Comments on: UPDATE: Angels trade Jeff Mathis to Blue Jays for Brad Mills

By: dirtyharry1971

dirtyharry1971 — Sun, 04 Dec 2011 20:10:36 +0000

After this block buster deal i am totally convinced the jays have locked up 4th place in the AL east in 2012!!! Convinced beyond a doubt!!

By: Mark

Mark — Sun, 04 Dec 2011 18:08:25 +0000

I don’t understand why the Jays traded for the worst player in baseball. Dude has the 8th worst wOBA for all batters since 1970 with a min of 1000 PA. His defence is average at best.

Was every single catcher on the planet already signed to a contract?

By: jwbiii

jwbiii — Sun, 04 Dec 2011 03:30:35 +0000

Bill James had Mathis as the second best fielding catcher. The Fielding Bible awards had him fourth.
http://www.fieldingbible.com/complete-votetally.asp

By: cosanostra71

cosanostra71 — Sun, 04 Dec 2011 03:00:28 +0000

proudlycanadian- Bill James must not have watched Mathis play much! He’s terrible!

http://angels.ocregister.com/2011/06/24/jeff-mathis-throws-a-baseball/85619/

By: chuckj1234

chuckj1234 — Sun, 04 Dec 2011 01:09:09 +0000

Instead of Mills it should have been a player to be named later. Or was it?

By: stinkinfish

stinkinfish — Sun, 04 Dec 2011 00:29:42 +0000

My initial thoughts when I saw the headline exactly.

By: pitperc

pitperc — Sat, 03 Dec 2011 21:19:35 +0000

We are.

By: JBerardi

JBerardi — Sat, 03 Dec 2011 21:03:12 +0000

The Wells trade is truly the gift that keeps on giving.

By: proudlycanadian

proudlycanadian — Sat, 03 Dec 2011 20:19:17 +0000

Interesting comment. I looked at the LAA side of the story on MLB.com and found that Mathis was rated by Bill James as the 4th best fielding catcher in MLB.The main job of a catcher is to catch. Hitting is a bonus.

By: Kevin S.

Kevin S. — Sat, 03 Dec 2011 19:47:28 +0000

I’m confused – how did the Jays get a catcher from the Angels without any albatross contracts to send back?

By: SmackSaw

SmackSaw — Sat, 03 Dec 2011 19:33:18 +0000

Mathis for a left handed junkballer? DiPoto is a thief!

By: cur68

cur68 — Sat, 03 Dec 2011 19:02:51 +0000

I suspect they’ll bring up D’Arnaud anyways. I see Mathis being either traded, bullpenned or sent down. I see this move as all about sending Mills (a guy who needs a specific type of park to be successful) somewhere and getting a more generally appealing trade chip for some team in desperation mode for a catcher with MLB experience (and probably hoping to get the next Mike Napoli off of Scoscia). Probably Mathis will get into 1 or 2 games a month and D’Arnaud will function as Arencebia’s backup. The less I see of Mathis the better.

By: jwbiii

jwbiii — Sat, 03 Dec 2011 18:42:27 +0000

Right. Better for d’Arnaud’s development to have him play regularly so the Jays can assess what they want to do with their two apparently fine young catchers.

By: trbowman

trbowman — Sat, 03 Dec 2011 18:37:27 +0000

Jeff Mathis is so bad. Anaheim should throw a parade.

By: miketreedy

miketreedy — Sat, 03 Dec 2011 18:36:28 +0000

Future Update: Toronto trades Mathis to Rangers where next year he hits .320 & 30 home runs as Napoli’s back up.

By: cur68

cur68 — Sat, 03 Dec 2011 18:35:05 +0000

Mathis to the Jay’s, eh? Well, if my rooting interests were going to keep an Angel’s catcher then I wish the Beaver Men had hung on to Napoli, but while I’m wishing, I’d like a few million dollars and an MLB contract that includes Minka Kelly.

Mills has a better park for his “pitching” & Arencebia has some backup with the irreplaceable Jose Molina now a Ray. Providing I don’t have to look at Mathis do too many things this season I can live with this. Perhaps Mathis turns out a Napoli-esque renaissance? I think I’ll wish for that…

By: cyanocittacristata

cyanocittacristata — Sat, 03 Dec 2011 18:14:58 +0000

Makes perfect sense to move Mills as the younger pitching prospects are starting to knock on the jay’s door. He has survived quite well in the PCL as a finesse lefty and may even become useable for the halos in the larger parks in the AL West. Mathis is well… Mathis and will finally find his destiny as second stringer. He may even be viewed as a trade chip for another team with catching needs at the deadline if attrition sets in. A fair swap me thinks.

By: pitperc

pitperc — Sat, 03 Dec 2011 18:08:33 +0000

Huzzah!

By: cosanostra71

cosanostra71 — Sat, 03 Dec 2011 18:06:45 +0000

there is a god!

By: cosanostra71

cosanostra71 — Sat, 03 Dec 2011 18:05:12 +0000

we could trade Mathis for a tin can and it would still be a win!

By: jimatkins

jimatkins — Sat, 03 Dec 2011 18:01:46 +0000

Well, now we know who the Angel GM actually is. Now if we can just get that busted Russian Mars lander to target Vernon Wells on reentry, we might have a shot at a real season.

By: pkers

pkers — Sat, 03 Dec 2011 17:59:39 +0000

How many former Angels backstops does this make for Toronto? 4, right? Bengie, Jose, Napoli for a second, and now Mathis.

By: proudlycanadian

proudlycanadian — Sat, 03 Dec 2011 17:53:36 +0000

Mathis will only appear in 1 or 2 games a week for the Jays. If Arencibia ever gets hurt, the Jays would bring up D’Arnaud from the minors.

By: brownsbraves11

brownsbraves11 — Sat, 03 Dec 2011 17:53:16 +0000

Trading Mathis to Toronto for the Astros’ manager is an odd trade.

By: jwbiii

jwbiii — Sat, 03 Dec 2011 17:49:03 +0000

Mills can’t get major league hitters out; Mathis isn’t a major league hitter. Good trade.

This is only a win for the Angels because it prevents Mike Scioscia from writing Mathis’ name on the lineup card three or four days a week.

By: proudlycanadian

proudlycanadian — Sat, 03 Dec 2011 17:45:42 +0000

Otherwise, Mills seems to be a good decent person. He does have an engineering degree to fall back on.

By: djpostl

djpostl — Sat, 03 Dec 2011 17:36:56 +0000

Lol. Things worked out so well for them the last time they sent a backstop to Toronto they decided to do it again!

By: proudlycanadian

proudlycanadian — Sat, 03 Dec 2011 17:29:21 +0000

This is Toronto’s thank you for the Wells trade. Mills can’t get major league hitters out, so I do not see this trade as a win for the Angels. The Jays needed a back up catcher. Mathis will be perfectly adequate in that role.

By: drmonkeyarmy

drmonkeyarmy — Sat, 03 Dec 2011 17:14:05 +0000

Oh, this is hysterical. Damn the Angels really screwed the pooch last off season.

By: lyon810

lyon810 — Sat, 03 Dec 2011 17:12:19 +0000

Now maybe we can swap Vernon for Mathis