As I have said many times before, the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim are one of the best—if not THE BEST—run organization in baseball. They have one of the best owners in the sport, and just like with any business, it starts from the top down.
However, despite being run like a well-oiled machine, the Angels have made their fair share of mistakes over the years. There was the Gary Matthews Jr. contract, and I haven’t been a fan of their recent signings like Brian Fuentes and Fernando Rodney.
Matsui should stay away from the outfield
Two mediocre closers don’t equal one good one.
Now it looks like they are making another mistake—not with their bullpen, but with their outfield. The Angels are considering putting newly acquired Hideki Matsui in the outfield at least a couple of days a week.
That’s a big mistake.
The Angels signed Matsui to be their DH, and that’s where he should be on a regular basis. Matsui’s knees were so bad last year that he didn’t even play a single inning in the outfield for the New York Yankees in 2009. Even when he did play the outfield in the past, he wasn’t even that good.
Matsui has a career UZR/150 of -14.4 in left field. Carl Crawford he ain’t.
But if you are the Angels, why risk putting Matsui in the outfield? The Angels already have their outfield set with Bobby Abreu in right, Torii Hunter in center, and Juan Rivera in left. Why risk Matsui getting hurt by putting him out there two or three times a week?
If one of those guys needs a day off, just put Reggie Willits in the outfield. Despite his poor offense, I would rather have him out there a couple of days a week instead of Matsui out there for 50 games. I think that is a pretty fair trade off.
The Angels roster is pretty thin this year. Their depth isn’t what it used to be on the offensive side of the ball. If Matsui goes down because he was playing in the outfield, they will be in big trouble.
That is why they should just keep Matsui at DH and not play with fire by putting him in the outfield.
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