skies and mild temperatures, around Angels Stadium there swirls a raging tempest of anger and frustration.

The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, once the big bullies of the AL West, are being pelted with icy snowballs like the schoolyard peons they’ve become. And the onslaught is coming from every angle.

Division rivals aren’t afraid to knock them to the ground with big free-agent signings and then kick them while they’re down there. Reporters from every news outlet around the league mock the Angels for their pitiful attempts to get back up or for failing to try at all.

Carl Crawford, Adrian Beltre, Jayson Werth, Ty Wigginton, Jorge de la Rosa, Cliff Lee and now Rafael Soriano—those are some big swings and misses. It’s easy to see why the Angels are getting pummeled amidst a hellish, wintry storm.

Still, it is important to remember it is always darkest before the dawn.

Like the army of naysayers forming along Katella Avenue, time marches forward. What looks bad today will surely change tomorrow, and when those storm clouds finally break, the light that shines through will reveal a vast landscape of things to be excited about this spring.

Here are the top 10 reasons not to give up on the Angels just yet.

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The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim appear to have missed their window of opportunity during the Vladimir Guerrero era by not making the World Series over his six seasons in Anaheim.

We are now seeing the ramifications of spending large and not winning. Los Angeles is left with a bloated payroll and a roster that has serious depth issues at the major and minor league level with no immediate help on the way. It’s time Tony Reagins and Arte Moreno admit the Angels have issues and change course.

With a high payroll and key Angels soon to be free agents, might it be time for the Halos to take a step back and get a franchise-changing return for a pitcher of high caliber like Jered Weaver?

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Eric Denton is the head writer and content editor at LA Angels Insider.com. Angels coverage from the locker room to the press box to the front office and everywhere in between. Featuring interviews with the players and coaches making headlines for the Angels.

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Few teams in the major leagues have had as rough an offseason as the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. The team once aspired, perhaps with stars in their eyes, to sign both Carl Crawford and Adrian Beltre this winter. After a flurry of moves during and shortly after the Winter Meetings left the Angels seemingly alone in the marketplace with Beltre, they seemed certain to get at least that consolation prize.

Not so. The Rangers swept in as the Angels dragged through negotiations, and Beltre signed on for five years and $80 million to play in Texas. It’s nearly impossible to imagine that the Angels can now enter the season as a favorite in the AL West.

Understanding that the team has some great pieces already in place, though, there is no reason the team cannot compete with the Rangers in 2011. Read on for 10 things the Angels need to do between now and Spring Training in order to shift the balance of power in their division back toward southern California.

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The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim will have their work cut out for them in 2011. Fierce competition looms ahead, but not from the defending AL West Champion Texas Rangers or improved Oakland A’s.

This season, the Angels’ greatest challenge will be overtaking the Seattle Mariners—for third place in the division.

Hope for more optimistic aspirations dried up yesterday along with the ink from Adrian Beltre‘s signature when he finalized a six-year, $96 million deal with the Rangers. He joins Carl Crawford in a long, previously reported list of free agent failures for the Angels.

Once again, they offered a contract just big enough to feign an interest, but small enough to minimize the risk of bidding for his services.

Losing Beltre is actually a double-punch to the gut for the Angels. Not only are they left with a massive power outage at third base and no source of alternative energy to fix it, but their division rivals now shine that much brighter.

Like everything in Texas, Beltre’s offensive influence will be bigger. A lot bigger than, say, in Anaheim, where pitchers tend to have the advantage.

He wouldn’t have saved the Angels, but as the last viable third base option on the market, he could have made them competitive again.

Angels General Manager Tony Reagins already missed out on other infield options earlier this offseason while he was busy not signing Crawford, who wound up in Boston. Ty Wigginton, Edwin Encarnacion, Dan Uggla, Juan Uribe—all could have helped the Halos but none ever came close to getting the chance.

Currently, third base is a shared position between Alberto Callaspo and Maicer Izturis, presumably to shift back and forth based on whoever has the hot glove and the fewest injuries.

Brandon Wood still looms on the horizon, but after having the worst season in 90 years among players with at least 200 at-bats, his days as a starting infielder in Anaheim appear to be over.

The Angels outfield is thin as well, but like the Rangers, another divisional foe managed to swipe the remaining options off the table before Reagins had a chance to answer the phone.

Oakland has quietly had one of the best offseasons of any team in baseball. The A’s finished ahead of the Angels last season and with a revamped lineup, they’re now poised to replace them as the Rangers’ biggest threat.

Perhaps the most overlooked move of the offseason came when the A’s stole David DeJesus away from the Kansas City Royals. Last July, DeJesus was the hottest player not named Cliff Lee on the market before a wrist injury ended his season and his trade prospects.

Now on the mend, the A’s were able to add his productive bat and speedy legs in center field for relatively little: a fifth starter and a minor league pitcher.

The Angels, meanwhile, are banking on the hope that Peter Bourjos will improve his offense enough to lock down the starting center field job. His defense is, quite honestly, unmatched, but his .204 batting average won’t be tolerated for long.

Over in left, where the Angels expected Crawford to be, they’re now looking at a platoon of Bobby Abreu and Juan Rivera, two rapidly aging sluggers whose skills on offense are diminishing and on defense, were never there to begin with.

Once Crawford was off the board, Reagins should have turned his sights to the next best left field options, but it was Oakland GM Billy Beane who pulled the trigger first and landed Josh Willingham from the Washington Nationals.

While Willingham is not the type of player to lead his team offensively, he is still a solid bat in the middle of the order. He’ll also provide a fitting complement to another Oakland addition, former Angel Hideki Matsui.

Matsui belted 21 homers and drove in 84 RBI for the Halos, who have made no corresponding moves in the wake of his absence. For those keeping track, that is a 100 percent loss in offense for a team in desperate need of it.

There is still time though, about a month before pitchers and catchers report for warmups, another week or so after that until the rest of the players filter in. In around two months, Spring Training begins and one month later, the regular season finally gets underway.

That’s almost exactly three months for Reagins and the rest of the Angels’ brass to search high and low for a third baseman, an outfielder, a designated hitter. Perhaps a closer. Anything to bring them back to contention in their own division. Or at least something to bring the fans back to the stadium.

Owner Arte Moreno claims he didn’t want to spend big on free agents at the expense of raising ticket prices.

He made tickets affordable for fans, but at what cost to the team?

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Heading into the winter after their worst season in eight years, the Angels looked like they planned on being among the offseason’s biggest buyers.  Arte Moreno and Tony Reagins both asserted that they would do everything they could to shore up the team’s obvious weaknesses.  They targeted All-Star left fielder Carl Crawford, and were thought to be the favorites to sign him from day one.  If there was a big free-agent name available this winter, the Angels were going to inquire on him.  They were linked to all the big names, from Crawford, Adam Dunn and Paul Konerko, to Adrian Beltre and closer Rafael Soriano.

We’re nearly three months into the offseason, most of the big names are gone and big news is already made.  The Angels, with glaring issues in the bullpen, at third base and left field, would surely make a big-money splash or two in the free-agent pool.  It seemed like everyone was conceding Crawford to sign on to play with his pal Torii Hunter, but the Angels’ hard-line negotiating left no room for paying Crawford a dollar more than what they thought he is worth.  One by one, the big contracts were signed by the impact free agents.  It seemed like every team got a piece of the pie except for the Angels.

When all was said and done, the Angels’ free-agent haul read like this: veteran lefties Scott Downs for three years/$15 million and Hisanori Takahashi for two years/$8 million.  Ugh.  The bullpen is in a little better shape now, but what about the needs in the field?  It seems like the Angel brass forgot what they set out to do just a month before.

There is a lot of speculation and confusion as to what the strategy is for Reagins and Moreno.  Maybe they’re bad negotiators who didn’t have the courage to commit to Crawford or Beltre or Soriano. More likely, I think they are playing their cards close to the vest, which has characterized recent decisions regarding personnel and acquisitions.

Here is what I think is going on: Moreno, always concerned with his balance sheet and happiness of the fanbase, is doing all he can to make good on his promise to not raise ticket and concession prices due to increased payroll.  He’s hoping that he will continue to accrue good will with the fans over the long term, so that they repay him in loyalty and trust in times like this offseason when frustration and confusion reign.

That’s not all.  I think the decision-makers are looking ahead to next winter, when (as of current contract status) names like Albert Pujols, Prince Fielder, Robinson Cano, Brandon Phillips, Jose Reyes and Aramis Ramirez will be on the free-agent market.  The current offseason of restraint and savings are just one cog in the wheel to position for a spending spree next year.  Maybe they make a big run at Pujols, and why not?  The Cardinals will be the only other team with the flexibility and room to compete for him.

After his struggles over the last two years, maybe Reagins thinks he can get Aramis Ramirez to fill the void at third base at a discount.  Slogging through another year with a platoon at third would certainly be worth signing Ramirez, right?  I think so, especially given the alternative of overpaying Beltre by $25 million this year, like Texas just did.

The point is I’ve seen Moreno and Reagins do curious and unconventional things before.  They go against the grain. They take gambles. They wait for a big payoff while everyone else chases instant gratification.  Prudence and restraint are vital in any kind of business investment.  The same goes for running a baseball team.

Frustrated?  Confused?  Angry?  Anxious?  I am all of the above regarding the current Angel landscape.  However, I’m glad to have Arte Moreno as my owner, and he has proven himself trustworthy as an acquirer of players over the last eight years.  I trust that he and Reagins are doing something good for the team, even if it isn’t quite visible on the surface or paying immediate dividends.   

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With Christmas approaching and Santa having decided that Carl Crawford was a better gift for the Boston Red Sox, where do the 2011 Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim go from here?

While it was disappointing to lose out on a high profile free agent, not committing $142 million over seven years to a player who is not a true lead off hitter nor a true power and RBI threat, for the number three or clean up spot wasn’t the worst thing to happen to the Angels. If the front office and fans are still getting headaches thinking about Gary Matthews Jr’s contract, how would they feel watching Crawford play out the final three years of his new deal?

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Also available in our podcast section. AM830‘s Jason Brennan and OC Register writer Dan Woike discuss the Angels options for the remainder of the 2010/2011 offseason.

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Eric Denton is the head writer and content editor at LA Angels Insider.com. Angels coverage from the locker room to the press box to the front office and everywhere in between. Featuring interviews with the players and coaches making headlines for the Angels.

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

Los Angeles Angels owner Arte Moreno could probably be accused of a lot of things, but one of them will never be loyalty to his fan base. In the seven plus years that Arte Moreno has owned the Angels, he has steadfastly committed himself that the baseball experience at Angels Stadium remains affordable for fans, and that, with the exception of the 5-year, $90 million contract given to center fielder Torii Hunter, the team remains committed to exercising fiduciary responsibility.

However, Angels fans have increasingly voiced their obvious frustration at the Los Angeles Angels lackluster performance at the free agency negotiating tables in recent years. Mark Teixeira, John Lackey, Chone Figgins, C.C. Sabathia, Carl Crawford. All have slipped through the Angels fingertips in the past three years. And Angels fans are not happy to say the least.

Yesterday, Dec. 17, the Angels made what was termed a “significant offer” to free agent third baseman Adrian Beltre, who enjoyed an outstanding season with the Boston Red Sox last year, hitting .321 with 28 HR and 102 RBI, while continuing to play his usual stellar defense at the corner bag.

However, Arte Moreno told the LA Times that this offer was final and would not be increased. Take it or leave it.

Reports have come out that indicate Adrian Beltre is looking for a six year offer, somewhere in the neighborhood of $90 million. While Adrian Beltre would love to play closer to home, at this point in his career coming off an excellent season, it would be foolhardy to think he would take a hometown discount.

While it may be admirable that Halos owner Arte Moreno remains committed to financial responsibility in support of his team fan base, he also needs to understand and listen to his fans concerning the product on the field. Sure, signing Hisanori Takahashi and Scott Downs were nice moves to shore up a sagging bullpen, but now comes the time to address the power-lacking lineup, and signing Beltre would go a long way toward appeasing the disgruntled fan base and addressing power concerns.

I’m all for the stance that Arte Moreno appears to be taken. He told the LA Times that he’s not the Boston Red Sox or the New York Yankees.

However on the other, he is the steward of a team that has only missed the playoffs twice in the last seven seasons, and fans have come to expect excellence from their team on the field.

Moreno is going to have to pony up, whether he likes it or not.

For updates on breaking sports news, follow Doug on Twitter @Sports_A_Holic.

You can also read articles Doug has written about celebrity athletes, charity news and breaking celebrity stories at Green Celebrity Network.

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