According to Jayson Stark of ESPN, the Angels are in “serious discussions” with free agent and former Yankee, Hideki Matsui. Buster Olney adds to the report, claiming that the Angels have offered Matsui a deal worth about $6.5M. If the Angels sign Matsui, he will ultimately assume the role once had by Vladimir Guerrero as the team’s designated hitter (Guerrero is currently a free agent, as well). A week ago, Mike DiGiovanni noted that Angels GM Tony Reagins expressed an interest in Matsui, although Ken Davidoff recently reported that the Yankees and Matsui were likely to reunite later this winter, which doesn’t appear to be the case anymore (if Starks’ report is accurate).
With Boston close to signing John Lackey, Godzilla to the Angels would be a double whammy for Yankee fans.
UPDATE (6:34 pm) — Done deal, according to Marc Carig. Matsui and the Angels have reached an agreement. No word yet on the contract’s details. Sad day for ‘Deki fans.
If you enjoyed this article, please consider sharing it!
50 Responses to Matsui to the Angels?
Leave a Reply
TIQ IQ
1 year, 6.5 million? That’s a great deal that if I were the Yanks, I’d offer Matsui in a second.
Agreed. I’d even make it $7.5 just to make Matsui really feel wanted.
If Cash lets Matsui walk without so much as a counter-offer, I’d be surprised (and disappointed).
Yanks know a lot more about Matsui’s knee than anyone else. How many shots did he have to get this year, 3-5?
Also maybe the Angels promised him some time in left field, we just dont know.
I figured he was gone all along so this isn’t really a shock. Liked the guy but we’re seeing some turnover. Cashman knows what he’s doing.
I’ll reserve judgment on this based on what they do at DH and in LF. If they go with a Cust type, I’ll be upset. But if it is someone who can hit close to Hideki but can also be more flexible and play the field (like Damon), I’ll be ok with it.
Fair point that I agree with.
However, for those that felt Granderson put the screws to Damon, Matsui to Anaheim gives Damon a bit of leverage back.
Hell, maybe they’ll sign Bernie and have an entire outfield of old broken down ex-Yankees.
Matsui for Vlad is a good move for the Angels. I highly doubt they’ll play him in the OF since they have Juan Rivera and Garry Matthews Jr. for LF with Torii Hunter and Bobby Abreu for CF/RF.
That would be hilarious if they had Matsui at DH, Rivera in LF, Bernie in CF and Abreu in RF. It’d be like the shitty mid-2000′s Yankees in another uniform!
A “double whammy for Yankee fans”? Do the Yanks really need Lackey? The Yanks have three top-flight starters. Boston can take him. I am interested to see what starting pitcher Cashman adds.
Matsui will be missed, but the time was coming. What a better way to leave than on top of the world.
I believe that Cashman will stick to his plan concerning Damon. Signing him for three or four years would be, IMO, a mistake. But we’ll see.
I understand everyone’s point of view but personally, I’m OK with the roster as it is right now.
Just think, if there is no clear cut DH, say manned by Miranda and others, after about 3 months (that’s enough squatting skills honing) maybe Montero can get some MLB swings DH-ing and C-ing a little the last 3 months of the season. If he has a good, constructive 3 months that’s enough to consider promotion.
The Yanks have terrific coaches and teachers all up and down the organization but the best ones are in NY. There’s nothing better for a young player than to work with the best.
Peter, while I agree with you that the Yankees have a pretty damn good team without adding a LF or DH, I think that important question is: why not add a DH? In Cashman’s words, you can “look left, look right, and find half a dozen DHs begging for a job.” Names that come up are Thome, Guerrero, Nick Johnson, Matsui, Damon, etc. They might as well find someone better than Miranda, since the market will keep the cost down.
Agreed, I really hope they pick up Nick Johnson as he is just an on-base machine. They could sign both Sheets and Johnson for about the same price as Damon and get a much better value. Who cares if Melky’s bat is out in left field if you have Nick Johnson getting on base over 40% of the time in front of Tex and A-Rod?
the thing w johnson is that about every year he injures a different body part. yeah, he can be good as a top of the order guy taking multiple pitches, but he wont be batting much next year bc he’ll have another injury to another body part. Im peeved that the yanks let matsui sign w the angels for so little! I dont want guerrero or thome. matsui was better than all of them. now that greedy sob damon has an upper hand in his negotiations w the yanks w the matsui signing.
Just wanted to say we’ve updated the story. Matsui is headed to the Angels, according to Marc Carig. Done deal.
BAD day for the Yankees…
The SOX get Lackey..a fourth starter we needed and could have set up our rotation for the next five years…Now the Sox have the best and deepest rotation in the AL.
The Yankees lose out on Halladay, which also could have set up our rotation for the next five years.
The ANGELS get Matsui…our World Sereis MVP playing for the team that always gives us fits
What has Cashman got planned ??..our rotation need DEPTH, especially if Joba and/or Hughes don’t cut it as starters, AND if CC, AJ or Andy get hurt…It’s asking too much to think all those guys stay healthy all year.
Yes we would have had one of the older and most overpaid rotations in all of baseball for the next 5 years! I would have loved that!
By the time the last year of that contract came around Lackey would be going on 36 Burnett would be going on 38 and Sabathia himself would be near the 34 year old mark and everyone of them would be making 16+ million dolars per year… I can’t wait to get to the end when AJ has no velocity and Lackey has decreased to 88 MPH.
Halladay would have been 39 by the end of his deal and I don’t think that sets you up very well towards the end either… Basically getting Lackey or Halladay sets you into a 3 year window to win because after that everything starts getting real old real quick!
The Angels get a mid 30′s DH with no knees and coming off one of his best performances in a years meaning he has only one way to go and that is down… He was also only the MVP by default and the award should have gone to Mariano Rivera, the fact that Matsui won the MVP of the WS didn’t increase his value at all. The Angles shouldn’t give us fits anymore since they have no ace at all and the the top 4 in their rotation are Weaver, Saunder, Kazmir and Santana and the only one that I feel can beat the Yankees consistently is Saunders.
Cashman never planned on trading for Halladay and he obvously did the smart thing in staying away from both him and Lackey because the costs and consequences didn’t justify the moves.
I agree we need to add another starter but it’s quite an overreaction think Cashman missed out on anything or to believe that anyone who went anywhere today was going to be a Yankee.
“…Yes we would have had one of the older and most overpaid rotations in all of baseball for the next 5 years! I would have loved that…”
YES you should love that !!…the Yankees as the roster is now, is built to win NOW !!…Andy will leave after next year, leaving us with CC and AJ as our only two solid starters…who else ?? Hughes ?? Joba ?? maybe, or they can be only relievers…YOU want to nickel and dime the payroll by a few million dollars when in fact the Yankees can aford to absorb contracts lik Halladay and Lackey, but you sem to forget that….Next year’s free agent starters..Beckett ?? forget it..Cain ?? not if he meets statistical limits which sets his contract automatically for the future….Overpaid starters like CC and AJ ??..seems to me we won the WS with those overpaid pitchers. NOT too shabby, right ??
Well, my head is spinning today.
Lachey, Matsui, Halladay ,Lee —this is almost too much to comprehend in one day.(Plus Wang.)
What is Cashman trying to do —get Sheets?
Well, every rival to the Yankees, every impediment to the 28th just got stronger today.
Seattle is going to be a force with King Felix and Lee, plus Figgins, plus Seattle’s young guys.
Boston has a outstanding rotation, with Lachey.
The Phillies with Halladay will be tough in a rematch.
The Angels replaced Vlad with a good bat.I don’t know why the Yankees didn’t offer $1/2 M, more than whatever the Angels did for Matsui.
To me it’s two clear points, (1)-The Yanks are keeping their powder for 2011 (for Lee?), plus they are keeping the young guys, and (2)-Might this be the other teams doing this just to keep up with the Yankees. The Yanks made such an improvement in 2009, they may have felt that this was what they had to do to win next year.
Whew! What a day!
I still don’t get the lack of an offer for Matsui (the money on a 1-year deal won’t affect their plans next winter). They probably could have provided him $6M and he would have come on board. It’s an absurd move unless they have something else up their collective sleeve.
They could be looking to move Swisher to DH in a rotational DH idea and be planning on signing someone else to play LF like Holliday or Cameron in which case that player would replace Matsui’s production while also playing good defense and giving the roster a lot more flexibility.
Swisher is clearly a better choice to be a DH than Damon is and unlike Damon Swisher can hit anywhere in the lineup from 2-9 and we can replace Damon in the 2 hole with either Granderson or Cano either of which would be fine in that slot.
Swisher- 498 ABs .371/.498/.869 with 29 HRs, 124 H, 35 2B, 97 BBs
Damon- 550 ABs .365/.489/.854 with 24 HRs, 155 H, 36 2B, 71 BBs
For Comparison here are Matsui’s numbers from 2009 as the DH on a WS winning team.
Matsui- 456 ABs .367/.509/.876 with 28 HRs, 125 H, 21 2B, 64 BBs
Swisher can more than be a suitable DH on our team and he also can play average to above average defense in RF so it allows for Swisher to stay in the lineup in RF replacing Melky when guys like Posada, Arod, Jeter and Tex DH.
A lineup that has Melky or a combination of Melky and someone like Xavier Nady in RF with Holliday or Cameron in LF is a highly upgraded defense from last year and would be at the same level or higher on offense as we were last year.
If we can add a pitcher while putting either Cameron or Holliday in LF I say we do it!
the angels didnt get better. they just lost their no.1 starter and leadoff hitter. seattle, ont he other hand, def got better. I believe they’ll have the best record in the west.
I dont want cliff lee next yr. on the yanks.
The Mariners got better but they still need to ad a Jason Bay or someone with some power or their lineup s still really weak and in that park they have a lack of power anyway.
I’m actually glad. I’m glad Matsui has a job, and I’m glad the temptation is removed to resign him. I like Matsui and I wish him well, but I’d rather an extra outfielder than a dedicated DH.
I agree, Matsui goes out on a high note, no hard feelings with a ring and a WS MVP. Although I was originally pulling for the Yanks to sign Matsui to hit behind Arod, I think having the freedom of the DH spot with be a huge plus. Girardi and Cash have both emphasized lineup flexibility going forward. Giambi and Matsui both limited Girardi’s abiity to manipulate the lineup and make late in the game moves.
If Swisher becomes the everyday DH then he provides a lot of flexibility for guys like Arod, Jeter, Posada and Tex to DH because he can simply slip into RF when someone else needs to take the DH spot and you never lose him from the lineup.
If you can add Sheets and a competent LF or RF then it makes up for letting Matsui walk and it creates more flexibility than Matsui would have.
So after a season where Cashman finally did the right thing last year and made every correct move, Yankees this off season are now without Matsui and probably Damon, have added a solid hitter who doesn’t hit lefties as well as either of the guys gone did and right now He has 3 starting pitchers and 2 question marks while Red SOx have added Lackey and now have 5 solid starters at least.
Did Yankees really, really need Granderson more than another top starter especially with Pettitte most likely gone after this season?
Have we really improved last years team this off season so far?
Where and how? Coke and Bruney IMO were very good arms.
One more season of Matsui and Damon at reasonable prices and a good starter like Rich Harden would IMO have made us a stronger team.
How can he resign Damon now AND bring in a Starter under BUDGET ?
I’m asking more than complaining.
No Larry as always you are complaining!
Bruney and Coke were nothing but average arms at best… Bruney had good velocity but he always gets hurt and the injuries have affected his control a lot in his time with the Yankees, Coke’s velocity dropped all season and towards the end was no higher than 91 at any one time and he had started giving up way to many HRs to left handed hitters. In fact he has 6 HRs allowed to lefties in his career Vs just 4 to right handed hitters. You are the only I have met that values Bruney as a closer for the Nationals and you are the only I have met complaining about shipping off Coke to replace Damon!
Matsui was obviously not apart of the Yankees plans and I really don’t know how it shocked everyone, we heard last week that keeping Matsui was the last priority the Yankees had making him not one. Damon isn’t a good choice to add to the team ans Swisher would make a much better DH than Damon ever would and he is 7 years younger.
Granderson does improve our team and more than makes up for the production loss of Damon while upgrading our defense!
Harden was a personal favorite of mine but it was reported that he still has shoulder problems even while signing with the Rangers and between him and Sheets I would much rather have Sheets.
You don’t bring back Damon! You either sign Holliday or Cameron and bring in Sheets, if it means going over the Budget then we have to go over the budget but we can’t afford to have only 3 pitchers and we can’t afford for Juan Miranda to DH in next years lineup. I however am perfectly for making Swisher the DH and signing someone for LF or RF.
If they bring in one more bat, it will be basically the same club as last year just a bit younger. If they bring in a bat and an arm, it will be even better than last year’s club. A team that won 103 games doesnt need to reload, it needs to tinker, and I bet that before the offseason is over, you will be able to look at the roster and say that it is better than the 2009 roster.
Exactly though Mo as of right now we are a bat and an arm away from being better than last year and unless we get better than last year we can’t repeat!
Last offseason we made the biggest improvements while everyone else went with minor changes or stayed the same, now everyone else is having to make the major changes in order to keep up with us but in the process they are getting better than they were last year and unless we improve we can’t stay with them.
I’m not running around screaming the sky is falling I am saying the truth! If we don’t add a pitcher like Sheets or better we have 3 solid starters and that is it and 2 of the 3 will be 33 or older by the time the season starts and we can’t count on them only.
If they bring in a bat and a starter we have nothing to worry about if we just add a bat or we add nothing and we won’t make it to the world series and call me crazy but isn’t repeating the goal?
I will miss Matsui, but at least he got his ring (and in grand style). And its the right move roster-wise, in my opinion. Damon may be a far cry from a good left fielder, but at least you can put him out there.
Hopefully they didn’t disrespect Matsui in any way during the process, we don’t need to piss off the Japanese and have it hurt the team later next time we’re trying to get them to release a player to let him come to the Bronx. I can’t imagine that would happen, but it did cross my mind.
I hope they’re smart enough to keep Swisher, and I’d like them to re-sign Damon as well.
Why would they trade Swisher? They have already said those rumors are false and now that MAtsui is fone there is no way we would trade Swisher!
Why would you want Damon? The guy can’t play LF and he wouldn’t be as good a DH as Swisher would be and since Swisher can actually play the field he is the smarter more flexible bet all the way around!
The best thing would be to sign a defensive LF like Cameron and move Melky to RF while Swihser takes over at DH and allows you to use the rotating DH idea with Swisher as the main DH in the equation and Melky provides a stronger arm and better range in RF while Swisher DH’s.
All this Damon love really has me confused! What part of a 13 million dollar per year contract is a bargain for Damon? The guy can’t even be a DH he doesn’t have the bat for it! He hit his career high in HRs this year there is almost no chance of him doing that again so if next year he hits 23 or less HRs he would be a worse DH than he would have been this year and both Matsui and Swisher would have made better DH’s this year than he would!
IT’S NOT ONLY ABOUT A BAT,we had Giambi & Abreu as bats but they were’nt wining ballplayers IMO.
Damon & Matsui often came through in the clutch, especially this season.WIll Granderson be helpless against Lefties? DAMon & MAtsui weren’t.Granderson could be younger anbd have better overall stats than both but can he loop one into left when you just mUST have a base hit agianst a lefty?
We’ll have to see but I’m not so sure he can and won’t just strikout in those big spots.You know hit 35 dingers but many in 10-5 games, we’ve seen that before.
Are you comfortable that we have enough starting pitching and do we want ot see Chad Gaudin against Bucholtz?
Lackey against Hughes or Joba?
If DIce K is healthy next season, how can they not win 100 games with that staff?
They have 4 #1′s.
Cash is a genius but Theo got the 20th pick of the draft and a sandwich pick for Billy Wagner who cost them nowhere as much as that and might have helped them last season too.
Damon hit .260 against lefties so I wouldn’t consider that dominate…
4 number 1′s? What are you smoking? Lester is a genuine number 1 I will agree with that and Beckett has been ana ce in the past but his past 2 years have been less than ace worthy… In fact I would say a 4.03 and a 3.8 ERA’s would come out to a number 2 pitcher and with all the health issues he has who knows when he could suffer yet another set back! Dice K isn’t an ace! Buchholz isn’t an ace and Lackey is a slightly more successful but less talented Burnett making him a glorified number 2 as well. They have 1 real “Ace” and so do we.
I also find it funny that Damon is so clutch but no one remembers when his defense cost us runs that he later made up for with the bat! Get a better defensive LF and you don’t need as many lucky hits.
The Yankees were 8 games better than Boston last year. The Red Sox lost Bay and added Lackey. They will hit less and pitch more. Are they better than last year? I think so. Are the Yankees, right now, worse than last year? Yes. But they are not done. If they replace the other bat that they lost, they are at worst equal to last years club. Now, if you want to say that Granderson and whoever else they bring in wont be clutch in the big spot, you can. But just remember that 1) We dont know that yet, 2) Damon and Matsui played on plenty of Yankee clubs that failed in the big spot. Let’s not make them out to be guys who had magic dust or something.
The Damon is so clutch argument doesn’t really work for me either! The guy really didn’t even show up in the first 2 rounds of the playoff and was dead weight at the top of the lineup for almost the whole last month of the season… Are there no clutch games other than the world series?
The Yankees should have offer a 1 year $ 7 million contract to Matsui when they had the chance. With the way Boras/Damon is demanding, it is more practical for the Yankees to go with Hideki. Now they are in a position of losing both Matsui and Damon.
Big loss for the Yankees. They will miss Matsui’s bat. Hope the Yankees will compensate for their loss in the coming days.
If they wanted Matsui they probably could have had him for 6 million and 1 year but at the end of the day it comes down to Cashman not wanting Matsui from the beginning, obviously he thinks he can add a better DH or he can add someone to LF or RF and he will use Swisher, Tex, Arod, Jeter and Posada in a DH rotation.
Losing Matsui and Damon really aren’t big deals! Damon is replaced with Granderson and Matsui can be replaced with a number of people.
I do NoT agree Red Socks will hit less.They aren’t done trading and big Poopie could have 2 good halves next season, not just one.Beltre if they get him could hit big at Fenway.Finding a Bay replacement is much easier than a Lackey type starter.MAtsui was getting better and healthier as the season progressed.He’ll be missed.
What does Matsui have to do with the Red Sox?
The Red Sox will hit less but they should play better defense than they did last year!
Beltre could hit well in Boston but he is also 30 years old and coming off of a ridiculously injured season and he hasn’t had a .330 OBP since leaving the Dodgers.
They already replaced Bay with Cameron. Yes, it is possible they will get some bouncebacks, but unlikely. They will pitch and likely defend better, but will almost certainly hit less.
I think that was hit point… I could be wrong but I think he was saying it’s easier to replace a Bay (with Cameron) than it is to find a pitcher at the caliber of Lackey… Although since we don’t need a pitcher the caliber of Lackey’s I don’t see the connection.
I will say this though Mo, a team like that who’s weakness was offense anyway they can go along way in catching us by pitching extremely well and playing very good defense, it’s something that usually doesn’t go into slumps.
I like what the Red Sox have done even if I wouldn’t have paid that much for Lackey and I wouldn’t have given Cameron 2 years.
I really think that Cashman has had Sheets in his sights this whole offseason and now that Boston is out of that bidding we should be the favorites to score his services.
I’ll take more pitching all day long.It’s not as if they have no hitting.
I agree with taking more pitching anytime you can get it!
No but after 1-4 you really have no real meat to the lineup that you can trust.
Ellsbury, LF/CF
Pedroia, 2B
V-Mart, C
Youkilis, 1B
Ortiz, DH
Drew, RF
Beltre, 3B
Cameron, LF
Scutaro, SS
Now you can score some runs with that lineup but it has a lot more to do with defense than it does pure offensive numbers… Scutaro isn’t going to repeat the year he had with the Jays and Beltre can’t be trusted by anyone at all! Ortiz had to be moved down to 7th in the lineup last year he improved over the season but he never got back to who he was do you really think him or Drew are going to be great 5 hole hitters? In the perfect scenario both Drew and Ortiz hit lower in that lineup but they can’t because Scutaro, Cameron and Beltre are bottom of the order hitters now.
Since its clear the Yanks dont want Matsui (or any other hitter that would lock up the DH spot)….you have to look at the options that are left on the table right now of utility players that can play OF and maybe a backup 1B or 3B.
In my opinion theres not that many players out there like that:
Damon: probably too expensive for this role
Derosa: could be a good fit if we can get him for 5/6mil year
Cust- can only play 1B, no plate discipline
Randy Winn- has seriously slowed down, but could come cheap for 1 year and have something to prove
Giles-same as above
Tejada-will probably want more than 1 year, and probably not a great mix for our clubhouse
Garciaparra- unreliable
None of these options are great, I wouldn’t be surprised if the Yanks decide to play with Melky, Granderson, Swish, and the kid Jamie Hoffman/Gardner at the beginning of the season.
Maybe they focus on adding Sheets/Duscherer and possibly still going after Mike Gonzalez or another insurance arm for the pen.
DeRosa already said he won’t take less than 3 years…
Cust is like having a downgraded Swisher in the lineup…
Here is a DH name you may not be considering and he would come cheaper than Matsui… Carlos Delgado!
Delgado has everything you could ask for in a potential DH, he has power, the abiltity to draw a walk, extreme power still and he is left handed in a left handed friendly park. You combine that with the fact that he has played in New York recently with the Mets so he can take the pressure and lights of NY and he has played in the AL East so he can stand up to the pressure of playing baseball in the best division in the sport.
I think he would be a great 1 year addition to the team and could hit well over 30 HRs while maintaining a .330+ OBP. Not to mention since he is coming off injury there is no way he would want more than 4 or 5 million a year to play and with that kind of money you could afford to sign Sheets and Delgado and maybe even another outfielder along the lines of Rick Ankiel or Xavier Nady and that would allow you to trade either Melky or Gardner for a bullpen arm.
In 2008 his last full season Delgado hit .271/.353/.518/.871 in 598 ABs with 162 H, 32 2B, 38 HRs, 72 BBs
In 2009 before he went down for the rest of the season with an injury in a huge home park he still showed he has a great bat by batting .298/.393/.521/.914 in 94 ABs with 7 2B, 4 HRs and 12 BBs.
Jeter, SS
Granderson, CF
Tex, 1B
Arod, 3B
Posada
Delgado, DH
Cano, 2B
Swisher, RF
Melky, LF
I like Delgado, but I like Vlad even more and he’ll be much cheaper — imagine him as a #7 or #8 hitter in the Yankee line-up — he carried the Angels last year, limping around on one leg — he could be a steal.
I think Delgado could be a dominant force in Yankee stadium and could come at a cheap price, but 1. not sure if hes willing to DH everyday in his career. He might still want to TRY to play 1B 2. He wouldn’t even be DHing every day, and would have to sit on the bench when Girardi rests Posada, Arod, etc.