LightTheHalo

The 2014 season starts out on a high note. Man, this is depressing news.

So he'll retire with around 3,346 hits then?

George Foster his 52 home runs in 1977 after hitting 23 and 29 in the preceding two seasons.

http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/vernon-wells-could-lose-money-by-playing-this-season-012914 Wells, released by the New York Yankees on Jan. 15, is guaranteed $21 million in the final year of a seven-year, $126 million extension that he signed with the Toronto Blue Jays in Dec. 2006. He would forfeit that money if he retired, but Wells need not make such an announcement if he declines to join another club. He became a free agent only because the Yankees did not want him and no other team claimed him on waivers. Therefore, he is entitled to his money. The disincentive for Wells to play stems from the fact that he resides in Arlington, Texas, and is not required to pay state income tax. Only two other states in Major League Baseball -- Florida and Washington -- do not charge income tax. If Wells plays, he will pay taxes in every other state, likely costing him at least $1 million.

It's possible the Angels did try to sign him, folks. Let's not assume just because he signed with somebody else that the Angels weren't a player.

http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2014/01/mariners-to-sign-scott-baker.html Another one off the board.

This is of course, ignoring trout. ------ Why would anybody do that?! ;-)

Hopefully the fact Sesame Street still wanted Albert means he's not a complete afterthought. Would be nice if he's still a superstar.

Pssshhhh. Mike Trout was better than both of them in his age 21 season. ;-)

I absolutely think of Maddux as a Cub and Brave. He was his most dominant with the Braves, but he won his first Cy Young with the Cubs and more than 100 games.

It's better than Nolan Ryan. Sigh.

The Angels have no choice but to try to win now. That's why they signed Pujols and Hamilton. You don't sign guys on the other side of 30 to enormous contracts in order to have them help you rebuild for a couple of seasons. Whether or not they have the pieces to be "championship caliber" is another debate, but they're not going to bide their time for a couple of seasons while they're paying Pujols and Hamilton $50M a year.

He had a good season in '82 thus proving that it is possible to have a good season the first year after signing with the Angels. -------- I think Vladimir Guerrero also proved it pretty clearly.

I laughed. I cried. (Did you have to mention Blanton so often?) Well done, guys.

Earlier today... #Angels have avoided arbitration with reliever Fernando Salas, agreeing terms with RHP for 2014 at $870,000. One down, three to go.

Alden Gonzalez‏@Alden_Gonzalez #Angels have now agreed with Ernesto Frieri — $3.8M.

As much as I'm in favor of reply to get the calls right, this list hurts my head. I could see four or five of those scenarios occurring each game.

I remember that guy being a wizard with the glove.

They'll back up the Brink's truck for Tanaka now. Sigh.

Yeah, I posted that before I looked at the numbers. I thought he had fewer at-bats. I still think he'll get an invitation from someone. One last chance. Just depends on whether or not he wants to take it. I suspect that as long as he's still getting paid, he will try to play -- even if he's only playing for one of the four teams paying him. [facepalm]

Vernon Wells ‏@VernonWells10 1h Thank you @Yankees for the opportunity to be a part of such a storied franchise. #Blessed #NextChapter

I was there with my dad and son, who still calls Tim Salmon his favorite player even though he was only 4 years old that day.