An Angel In the Outfield or the DL

In whats been an incredibly slow couple of days the biggest signing is Juan Rivera reups with the Angels. I believe it was 3 years for about 15 mil. Thats about half of what Rual Ibanez got. The signing is similar to the AJ Burnett move in that the Angels paid for what can be, that has rarely been. Rivera has only surpassed 400 ABs once in his career. His best year was 2006 when he hit 23 HRs and drove in 85 runs. Unfortunately in 2007 he broke his leg playing winter ball and essentially lost the season and last year was a very disappointing one. Rivera regressed to 12 HRs in only 280 ABs. If you look beyond the traditional stats a disturbing number for him was only 16 BBs last year for a awful 282 OBP. If he is healthy he should certainly improve those numbers. I'm confident the Angels are not finished yet in the free agent market so where Rivera fits in is a bit of a question mark. Garrett Anderson is a free agent and probably won't return. Which leaves Vlade Guerrero, Torii Hunter and Gary Matthews Jr. all over 30 years old. And all a few years past their prime. If nothing changes I imagine Guerrero will play right, Hunter will play center and Rivera in left. I'm sure the Angels would love to deal Matthews but no one will take his contract. Kind of like Luis Castillo. As a LF Rivera is average. But Hunter is still fantastic which cuts down on the ground Rivera needs to cover. With Arte Moreno not being shy about spending money the move makes sense. At worst Rivera is an injury plagued 4th outfielder at best he is the kind of player he was in 2006.