a because of Fenway. Over the years the Angels brought in two Boston big bats who were right handed hitters and neither one produced Boston kinds of numbers in the bigger Anahiem Stadium. The first one was Tony Conigliero, who had just come off of a huge come back year in Boston. The other was Butch Hobson in the early 80's. Suddenly guys who were 30 homerun plus, 95 RBI a year guys, became 15 homer 75 RBI guys.

I know Bay did it in Pittsburgh as well so perhaps he is the real deal. The Red Sox always have guys that run up inflated numbers due to the green monster. Two current examples are Youkilis, and Lowell.

He was also cold in the playoffs this year. It was only 3 games, but he didn't look like he did last year. I'd be cautious.

IN addition, he certainly wouldn't help our outfield defense which is already pretty bad/slow.

Agreed. It seemed our pitchers knew how to pitch to him.

I think playing in Boston resulted in his 36 HR's this year, in Anaheim I'd say he would have ended up around 28.

Full season with the Angels, with our style of play, weather, protection etc...

.280 35 DB 30 HR 15 SB .390 OBP.

For 15 million a year, I'd love to keep Bay around for 4 or 5 years. Look at Bobby Abreu, he wants 3 years and 30 million for 5 less DB and half the HR's with worse defense.

Bay's the best OF acquisition we can make this offseason.

Bay's homerun total could have been higher in another stadium also... He had plenty of doubles that were line drives near the top of the wall and were still climbing. I have a good feeling he will stay in boston. He says its not all about numbers its where he is comfortable and he is very comfortable in Boston. I think Theo gets it done with Bay.

I don't mind Bay staying in Boston, all that means is Holliday won't be headed to Boston lol. I think the Angels make a strong push for both of those guys, hoping to land one of them. However, it wouldn't surprise me to see Holliday stay in the NL and Bay stay in Boston.

I just like the way he'd fit in the Angels offensive scheme. He plays ok defense, but he steals bases, and if he came here I think he'd swipe 20, he's patient and if he came here he'd have a similar effect that Abreu's patience had, and the power Bay would infuse into our lineup would make us more dangerous to teams that rely on power like the Yankees, because not only would we hit HR's but we'd play small ball as well.

I think Bay's two most likely destinations are Boston first and Anaheim 2nd. Either way, this guy's gonna get his payday. I'm honestly surprised a bigger deal isn't being made of him hitting the market. He's a gem.

Hey laaofca, aren't you a little concerned with how poorly Holliday did in the AL? First there were concerns about his home/road splits in Colorado, then he goes to Oakland and does poorly for the first few months. Perhaps he was adjusting to AL pitching as he did improve his numbers towards the end of his Oakland stay. However, those numbers still hardly warrant $15 million + a year. Yes, he did smash in St. Louis, but you have to consider 2 things: NL pitching (especially weaker NL Central) and batting in front of Pujols. Rivera could bat .300 30 hr 100 rbi if he was hitting in front of Pujols!

Didnt Holliday hit behind Pujols? I thought he hit cleanup and Albert was #3

Belive me, Jason Bay IS the REAL deal. I am from his hometown of Trail, BC, Canada and so i have followed him throughout his baseball career. He can hit HR in any ballpark. He did just that against the Angels in your home park in the playoffs last year. This year playing against the Yankees he hit .392 which included a monster HR off Rivera. He would be a great addition to your team.

Yes, Matt Holliday hit 4th to Pujols 3rd.

I know that you already know this stat about Jason Bay but I'm not sure a lot of Angels fans do, so I'll just add that he's ALREADY 31 yrs old as his birthday is 9 / 20 / 78.

As an Angels fan, are you sure you'd want to give a 5 yr / $75 Mil contract to a 31 yr old position player?

Bay's home and road splits this year are relatively even. He hit for a bit better average and OPS in Fenway than on the road. But he hit 21 road home runs compared to 15 at Fenway.

Both at home and on the road his splits were far above league averages.

And, he's ALREADY 31 yrs old.

I'd still prefer Bay over Matt Holliday who will be 30 next year, and doesn't hit well enough against AL pitching to justify the salary he's likely looking for.

Are you going solely by memory about Matt Holliday's #'s or did you actually look at them?

Or, is it that he's a Boras client as to why you don't like Holliday.

The #'s from which he began the '09 season in Oakland, the trend by July against AL pitching, and his previous #'s as to OB% and BA scream that you're wrong in your assessment of him.

It will probably turn out to be a moot point as, when all is said and done, both of them will either re-sign with their 09 team or both will sign in the top 2 spots in the AL Least.

"as to why you don't like Holliday"

Who says I don't like him? I don't like or dislike him. What I don't like is the Angels overpaying NL players and expecting them to hit as good in the AL when there is overwhelming evidence that for the last several years players, the majority of players who play in both leagues perform WORSE in the tougher AL.

His OPS+ numbers in his last 3 NL years were 150, 140, and 168.

He will be expecting a salary commensurate with such numbers.

But his OAK OPS+ was only 125. Very good, but not deserving of the same salary range.