As a Birthday Wish, I Wish My Hundredth Post Was About the Angels in the Postseason

Post date: Oct 6, 2012 9:39:35 PM

It's hard to believe that this is my 100th post. Yes, it is my birthday tomorrow, for the last three years the birthday gift I have received from the Angels has been not so fun. After the end of a regular season, it takes a while for a diehard fan like me to come to terms that your beloved team is not participating in the playoffs. It takes a well for one to digest the fact that it's over for the year. There is a period of time that instead of critiquing, analyzing, and re-examining what went wrong, what could have been done better, and arguments of that nature; one has to take a step back and just think the team for the wonderful year that they put forth and thank the ownership and the organization for keeping this wonderful team in Anaheim. Last but certainly not least think the players for the wonderful effort, the ones whom despite a slow start to their hearts out towards the end in order to keep themselves in the mix for as long as they could. I have stated numerous times before that I rather see my team be eliminated in late September to early October rather than late July.

Now that the mushy stuff is over it's time to get down to business. The first thing on the agenda is the free agents. The Halos must take advantage of the exclusive signing period and ink the following players in no particular order. They have re-signed our starting catcher Chris Iannetta in the last 24 hours to a three-year contract and I hope they take the same approach to the players they have yet to sign.

Torii Hunter

"Spiderman" belongs in an Angels' uniform. He is the heart and soul this team and also has proven that he is a clutch type player. For the first time in his career he had a Batting Average of over .300. He deserves a ring, he needs to stay with the team that can contend for one. Hunter loves the Angels and the Angels' fans love him. He has expressed desire to stay with the Angels. I hope the Angels' organization takes notice and re-sign soon quickly. I would hate to see him go and sign with a team like the Texas Rangers who probably will need a replacement for Josh Hamilton. Just to see him hurt us, just like former Angels turned Rangers like Vladimir Guerrero, and Mike Napoli. My hope is that the Angels give Torii Hunter a two year contract with maybe a club option for a third. I don't care how they do it, the bottom line is we must re-sign Torii Hunter!

Zack Greinke

Greinke has proven his worth. He was an uplifting force when the Angels' starting rotation was struggling he proved to be a solid ace in his own right, and he is a nice complement behind Jared Weaver.

Dan Haren

I can hear the collective groans already, before you write them off, please hear me out. Dan Haren had a below average season for an above average pitcher. And although he is not a free agent, the Angels in my view must exercise a club option. Dan Haren had an injury plagued season. When healthy he is a viable option for the Angels rotation. And he is a less risky proposition compared to free agent pitchers that the Angels may sign for more money.

I know that there are free agents like Ervin Santana have yet to talk about, but I think for me the preceding are the centerpieces that must be re-signed.

With the off-season comes a lot of waiting, but also a lot of excitement. It's a wait-and-see what our General Manager can pull out of his magic top hat to make this team a contender.

-ICE