I don't know, I don't much like Vargas and I think I remember reading something about him and Safeco on top that made it worse, but apparently it wasn't noteworthy enough for me to actually remember the specifics. (I only leave in the mention, 'cause I fully expect someone else to remember what I'm talking about. Please do my work for me.
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Morales is kind of a wildcard, 'cause before those years he missed he looked like he was panning out as a pretty damn good player. Given some time in the heart of that order now that he's had a year back, I wouldn't be shocked to see him working out as a solid pick-up for the M's. I do think the M's keep stacking up guys with boom/bust potential at the same spots though. Does this make Montero a full-time C or is Morales supposed to be a LF or is this the end of Smoak? They've spent a lot of assets trying to lock down the same spots, but in this case I don't see Vargas as a huge asset and they've got just a bonanza of young guys about to break into that rotation.
The other thought I have is the Angels have to be a cautionary tale for Jays fans. They had the biggest off-season of all teams last year, adding Wilson and Pujols, then got a career year out of Hunter, an MVP season out of a rookie Trout, had a Weaver/Wilson/Greinke/Haren/Santana rotation after the trade deadline and missed the playoffs. They didn't even have that many total busts. Santana for sure. None of the other starters performed to expectations, but they didn't kill them either and were totally healthy (maybe I'm being kind to Haren here, but he still accumulated almost 2 fWAR, which is another indicator that maybe we should stop use fWAR for pitching, 'cause Arrieta tossed 100IP in 16 starts with an ERA over 6 and generated 1.6 fWAR, meaning if he has a full season he throws 200IP of 6+ERA ball and generates more than 3 fWAR. I don't care how bad his BABIP was, that shouldn't be). The next biggest problem was that LaTroy and Isringausen proved to be done. Who would think 1 starter slot and 90 innings of relief would totally doom a season where you owned in offense, defense, and on the basepaths?
You look at their squad in comparison to the O's and Athletics and it should've been as close to bulletproof as you can get in professional sports by comparison. It's crazy to me that you can have the difference between LAA and BAL on offense, defense, and speed, with almost equivalent starting and be totally offset and even surpassed by the difference in bullpen. WPA proponents should use those two as exhibit A 'til the end of time, 'cause on paper, both in talent and almost every traditional statistic, the Angels should've whooped BAL in the standings last year.
/offtopic
