Why Did Jered Weaver Go To AAA?
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by user The Beast
I was left baffled over this move. Why was Jered Weaver going back to the Minor Leagues? He has been dominating teams this season. When I first head the news, I was angered. Then I thought the Angels were the smart ones.
The Angels are shopping for a hitter, Carl Crawford or Alfonso Soriano. They might be trying to bolster the stats of Big Weaver, Santana, or Escobar. They could trade these guys for Soriano, along with some prospects. Soriano can play left or second switching with Figgy. He is a versitle player. Most of all, he can hit. Look at his stats, batting .288, 24 home runs, 49 RBIs, 52 runs, and 15 stolen bases. Monster Stats. He has 8 more homers than Vladdy, 17 more runs, and 10 more stolen bases. He and Vlad would provide a lot of punch in that lineup and a duo like Batman and Robin. They would be the conerstone of the franchise for years to come. Please do it Bill!! DO IT!! DO IT!!
However, Jeff's recent performance makes this tough, allowing six runs to the Rockies. Anyway they have 10 days to get rid of him. Thank God Jered is back.
Date
Sat 07/01/06, 6:38 pm EST
1) Does having Jered in the MLB rotation (instead of Jeff) make the Angels into a playoff-caliber team?
Answer: Probably not. They're seven games under .500, in last place in a decent AL West (7 games off the lead). They're 15 games out of the wild card. Basically, he's too little too late. Also, note that he's missing about 9 weeks -- assumedly, he'll be back in the bigs come 9/1 -- or about 12 starts.
2) Does having Jered in the minors in 2006 have a negative effect on the 2007 Angels?
Answer: Maybe, but it'd be very little. Jered will be in the bigs for sure then (otherwise, someone needs to be fired) and there's little reason to think his development will be stunted by completing this year in AAA (w/the occasional callup) as opposted to in Anaheim.
3) Does DFAing a player and/or putting Jeff in the pen hurt the team, both now and in the future?
Answer: Yes. No doubt. Jeff has some trade value now, even if it's for a low-level prospect in what is basically a salary dump. It makes a lot of sense for the Angels to not further degrade his value and/or the value of another potential trade chip. Similarly, it makes little sense for them to DFA a player.
The issue has very little to do with how good Jered is. It has to do with the above factors. The Angels aren't very good right now. Jered won't fix that. They're looking toward 2007, and it makes a ton more sense to try and move a player than simply let one go. Moving Jered to AAA allows them to do that without devaluing their current assets.