Angels Trade Disgruntled Gary Matthews Jr. To Mets
<< Trade Central 2009
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| Gary Matthews Jr. requested a trade from the Angels this offseason, a proposition the club was only too happy to carry out. They shipped the disgruntled outfielder (along with $21.5 million) to the Mets for righthanded reliever Brian Stokes. New York will pay roughly $2 million for Matthews' services in 2010-11. The Matthews-Angels union has been a mismatch almost from the second he signed his five-year, $50 million pact following his aberrational 2006 season. Los Angeles forfeited its first-round pick in '07 to sign Matthews, a Type A free agent, and then received substandard production for three years (.248/.325/.383 over 1,416 plate appearances), by the end of which Matthews had been relegated to a reserve role. Stokes throws very hard, averaging roughly 95 mph on his fastball, but too often throws wide of the strike zone. He ran up nearly five walks per nine innings last year, while sporting a meager 45-to-38 strikeout-to-walk ratio over 70 innings. But the Mets' acquisition of Matthews was motivated less by a desire to rid themselves of the arbitration-eligible Stokes as it was to acquire a potential center field fill-in. With Carlos Beltran slated to miss at least April after having knee surgery, the Mets' backup corps included only Angel Pagan, who despite his breakout '09 is not an especially strong candidate for a repeat performance. |
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| Angels Acquire | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Brian Stokes, rhp Age: 30. Remaining Commitment: 3 arbitration years prior to free agency ($409,500 in '09). Contract details courtesy of Cot's Baseball Contracts.
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| Mets Acquire | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Gary Matthews Jr., cf Age: 35. Bats: B. Remaining Commitment: 2 years, $23.5 million (Angels send $21.5 million). Contract details courtesy of Cot's Baseball Contracts.
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<< Trade Central 2009
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