Gary Matthews is still around?
Apparently Torii Hunter has a blog entitled Torii’s Storiis. Earlier this week he posted his take on Gary Matthews, Jr. and his recent bitching about playing time. A lot of people (myself) included have been saying Matthews should sit down and shut up, let his play on the field do the talking. Apparently Matthews wants guaranteed playing time. Fair enough. Major Leaguers are fierce competitors and can’t stand to see someone else take their job. However demanding a trade without taking a pay cut is pretty stupid. Yes, GMJ is way overpaid. However if he had a very reasonable contract someone who needs help in the outfield would probably trade for him. They just don’t want him at his current salary, and I don’t blame anyone for that.
Matthews had a great (possibly steroid induced) year in Texas then signed a huge contract in LA. I don’t blame him for that. I do blame him for expecting to be guaranteed playing time. He hasn’t really stayed healthy, and when he has been on the field he hasn’t been good. What do you expect, Gary? LA is a perennial playoff team, and they don’t get there every year by letting mediocre, overpaid, aging veterans play through month long slumps. The minute they realized he wasn’t the answer in center, they went out and overpaid for Hunter. When a career 300 hitter (Abreu) became available at a bargain price, the snatched him up too. Add that with Vlad and Juan Rivera there is no room for Gary. If he really cares so much about playing, take a pay cut, thus allowing LA to trade you to one of many teams looking for an outfielder who can play all three positions. Right now it is impossible for anyone to look past that albatross of a contract to see a moderately useful player.
I know the union won’t let him take a pay cut, as it might set a bad precedence. I find that BS. If Matthews VOLUNTEERS to take a pay cut, how does that force other player to do so in the future? It doesn’t. It just gives them an option. Its having your cake and eating it too. Hypothetical: Player A has a huge contract but has been relegated to the bench due to injuries, terrible play, and influx of new talent at his position. How does Matthews taking a pay cut to be traded the previous year have any affect on what Player A does? He can just wait it out, get cut and still get his paycheck. Or work his way back into the lineup. Just because the situations are the same doesn’t mean the end result has to be.
I don’t blame Matthews for taking a huge contract, in fact, good for him. But the Angels sign his checks, so they get to decide how to resolve this situation. End of story.
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I don’t think his career year was steroid induced. I think it was just luck. His BABIP was .343 and his LD% was only 18.8%. That’s why his offensive numbers look so tremendous.
Couple that with a reputation as a great center fielder based on a few highlight reel Torii-esque robberies above the fence (he actually never had great range), and it’s pretty easy to see how the Angels were hoodwinked into thinking they were getting an elite player. Unfortunately for them, he promptly turned right back into a pumpkin in 2007.
So much of a pumpkin, in fact, that FanGraphs has him as one of the three least productive players in the majors last year. Talk about a bad contract.
I don’t think he should take a pay cut. It’s the team’s fault they signed him to the deal; if there were a market for him, teams would be asking about him and demanding the Angels pay a bunch of his salary (common practice). That does not appear to be happening. In this case, taking a pay cut just hurts the player, without opening up more opportunities for playing time.
Instead, he should just shut up and cash his paychecks. When this contract is over, he probably won’t get another one, even at league minimum. So enjoy the money while you can, Gary, and don’t spend too much of it.
I only reference steroids because he was linked to a shipment of HGH. So it wasn’t just blind speculation.
Taking a paycut is probably drastic. He should try to work his way back into the rotation. He needs to take advantage of every at bat and hope he impresses someone. Whether its someone in LA or elsewhere.
Well that’s true. Do your talking on the field. Unfortunately for him, it’s not saying anything good about him at the moment.
Baker to the DL?! What the F? I hope “shoulder stiffness” doesn’t equal what Bonser/Crain had in their “sore” shoulders…
Looks like Dickey AND Humber will be coming up to start the season…
This is also the reason why I never had any issue with having too many outfielders, someone will get hurt, it’s part of the game…