March 2009
Matthews, brass have emotional meeting
Gary Matthews Jr. views himself as an everyday Major League outfielder, so it came as no surprise when he stormed out of a meeting with the brass on Sunday at the team’s Spring Training facility and did not accompany the team for a trip to Surprise for a game against his former team, the Rangers.
“We just let Gary know where things stand at this point in the season, and that’s about all I can say about it,” manager Mike Scioscia said of the meeting also attended by general manager Tony Reagins. “We were honest with him, and he let us know how he feels.
“Gary wants to play, and that’s understandable. But the way things are right now, he’s the fifth outfielder, coming off knee surgery. We have Vlad [Guerrero], Torii [Hunter], Bobby Abreu and Juan Rivera, and those are four good players. Gary needs to focus on getting completely healthy and contributing when he can.”
Matthews, who has a full no-trade clause in his contract this season, would be owed a $500,000 assignment fee if dealt.
Matthews has said he would be more than open to a trade to a club that could use him on a regular basis, especially as a center fielder. He has three years left on a deal he signed after his 2006 All-Star season with Texas — $10 million this season, $11 million in 2010 and $12 million in 2012.
“As of today,” Reagins told reporters, “he’s going to be an extra outfielder. We gave him an update on his status. We were very forthright, but the details of the meeting will remain behind closed doors.”
Matthews changed into street clothes and left the facility, the team granting him permission to take the day off.
Matthews said he needed some time to “think things over.” After undergoing left knee surgery in late October, he “worked his butt off this” winter, according to Scioscia, and is in the midst of a strong spring, batting .258 with two homers, two doubles and a triple in 31 at-bats.
Moseley goes seven
In a camp game at Scottsdale against the Giants’ Triple-A players, Angels starter Dustin Moseley went seven innings and made 88 pitches, four of them leaving the park. Moseley yielded six earned runs, walking one man while giving up 10 hits and striking out three.
In that same game, facing reigning NL Cy Young Award winner Tim Lincecum, Mike Napoli went 3-for-5 with two doubles and two walks. In the informal setting of such games, players can bat multiple times, prompting Lincecum to remark, “Man, that was a lot of Napolis.”
Young first baseman Mark Trumbo homered for the Angels.
Adenhart shows right stuff
Nick Adenhart was in trouble right out of the chute. He walked Jamey Carroll on four pitches, then fell behind Mark De Rosa 2-0 before the Indians’ third baseman lined a single to left center, sending Carroll to third.
This is where the new and improved Adenhart surfaced. Taking his time, along with deep breaths, Adenhart gathered himself, made good pitches to the heart of the order, and escaped unscathed. Victor Martinez grounded to Chone Figgins at third for an out at home. Travis Hafner, the muscular cleanup man, went down swinging on an off-speed delivery. Shin-soo Choo, who starred for Korea n the World Baseball Classic, popped out.
This is exactly how you want to respond to adversity if you’re a young pitcher trying to carve out a rotation spot on a championship-caliber team.
Adenhart, settling into a groove, retired six of the next seven he faced, with Ben Francisco beating out an infield hit.
Fireworks continue: three straight bombs
Back-to-back-to-back. That’s what the Angels did on Thursday in their first look at Goodyear Ballpark, home of the Indians. Facing lefty Scott Lewis in the third inning after he’d already yielded two runs on four hits, Bobby Abreu, Vladimir Guerrero and Torii Hunter each went deep, using all fields — Abreu to center, Guerrero to right, Hunter to left.
Mike Scioscia once again had Chone Figgins, Howard Kendrick and Abreu at the top of the order, and through three innings they’d combined for a single and triple (by Figgins), a walk (by Kendrick, showing his plate discipline) and the blast by Abreu.
Showing he was fully recovered from the crash into the center field wall on Tuesday against the Rockies at home, Hunter lashed a double to left in his first at-bat. Even before his 400-foot shot to left, Hunter had lined a ball just foul into the left-field corner.
Jeff Mathis, catching Nick Adenhart, had two hits through two innings. Perhaps the best athlete among all catchers in the game, Mathis showed his speed when he stole second. This is a guy who could have been a defensive back at Florida State had he chosen football over baseball. How many catchers can say that?
Hunter bangs into wall, departs early
Angels center fielder Torii Hunter didn’t make it through the top of the first inning on Tuesday against the Rockies at Tempe Diablo Stadium.
Giving chase to a drive by Jeff Baker to dead center, Hunter banged hard into the wall and came crashing to the ground as the ball bounded off the wall, enabling Baker to race all the way around for a two-run, inside-the-park homer.
Hunter was taken for precautionary X-rays, the ball having struck him in the nose as it bounced off the wall.
Hunter appeared groggy. He walked off the field on his own power, a good sign that there was no structural damage. There was no immediate report on his condition.
Matthews wants to play every day — somewhere
Gary Matthews Jr. is determined to play every day, preferably in center field. The Angels — overstocked with quality outfielders – do not appear to have a place for him to do so on a regular basis.
“There comes a time if a decision is made . . . ” manager Mike Scioscia said, not finishing the thought. “We’ve got a lot of bats here. We’ll address things in time. We’re not going to make a decision today.”
Recovered from late October surgery on his left knee, Matthews has been more than impressive in Cactus League play. He has been spectacular.
Matthews’ two-run homer against the Padres in Tuesday’s 10-5 Angels victory was a tremendous drive to right field that, he later reported, “came within six inches of hitting my Bentley” in the parking lot.
He crushed this one almost as far, he believed, as the one against the White Sox in the new Camelback Ranch-Glendale park that teammates estimated at 450 feet.
Matthews, who doubled in front of Maicer Izturis’ three-run homer in his first at-bat, is hitting .412 with 16 total bases in 17 at-bats.
“My play’s kind of doing all the talking for me,” Matthews said. “My play speaks louder than what I can say to anyone. I wasn’t supposed to be back until mid-May, late-May. I’m fine. I’m ready to go back to playing every day.”
With Torii Hunter entrenched in center field and Vladimir Guerrero, Bobby Abreu and Juan Rivera ahead of him on the outfield depth chart, Matthews has a hard time seeing consistent playing time coming his way no matter what he does.
<P>
He has gone to general manager Tony Reagins and Scioscia to express his desire to play regularly, and they have been candid with him, he said, about their point of view.
“You don’t play forever,” Matthews said. “I’m 34. Guys take such good care of themselves now. I’m 34. It’s not like I’m 24 and have time to sit around and waste years sitting around. That’s not what I’m going to do.”
That sounds very much like “play me or trade me,” a refrain as old as the game itself.
Recent Comments