Inside the Halo

The Los Angeles Times, the Orange County Register, and Major League Baseball all reported in the first sentence of articles published yesterday that the Angels avoided arbitration with Jarrod Washburn, the lone lefty in the rotation. Avoided. As in "to stay clear of, or shun". Dictionary.com lists avoid as a synonym for "escape". Look, I know that saying a team avoided arbitration is business-speak, but if there is anyone who "avoided" arbitration it's Washburn. He should've avoided it. Like grim death. Here's a guy who's won more than 11 games once. He's had 2 ERA seasons below 4.00 with 100+ IP. He's clearly still living on that 2002 championship season. Sure, it was a solid year, but it's the only time in his career his K/9 has topped 6 (6.07).

Okay, yes, I realize the starting pitching market got a little (okay, a lot) outta hand this offseason, but there's nothing in the numbers that says he should be making 6.5 million. Remember, that number is a compromise. He would've asked for more in arbitration. Can he justify more? No way. Matt Clement--same age, two more 12+ win seasons, astronomically higher K/9 rate--8 mil a year (average). Al Leiter--8 sub 4.00 ERAs, six 12+ win seasons--8 million. Jon Lieber--4 sub 4.00 ERAs, three 12+ wins--7 million. Eric Milton--four 12+ wins--8 million. Russ Ortiz--4 sub 4.00 ERAs, 6 12+ wins (even though he's extremely fortunate)--8.25 million. Brad Radke--4 sub 4.00 ERAs, six 12+ wins--9 million. I could go on but I won't.

The point is these salaries (all averages over their new deal) are approaching the neighborhood that JW would've been asking. He is not in the league of these pitchers, overrated as some of them may be. And, oh, yeah, here's one more thing--every single one of those pitchers had a higher K/9 ratio than Washburn did last season. Jarrod Washburn is not worth 6.5 million, even on a team approaching 100 million in the books. So, to sum this up, let me state once again what the other reports politely misstated--the Angels didn't avoid arbitration in this negotiation. Jarrod Washburn did.

Other Arbitrary Information

The Angels locked up Scot Shields for another year for 925K. I'm currently monitoring the police band for chatter, because that's an absolute steal. Shields is a top-notch reliever who is often overlooked with K-Rod and Donnelly roaming the pen. Adding Shields is a great way to solidify your pen as well. Jose Molina signed at around the going rate for backup catchers at 1 year and 725K. He's a great defender (and that's about it), which leaves little value in the fantasy game. The only Angel left facing arbitration is 3rd catcher Josh Paul, who only played in 46 games last season. If I'm Bill Stoneman, I walk into Paul's hearing offering $20 and a jar of really good pickles.

Jose, Can't You See?

There are some players who are well intentioned, or at least seem to be, but lack the personal and professional maturity to do their job and that shortcoming always tends to overshadow their talent and ability. I'm convinced that Jose Guillen has inducted himself as a charter member of that group. Guillen spoke out about the debacle that ended with him getting suspended for the last eight games of the regular season and the postseason. To a guy who always wants to be in the game (no matter what), forcing him to ride the pine in a division race and then in the postseason is a very good way to break his spirit. In an interview with the San Francisco Chronicle, JG said that the suspension came from an apparent tantrum he threw during the 9/25 game against the Elephant Men.

He claims Scioscia called him out in front of the team at his locker after the game in response to what Guillen calls simply tossing his helmet toward "where the batboy sits and it didn't even come close" to hitting Scioscia. Whether it did or not, the tirade wasn't, a giant event that called for drastic measure, it was the last straw in a big bushel of confrontations over PT that finally crossed Scioscia's patience threshold. Jose wants to play--and play hard--which is commendable, but when he makes comments like "if I'm producing and you sit me, we're going to have a little problem", it makes you realize that while you feel for a guy like Guillen, you really can see why he wouldn't be a good teammate. It's an very interesting piece. Check it out at sfgate.com.

Putting the "of" in GoOFus

The hearing to determine the future in the Angels name fiasco is tomorrow (1/21). The word is if the city loses in this phase of the game, their chances of winning a long drawn-out trial would be substantially diminished. My feeling is that it's really a shame that this couldn't be solved one way or another outside of the courtroom. I see the sides of both parties, but the bottom line is it's a potential distraction for a team that doesn't need one, and right now it looks like it can only get uglier from here. Los Angeles Angels, Anaheim Angels…whatever they end up being called, I just sincerely hope that one day soon we can all punch up the home page for the Halos and not see a preposition in the team name. For the Angels, Matt Allen--ESPN.