Angels fans erupted on Twitter with excitement! For the second straight season, Arte Moreno and Jerry Dipoto had snagged the biggest free agent available, and once again with great secrecy. This was a different kind of eruption for Angels fans than the previous signing of Albert Pujols last year though.
After the initial excitement of signing one of the top 15 players (arguably top 10) in baseball, fans began to become cautiously optimistic about the decision: $25 million per year is a lot of money, what about his demons, we didn't need another outfielder.
I could spend all day talking about how signing a player to a big contract past his age-30 season could be a bad move, but look at what we got with Torii Hunter. I could write how Hamilton could suffer a relapse or strain his knee, but the former is unlikely and the latter is uncontrollable. I could write how we now have 2 of the top 3 highest paid players in baseball (Vernon Wells and Alex Rodriguez would be the other 2), but this move wasn't about the money. This move was about how we did not need another outfielder. Let me explain.
After freeing up space in the outfield with the speedy (albeit unproven) Peter Bourjos, and a decent backup in Wells, the Angels had no need to go out and find another outfielder. This move was not about personnel, it was about market share.
With the Los Angeles Dodgers being the sexiest team in town again and grabbing all the headlines, the Angels looked pretty conservative signing only Joe Blanton and a couple of relievers in free agency. The Dodgers had traded for big name players and signed Zack Greinke away from Anaheim, while putting money into upgrading their stadium and doing it all in the name of winning for the fans. Some fans, including myself, would take a look at this new, exciting Dodgers product and say, "Hey, I think I'll risk my life going to LA to check this new thing out." Moreno, who is a highly competitive person could not stand for this. For fear of losing fans trying something new, he had to make a splash to get the spotlight back on his Angels again, and there was only one free agent left to do this with: Hamilton.
Add to the fact that signing Hamilton would take away their division rival's best player and this was more a defensive move by the Angels, trying to protect their market share, get the spotlight in Los Angeles back on them, and weaken the competition, than it was a player move to add a great bat to an already solid lineup.
If you don't agree with me, then why did the Angels spend the Greinke money on a position player when they could have easily just had Greinke, which would've filled their biggest need at starting pitching?
