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Blog*Spot ArchivesContactRichard Ceccarelli Josh Mandir |
Friday, December 10, 2004Still pissedIt's clear that the Finley signing was a simple case of the Angels refusing to open up the checkbook for Carlos Beltran - that much is undeniable. Whether or not Finley is really an acceptable alternative to Beltran (he isn't) or whether or not he's worth $14m over two years (he isn't) is not the question of the moment. What I'm wondering is, if the Angels were willing to settle on a player of lesser skills to save $8-9 million, why not go all the way and settle for a third option and spend nothing? No, not Darin Erstad (Erstad in centerfield would make too much sense for the Angels...). The third option I speak of is Jeff DaVanon - an on-base machine who is slated to make near the league minimum next season. (I'm stumping for Jeff DaVanon again - there's a shocker!) It should come as no surprise to anybody who was paying attention that Jeff DaVanon had a 2004 season that was roughly on par with (if not better than) that of Steve Finley. In fact, by several measurements they were eerily similar:
As for defense, despite the fact that DaVanon doesn't have enough games in center to do any kind of statistical comparison, I feel confident that Jeff would more than hold his own against Finley. Seeing as it's been established that Finley was worse than Garret Anderson defensively last season, I'd say it's a pretty safe bet that almost anyone would be an improvement. So DaVanon is cheaper, almost as good (if not better), and nine years younger. While you're being cheap bastards, why not go all-out and save yourself the full $16-18 million? |
