The Angels have chosen to buyout Garret Anderson’s remaining contract worth $3-million. If the buyout route was not taken, the Angels would have had to pay Anderson’s $14-million option. Many questions come to mind when asking yourself if Anderson is “worth it”. Well, my answer for this is, numbers do not lie. Anderson has had excellent stats and accolades while with the Angels; including being #1 in the franchise for games, runs scored, hits, doubles, total bases and RBIs. Despite all of this, Anderson is 36-years-old and has had a recent triceps injury which raises questions regarding his out-fielding ability.
Garret Anderson’s stock as an all around stable major league player has dropped. With that being said, I do not think “Vlad the Impaler” is worth the $15.5-million beans. He is definitely an excellent player, but the MLB at this moment (as you can guess; especially in the current World Series) is dominated by young, talented players.
In the wake of Anderson’s buyout, Vladimir Guerrero and John Lackey’s options were picked up, each option totaling $15.5-million and $7.3-million, respectively.
Vlad Guerrero had surgery on October 10th on his medial meniscus. Again, the medically stable question comes into play here. Knee injuries can be harsh and will mostly likely leave a mark on Vladimir’s running game.
John Lackey, the 29-year-old pitcher, is obviously worth the money because of his consistent statistics year in and year out. Holding an ERA in the 3’s every year with the Angels while pitching 150-224 innings per year is truly an accomplishment.
All in all, a better option for the Angels might have been to hold onto Vlad and Anderson use them as trade bait to see if they could get some younger, more long-term players.