The Angels and Alberto Callaspo agreed on a 2-year contract, $9mil pending physical. Third base is covered!

I like this move. 3rd base will be in capable, cost-controlled hands until Kaleb C. arrives. The Angels can't be wrong on a heralded third base prospect three times in a row, right?

Wow, what a deal. He could easily become the best value-to-cost 3B in baseball the next two years.

" Until Kaleb Cowart is ready "

AC is signed for only two years. But he could get extended so you might be right.

Kaleb cowart will be hard-pressed to outperform callaspo at the MLB level

gasp!

Don't pre-judge the kid. If he has a good couple of years in the minors there is reason to hope he's the real deal.

We just can't leave him down to long and rot before bringing him up. (Tony Reagin's era)

Some where on Dipoto's war board his name shows up in 2014 or...

The "prototypical" third baseman is no longer typical. Third base is no longer a power position now that the steroid era is drawing to a close. Fielding ability there is much more important now than it has been in the past 20+ years. You could argue that it has always been important. Mark Reynolds, for example, is one of the better and more powerful hitters at third base. Yet, he is one of the least valuable because his fielding is so bad. Third basemen no longer have to be the big lumbering slugger that scouts and managers and fans envisioned the past two decades.

As far as projecting Cowart's potential (mike lowell), We are still a little ahead of the game on that. the highest level he has played is high A ball, and many young players look good there. Callaspo is one of the best fielding third baseman at the major league level. To say Cowart is better than him may be a little offbase. A current, effective major league player is more valuable than just about any prospect. You just never know what you are going to get down the line. Right now, we know what we have with callaspo. Cowart, we don't.

The old saying goes, "it's better to have a bird in the hand than two in the bush." We have a pretty good bird in our hands. For very cheap.

I am not a fan of Alberto Callaspo @ 3B. I don't like his defense nor his offense. I had wanted Kevin Youkilis there and to bat 2nd until Cowart was developed. How does this affect Luis Jimenez?

Now that AC is signed for TWO years...I'm reversing
my position on WHO the two hole hitter is gonna be...
WAS: Aybar...then Callaspo <if Aybar failed>
NOW: Callaspo..then Aybar<if Callaspo fails...but he won't>

Trout
Callaspo
Puljos
Hamilton
Trumbo
Kendrick
Bourjos/Wells
Ianetta
Aybar

I'm not sold on Conger..

And yet Callaspo saved more runs and had a better UZR than Seager last season. An arm is not everything. Slugging is also not everything. That is a park dependent stat, as well. Callaspo doesn't hit in a hitter-friendly ballpark. In fact, quite the opposite. Beside, OBP is more important than slugging, and callaspo was about league average for third baseman in a down year for him.

Generally, there were better hitters in left field than third base in 2012. Right field is also a position that is becoming more defense-oriented and so it was about on par with third base as far as league average wOBA.

Is callaspo David wright or miguel cabrera? No. But for 9 mil over two years....he might be a better bargain for what he brings to the team.

I am not sure if I like any of the choices. I used to like Kendrick there but today I probably go with Aybar.
He is a switch hitter with bat control and speed. Callaspo looks to walk & in between Trout & Pujols it is a hitting position.
Spring Training is the time to experiment with this but ST can be deceiving.

PBJ 9th Aybar 2nd gives you speed top & bottom.

Speed...YES...
BUT...one must get on base to let speed do its damage..
Bourjos may not even crack the starting lineup if he cant hit...

Aybar failed in the 2 hole "in the past" due to his free swinger approach
(Kendrick even worse in that area). The "cool" thing about Callaspo is
he not only has a high OB%...but a very low strikeout ratio..SO...the
ball is in play..A "productive out" is moving the runner up a base..
My vote now goes to Callaspo in the two hole..

Callaspo last year had low batting avg so his OBP was also bad. He will not be walked in between Trout & Albert. He will see mostly fastballs. He is not a good hitter with men on base and he is not a good base runner. He doesn't score runs & doesn't move them along.
Last year he wasn 't even the regular 3B as he was dreadful in April and Izzy started there a lot after the Trumbo experiment.

It is a myth that Callaspo has a high OBP. Career .275 hitter with .335 OBP. You remember 2011 which was an outlier good year. 2010 with Angels part year not so good.