Angels best under the radar FA signings?

[Erstad Grit]

What non upper-tier FA stands out from our past?

Perry might need to accomplish a lot on a near frozen budget. 

I'll start off with Bert Blyleven, Kelvim Escobar, and Bobby Abreu. 

[tdawg87]

Torii Hunter.

Maybe not "under the radar" at the time but damn was that a great signing.

[Taylor]

Max Stassi before this year.

[OhtaniSan]

Joe Smith was pretty solid during his time here

[happybat4]

Darren Oliver 

[DMVol]

2 hours ago, Taylor said:

Max Stassi before this year.

We got Stassi in a trade with Astros….

[gurn67]

Juan Beniquez in the Winter of 1980-81. He was signed to be a backup that could play all 3 outfield positions since he had only hit .228 in Seattle as a backup the year before. The Angels already had Downing, Lynn and Ford in their starting outfield. He was terrible his first year hitting only .181, but ended up being an Angel for 5 years, and hit .315 in 334 games over his last 3 years here.

[BTH]

Jimmy Herget

[Angels 1961]

Bo Belinsky

[Inside Pitch]

Jose Guillen.

He was cheap the only season they had to pay him (2.2 Mil), he had a super solid season (122 OPS, 3.1 bWAR), and his outright douchebaggery led to 8 years of Macier Izturis (95 OPS+ 12.5 bWAR) and 6 years (107 OPS+ and 7.2 bWAR) of Juan Rivera.

Angels won big there all around.

 

[notherhalo]

Matt Palmer

JB Shuck

Kevin Frandsen

Jerome Williams

Yuniel Escobar

[happybat4]

Tommy La Stella.

 

[happybat4]

Omar Olivares 

Ismael Valdez

 

 

[Erstad Grit]

7 hours ago, Inside Pitch said:

Jose Guillen.

He was cheap the only season they had to pay him (2.2 Mil), he had a super solid season (122 OPS, 3.1 bWAR), and his outright douchebaggery led to 8 years of Macier Izturis (95 OPS+ 12.5 bWAR) and 6 years (107 OPS+ and 7.2 bWAR) of Juan Rivera.

Angels won big there all around.

 

I still wonder if they could have squashed the tension and roll into the playoffs if it would have gone different. 

Side note: that season I attended one of the games which featured Mondesi, Guillen, and Guerrero in the OF. I think that might have been the best throwing outfield of all-time. 

[DMVol]

12 hours ago, gurn67 said:

Juan Beniquez in the Winter of 1980-81. He was signed to be a backup that could play all 3 outfield positions since he had only hit .228 in Seattle as a backup the year before. The Angels already had Downing, Lynn and Ford in their starting outfield. He was terrible his first year hitting only .181, but ended up being an Angel for 5 years, and hit .315 in 334 games over his last 3 years here.

I think they signed Geoff Zahn that winter also.....he wasn't a top of the rotation guy but a solid innings eater for several years....

[BTH]

7 hours ago, happybat4 said:

Tommy La Stella.

 

That was a trade after he was placed in waivers by Chicago, not a free agent signing

[HaloMilliVanilli]

4 hours ago, DMVol said:

I think they signed Geoff Zahn that winter also.....he wasn't a top of the rotation guy but a solid innings eater for several years....

Near Cy Young in 82'!  Top 6 vote getter with an 18-8 record.  Not bad.

Edit:  just looked up his 82' season stats.  81 k's in 229 innings.  Hahaha!

[DMVol]

7 minutes ago, HaloMilliVanilli said:

Near Cy Young in 82'!  Top 6 vote getter with an 18-8 record.  Not bad.

Edit:  just looked up his 82' season stats.  81 k's in 229 innings.  Hahaha!

If you look at the stats of pitchers in the 70's and 80's, not nearly as many strikeouts per inning....a very different game than it is today....

[AngelStew43]

Rex Hudler. 

[Second Base]

Abreu is the most memorable. The Angels waited out the market, not necessarily focusing on a LF, but having the payroll flexibility to make such a move if necessary. Abreu ended up signing a show-me contract for far less than he legitimately should've made. 

He ended up being worth 3 wins above replacement, and had a key RBI double off the green monster that helped the Angels finally vanquish the Red Sox in October, which had plagued them for years. 

Not bad for a 5 million investment. 

[Taylor]

1 hour ago, Second Base said:

Abreu is the most memorable. The Angels waited out the market, not necessarily focusing on a LF, but having the payroll flexibility to make such a move if necessary. Abreu ended up signing a show-me contract for far less than he legitimately should've made. 

He ended up being worth 3 wins above replacement, and had a key RBI double off the green monster that helped the Angels finally vanquish the Red Sox in October, which had plagued them for years. 

Not bad for a 5 million investment. 

In 2004 he had 30 HR, 40 SB (!), and a .971 OPS, and finished 23rd in MVP voting.

He was underrated even during his best years.

[bruin5]

Lyman Bostock

[oldguy]

Both times we signed Chili Davis.

[Stradling]

1 hour ago, Taylor said:

In 2004 he had 30 HR, 40 SB (!), and a .971 OPS, and finished 23rd in MVP voting.

He was underrated even during his best years.

He had a better offensive career than Gwynn. 

[Stradling]

Not a signing but a trade, Tony Phillips.