UPTON DEAL SPEAKS VOLUMES
The Los Angeles Angels, the team that time forgot, are doing everything in their power to make sure baseball’s best player returns to the national stage.
Thursday, they found the perfect dance partner to make it happen.
The Angels acquired powerhitting outfielder Justin Upton from the Detroit Tigers on Thursday, picking up not only
$2.7 million of his remaining salary for this year but also the entire $88.5 million owed to him over the next four seasons.
Just like that, we’re about to see Mike Trout again in the playoffs, where he last appeared three years ago, on the wrong end of a three-game sweep.
And we won’t see the Tigers in the postseason for years as they go into a long hibernation.
Certainly, nothing is guaranteed. It’s not as if Upton’s carryon bag will hold ace Justin Verlander. Still, this is now a scary lineup with two-time MVP Trout, three-time MVP Albert Pujols and Upton. The trio have combined for 76 homers and 238 RBI this season, even with Trout having been sidelined by a broken hand that has limited him to
87 games.
Upton, who signed a six-year,
$132.75 million free agent contract two years ago with the Ti- gers, is having the finest season of his career. He is hitting .279 with 28 homers, 94 RBI and a .904 on-base plus slugging percentage (OPS) and has 51 homers since July 1, 2016.
How big of an upgrade is this for the Angels? Upton hit 11 homers with a .997 OPS in August, while the Angels left fielders have hit a major league-low seven homers with a .656 OPS all season. Upton has more homers this season than the Angels left fielder has hit the last three seasons.
This is an absolute coup for the Angels, who gave up only pitcher Grayson Long, their ninth-rated prospect, and let the Houston Astros grab struggling outfielder Cameron Maybin on a waiver claim.
This is a team that has stunned everyone by even being in the wild-card race, with a battered rotation and an offense that ranks last in the American League in OPS. Now, owner Arte Moreno and general manager Billy Eppler have rewarded manager Mike Scioscia and his players. Entering Friday, the Angels are 11⁄ games behind the Minnesota Twins for the second wildcard spot and 21⁄ behind the New York Yankees for the top wild-card spot. Now, with Upton in the middle of the lineup, they have every opportunity to get their first postseason victory since 2009.
“The guys earned this with their play,” Eppler said. “I know the guys in the clubhouse are thankful. Now it’s up to us to continue the charge.
“I’m just thankful Arte Moreno reached into his pocket and gave us the funds to execute this deal.”
The Angels, with 12 pending free agents and Josh Hamilton’s $25 million coming off the books, easily will squeeze Upton’s $22.25 million annual salary into their payroll. Upton has an opt-out after this season, but considering he’s on a contender and playing close to his Scottsdale, Ariz., home, he’s expected to stay put, perhaps even get an extension.
“Honestly, that’s something me and my camp haven’t discussed,” Upton said.
And let’s be honest: The Tigers badly wanted Upton to opt out of his contract.
They needed to free up his money to start the rebuild, and since they had no guarantee he would leave $88 million on the table, considering last year’s sluggish free agent market, they made the decision for him.
The Tigers wish they could do the same with Verlander, Miguel Cabrera, Victor Martinez, Ian Kinsler and Jordan Zimmermann, dumping every single exorbitant salary on their team.
This proud franchise is waving the white flag.
For the last decade, the Tigers have gone for it, spending money outside their means, trying to win a World Series title for owner Mike Ilitch.
They reached the playoffs five times in nine years, winning two American League pennants and four consecutive division titles. They fell short, Ilitch passed away, and they were left with a
58-74 team and an opening-day payroll of $182.5 million.
It’s an awful combination that Tigers GM Al Avila is trying to rectify, and it started in earnest Thursday with the Upton trade.
There will be plenty more this winter. Verlander, the staff ace with a guaranteed two years and
$56 million left on his contract, and potentially $78 million over three years, will certainly be moved. They’d be willing to eat a significant portion of Martinez’s
$18 million contract in 2018 to shed his salary. Kinsler and his
$10 million salary will be traded. That would leave only future Hall of Famer in Miguel Cabrera.
The Tigers would love to trade Cabrera, the face of the franchise, too, but realize no one will take the remaining $192 million left on his salary. When they put him on the trade block last winter, the Tigers say, not a single team made an inquiry. Nothing will change.
It will be a painful few years in Detroit.
As for the Angels?
Well, they sent out a reminder Thursday that there are two baseball teams in Los Angeles. They have Trout under contract through 2020. Pujols, who has
612 career homers, is signed through 2021. And Upton has a contract through 2021, too.
The future is bright in Anaheim, and that dreary haze that long hovered over it has shifted to Detroit, threatening to linger for years.