Angels acquire starting pitcher Jeff Weaver

[riverside sluggers]

This is a steal for the Angels since in today's free agent market era & his agent (Scott Boras) was able to acquire his services for just 1 season at $8.5 million. Another plus is he will be a big innings eater for them.

 

Other than that, AL lineups will welcome Weaver with open arms. The Angels lineup even with Vladdy wont give him the type of run support he will need. Im predicting a 4.40 or worse ERA with 10-13 wins.

 

Angels Sign Weaver to 1-Year, $8.5-Million Contract

By Mike DiGiovanna, Times Staff Writer

 

TEMPE, Ariz. -- The Angels agreed to terms this morning with free-agent pitcher Jeff Weaver on a one-year contract for about $8.5 million. The former Dodger right-hander was en route to the Phoenix area for a physical and is expected to join Angel pitchers and catchers for their first workout Thursday.

 

The addition of Weaver, the older brother of top Angel pitching prospect Jered Weaver, eases the loss of free agents Paul Byrd and Jarrod Washburn. The move should give the Angels one of baseball's best rotations, a staff that includes 2005 American League Cy Young Award winner Bartolo Colon, John Lackey, Kelvim Escobar and Ervin Santana.

 

The signing also enables the Angels to move projected No. 5 starter Hector Carrasco, a reliever for virtually all of his nine big-league seasons, to the bullpen, strengthening a relief corps that seemed to thin out behind closer Francisco Rodriguez and setup men Scot Shields and J.C. Romero. Scott Boras, Weaver's agent, said Weaver had multi-year offers from other teams, and he discussed adding an option year to the deal with the Angels, but Weaver, 29, wanted to retain the flexibility of pursuing a multiyear deal after the 2006 season.

 

"We discussed some two-year proposals, but we felt a one-year situation would be good," Boras said. "Jeff's still a young pitcher, and he certainly wants a multi-year contract. He had offers for more money, and a multi-year offer, be he decided to take one year and to review the situation at the end of the year."

 

Weaver, who could make about $9 million with incentives, signed for far less than what he was originally seeking, a four-year deal in the $45-million range. But once talks with the Dodgers broke off on Jan. 8, Weaver's market shrunk. Weaver had declined an arbitration offer with the Dodgers in December. He told the team he'd sign a three-year, $27-million deal with an option, but the Dodgers never made a firm offer.

 

"It's very simple," Boras said, "the Dodgers said they were interested in bringing Jeff back, but in the end, they never made a proposal. I think all of the teams in baseball thought he would be with the Dodgers. Once they [pulled out] a lot of teams had already made some decisions. Jeff wanted to go to the right place. He wanted to go to a winning team." Weaver, a Simi Valley native, has a career 78-87 record over seven years. While he is not considered one of baseball's dominant starters, he has gained a reputation as a reliable innings-eater with excellent control, a pitcher who usually keeps his team in the game.

 

Weaver went 27-24 with a 4.11 ERA in 444 innings for the Dodgers over the past two seasons, striking out 310 and walking 110 in that span. Though he had a winning record for a team that went 71-91 record last season, there was one blip on Weaver's record-he allowed a career-high 35 home runs after allowing 19 the year before. Weaver also has struggled against the Angels' American League West opponents, going 2-3 with a 5.56 ERA in nine games against Oakland, 1-5 with a 5.24 ERA in eight games against Texas, and 1-2 with a 5.35 ERA in six games against Seattle.

 

But Weaver should be a considerable rotation upgrade over Carrasco. Carrasco should bolster the bullpen, and with many expecting the Angel offense to struggle to score runs again, the Angels will need as much pitching depth as they can get.

[elsrbueno]

This is a steal for the Angels since in today's free agent market era & his agent (Scitt Boras) was able to acquire his services for just 1 season at $8.5 million. Another plus is he will be a big innings eater for them.

 

Other than that, AL lineups will open Weaver with welcome arms. The Angels lineup even with Vladdy wont give him the type of run support he will need. Im predicting a 4.40 or worse ERA with 10-13 wins.

 

Another place we could have dealt Wells now seems to have their rotation filled.

 

Weaver's nothing special but he'll be good enough for Anaheim. Considering AJ Burnett got $11 million per Weaver's a relative bargain at $8.5.

[Redguitar985]

It's a decent pickup for the Angels. I doubt it intimidated many teams in the AL though.

[The Monster is my Mom]

There is a reason no one signed him before now. Overrated pitcher with a bad attitude.

[jsinger121]

solid pickup and an upgrade from washburn who ended up getting 10 mil a year from the mariners.

[26 to 6]

I cant wait for him to start at Yankee Stadium

 

I can't wait.

[Redguitar985]

I cant wait for him to start at Yankee Stadium

 

I can't wait.

 

Haha, that will be funny. What should the chant be?

[Bruce]

How is he an upgrade from Washburn? Weaver is garbage.

[jsinger121]

well lets see. washburn got 40 million from the mariners over 4 yrs when his velocity is down and he hasn't pitched over 200 innings since 2003. weaver is a 1 yr investment for less money and eats innings. he is an upgrade from both washburn and paul byrd.

[The Monster is my Mom]

I hate this "eats innings" phrase. Who gives a crap if he pitches alot of innings, but gives up a ton of runs (or home runs in Weaver's case).

[Bruce]

well lets see. washburn got 40 million from the mariners over 4 yrs when his velocity is down and he hasn't pitched over 200 innings since 2003. weaver is a 1 yr investment for less money and eats innings. he is an upgrade from both washburn and paul byrd.

 

 

He was a below-average pitcher last year. Byrd and Washburn were both above average. By quite a bit in Washburn's case.

[jsinger121]

average by stats yes but if you watch the radar gun washburn is not the same pitcher he once was. the mariners gave him a ridiculous contract in which gm's get fired over. he better work out or bill bavasi will see the firing line.

[Bruce]

average by stats yes but if you watch the radar gun washburn is not the same pitcher he once was. the mariners gave him a ridiculous contract in which gm's get fired over. he better work out or bill bavasi will see the firing line.

 

The contract is not the issue. The point is that Weaver will not outperform what Washburn did last year. That is what an upgrade would be. Washburn will eat it hard soon, because he doesn't strike anybody out, his walk rates are unremarkable, he had a G/F below 1.00, and his WHIP was 1.33. But Weaver won't be giving them 170something innings of 3.20era ball.

[jsinger121]

he will give them 200 innings of 4.20era ball which is good enough for a 1 yr deal....and with the angels offense better than the dodgers offense last yr he should have some more wins as well.

[Bruce]

he will give them 200 innings of 4.20era ball which is good enough for a 1 yr deal....and with the angels offense better than the dodgers offense last yr he should have some more wins as well.

 

 

1) I sincerely doubt that Weaver will improve his ERA leaving LA and the NL West for the AL West.

 

2) That isn't an uprade over Washburn giving them 180ish innings of 3.20era ball. For weaver, I suspect maybe 200ip, and close to a 4.50era.

[MC Hammer]

average by stats yes but if you watch the radar gun washburn is not the same pitcher he once was. the mariners gave him a ridiculous contract in which gm's get fired over. he better work out or bill bavasi will see the firing line.

Pitching isn't about how fast you throw.

[jsinger121]

it isn't but for what weaver is making and washburn is making i would rather have weaver. i never thought highly of washburn and that was before a dip in velocity. washburn will likely struggle with the mariners as they will have a hard time scoring runs for him and the their defense is not as good as the angels.

[MC Hammer]

Just because Washburn finished 8-8 last year he did make more than a whole point improvement over his last 2 seasons ERA

 

'03 - 4.26

'04 - 4.59

'05 - 3.20

[jsinger121]

he hasn't pitched 200 innings since 2003. is he worth what the mariners are paying him? absolutely not. i think the angels can get the most out of jeff weaver because they play very good defense and that will benefit weaver greatly along with better run support than he had from the dodgers last year.

[MC Hammer]

So you're saying you'd rather have Weaver because he's going to throw 30 more innings?

 

I'd take Washburns 170 innings with a 3.20 ERA over Weavers 200 innings with a 4.40 ERA any day of the week.

[a700hitter]

I hate this "eats innings" phrase. Who gives a crap if he pitches a lot of innings, but gives up a ton of runs (or home runs in Weaver's case).

I agree! That "eats innings" concepts has struck me as BS for years. From a starter, you want quality starts. He should keep you in the ballgame. If he throws 200+ innings with a high ERA, who cares. I remember Mike Torrez criticizing the Mets for letting him go at the end of his career, because he said that they would not find anyone to pitch the # of innings that he pitched. It was a ridiculous argument, because he couldn't get anyone out. I'd rather use two pitchers to absorb the workload, while lowering the ERA for those innings by a half of a run.

[MC Hammer]

I agree! That "eats innings" concepts has struck me as BS for years. From a starter, you want quality starts. He should keep you in the ballgame. If he throws 200+ innings with a high ERA, who cares. I remember Mike Torrez criticizing the Mets for letting him go at the end of his career, because he said that they would not find anyone to pitch the # of innings that he pitched. It was a ridiculous argument, because he couldn't get anyone out. I'd rather use two pitchers to absorb the workload, while lowering the ERA for those innings by a half of a run.

Well it's not that you use 2 pitchers. It's that you have the use up your bullpen. But when you have a pitcher like Livan Hernandez who can eat innings it allows you to rest your bullpen. I agree with you that I'd rather have a pitcher with a lower ERA who pitched less innings, but that is the reasoning behind the "innings eater" statement.

[a700hitter]

Well it's not that you use 2 pitchers. It's that you have the use up your bullpen. But when you have a pitcher like Livan Hernandez who can eat innings it allows you to rest your bullpen. I agree with you that I'd rather have a pitcher with a lower ERA who pitched less innings, but that is the reasoning behind the "innings eater" statement.

I get the concept. The point is that there weren't many starter that would have done worse than Mike Torrez. Also, if your starters stink, you are better off to stock your pen with more long men than to run a stinker out there every 5th day for 6 or 7 innings. That just results in additional losses.