Angels Add Free Agent Bobby Abreu For One-Year, $5 million

The American League West Champion Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim finally did something of note this offseason after acquiring free agent right fielder Bobby Abreu.

Abreu, a former Yankee, is a career .300 hitter with a string of 100 walk seasons from 1999-2006. He's a patient slugger who will is capable of 16-20 home runs, and brings both speed and patience to the Angels.

The Halos, who balked this offseason, letting record-setting closer Frankie Rodriguez jump to the NY Mets, also lost out in the bidding war that saw Mark Teixeira sign with the Yankees. But the Angels finally pulled the trigger on a bat.

Granted, it's not the answer to the questions they had, but its still a great piece of the puzzle.

Abreu brings high pitch counts to an Angels lineup notorious for being hackers under hitting coach Mickey Hatcher. He also brings speed and somewhat declining defense.

On paper though, this all adds up to be a net gain over the loss of lifetime Angel Garret Anderson, as Abreu has better speed and discipline in the box than GA.

Lineup projections look something like this—on paper at least:

Figgins, 3B
Kendrick, 2B
Abreu, RF/DH
Guerro, RF/DH
Hunter, CF
Rivera, LF
Napoli, C
Morales, 1B
Wood/Izturis/Aybar, SS

Given the No. 3 and No. 5 hitters, Vlad should see better pitches in the clean-up spot, in a potential bounce back year for Guerrero following offseason knee surgery. It's not Tex, but I'd rather have Abreu in the lineup than Gary Matthews, Jr., and Reggie Willits.

GM, Jr. is a better field, but his bat has all but disappeared.

Willits has yet to hit a professional home run. Abreu's got 241 of 'em.