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Saturday, December 11, 2004

The fallout

Reaction to the Finley signing from around the blogosphere:

Rob over at 6-4-2 likes it as a low-risk alternative to Carlos Beltran:
Look, I'm not in favor of Beltran-or-bust. In fact, even granting that Finley isn't going to play as well defensively or offensively as he has in years past, this is still a defensible signing. First, it's only two years. That by itself is huge. Say the Angels were to sign Carlos Beltran to the seven-year, $100M contract he's supposedly after. Say also that he becomes a quadriplegic after 90 days. What then? The Angels limp along for the remainder of the decade, hobbled as the Rangers were with Chan Ho Park, or the Orioles were with Albert Belle.
Chronicles is almost as worried as I am, and has already given Steve Finley a new nickname - "Father Time":
Per the Times, Finely's being inked to a two-year deal (with an option on a third year -- pshaw) worth between $15M and $20M total. This gives the Angels flexibility! Yes, we are now flexible enough to put either Finley or Anderson in center and suck hard either way.

[snip]

And here's another thing ... last offseason, Jose Guillen was signed for a two-year deal at $3M per. Now we're signing Finley for a two-year deal at at least $7.5M per. Do you really think Finley at this point is $4.5M better than Guillen, no matter what the off-field nonsense is?
Pinto questions whether Finley is really what he claims to be:
That's a lot of money for a 2005 forty year old. And the idea that Finley is a power threat doesn't really jibe with his career. His career high in home runs is 36, and he hit that last year. (In light of the recent steroid scandal, it makes you wonder.) His career slugging percentage is .450 and his career OBA is .337; those number just don't impress me.
It doesn't exactly blow his skirt up, but the Alchemist is pleased:
All in all, this is not the best free agent signing ever, but it should be solid, have at least mildly positive consequences, and leaves the team with a lot of flexibility over the coming couple of years.
Floyd McWilliams (an A's fan) seizes the opportunity to kick a guy while he's down:
How strong is the car culture in Southern California? Apparently even pedestrians want to be involved in auto accidents! A few days ago Anaheim Angels blogger Richard Ceccarelli was run over by one while driving.

But Richard is doing just fine -- the Angels went out and threw $20 14 million at a 40-year-old center fielder! Don't stop there, Bill Stoneman! Your fans are still hurting! There's plenty of time help them by signing, say, Kevin Brown and Ken Griffey Jr.
Dan Szymborski over at the Think Factory asks the obvious question:
I've been generally pleased with Angels transactions of the Bill Stoneman era, but this isn't one of them. Yes, Finley still had a nice 2004, but why are the Angels so adamant about having Erstad, a terrific defensive player in center, being nearly worthless as a 1B? He's yet to be any healthier as a 1B and if he's playing 1B, you don't want him to be healthy. Finley turned out to be a dandy player after a weak start to his career, but there are very few players that I want to pay big guaranteed money for their 40 and 41 year-old seasons. Let someone else pay to hope time stands still.

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