Hideki Matsui signed with the Los Angeles Angels on Wednesday night. The choice to sign Hideki Matsui, a free agent, means the Angels probably aren’t planning on offering any type of a contract to Vladimir Guerrero. By signing Matsui, the Angels now have a full time designated hitter for the 2010 season, and someone who has a lot of experience in post-season play. This past season Matsui played for the New York Yankees, and ended up being named the World Series MVP as he turned into the newest Yankee hero to raise the World Series trophy at the end of the season.
Hideki Matsui’s contract will be $6 million for one-year, and that’s a good price for the 35-year-old player. Last season for the New York Yankees, Matsui hit .274 with 28 home runs and 90 RBI over 142 games played. He made $13 million during 2009, which marked the last year in a four year contract that the Yankees had signed with him for $52 million. He has made his millions, and now the left handed hitter could turn out to be a nice bargain for the Angels if he can put up something like 25 home runs and 100 RBI over the duration of a full 2010 season in Los Angeles.
Hideki Matsui played for the New York Yankees for seven seasons, coming into the Major Leagues from Yomiuri in Japan at the end of the 2002 baseball season over there. During his tenure with the Yankees he had 100 or more RBI’s four times, and posted a .292 batting average during his time in New York. Matsui suffered through a couple of injuries during his time with the Yankees, but he also has a very nice 2009 World Series ring coming his way that probably made it all worth it to him. Now the Angels are hoping that he can stay consistent for at least one more season and help them get back to the post season in 2010.
The Angels really needed to make a free agent signing badly, even if it turns out that Hideki Matsui can only be the designated hitter due to recent knee injuries. The reason for that need is that the Seattle Mariners have been very active in the off-season, and as one of their chief rivals in the American League West, the Angels will need to try and keep pace. The off-season for the Angels has been terrible so far, with third-baseman Chone Figgins signing with the Seattle Mariners and their best pitcher (John Lackey) signing with the Boston Red Sox. Getting Matsui is a good first step, but now the Angels will need to focus on improving even further if they want to remain in contention for the 2010 American League West.
Sources:
Hideki Matsui Signs with Angels
Chone Figgins Signs with Seattle Mariners
John Lackey Signs with Boston Red Sox
