I didn’t think it was possible for Torii Hunter to make me this angry with the great season he is having, but he found a way. Because he had to go and strain his abductor muscle (whatever that is), now us Angel fans are stuck having to watch Gary Matthews play every day for the rest of the month and then stick with the Angels for the rest of the year. I can’t imagine a crueler fate.
Before Torii got hurt, it seemed that the Angels were actually getting themselves to a place where they could finally rid themselves of the much maligned Private Matthews. His abortion of a five-year, $50 million contract is halfway done, so they are finally at a point where Arte Moreno would be willing to swallow the rest of the cash in order to swap Matthews for a useful bullpen arm. Since it is mid-season and teams are getting desperate for bats, there might be a few suckers out there willing to actually give something up for this free agent bust extraordinaire, unlike during the off-season when teams have free agents to choose from.
Some didn’t think it existed, but this might be the only picture ever of Gary Matthews Jr. getting congratulated by his teammates for doing something good.
But since the Angels now need someone to man centerfield for them until July, Matthews has gone from the very definition of expendable to a temporarily integral member of the team since the Angels have few other options in center (since they don’t seem to believe in Reggie Willits as a full-time option out there). Stomaching Matthews and his horr-awful .611 OPS for three-to-four weeks will certainly leave a bad taste in my mouth but is something I could handle. However since there is no guarantee Torii Hunter will be fully healthy the rest of the year, the Angels will no doubt want to hold onto Matthews as an insurance policy should Hunter’s groin start going wonky again in the middle of the pennant race. God forbid they be left without a guy who strikes out looking every fourth at-bat to act as a key reserve.
To Angel fans, this development is simply revolting. Matthews has been a thorn in the Angels’ collective side since he first signed his contract in the summer of 2007. Before the ink had even dried on his new hefty contract he was embroiled in an HGH buying scandal, which was just a hint of what was to come for the Angels’ new centerfielder. While he wasn’t too terrible in 2007 (.252 AVG, 18 HR, 18 SB, .742 OPS), he came nowhere close to earning his $10 million a year salary. But then 2008 came and Private Matthews flamed out entirely. He gimped around on a bad knee all season long, leading to a .676 OPS, only he refused to tell the team that he was hurting, choosing instead to keep the injury under wraps while dragging the line-up down around him. Thanks for that, Gary. Despite these transgressions, Matthews somehow found the audacity to call out Angel management after they signed Bobby Abreu, demoting Junior Matthews to part-time player status.
Really, Gary? You’re mad that you have been one of the worst everyday players in the league for two years running and have now lost your starting job? Good thing you put your money where your mouth was and took full advantage of your platoon role by performing so poorly that you were demoted to the bench permanently by the end of May. Are you trying to antagonize the entire fan base? You grew up in California, this should be a dream come true for you, but you have gone out of your way to turn into a shared nightmare.
Oh, if only this was a pic of GMJ packing his bags for good.
If you have any soul at all, Gary, you better play your ass of these next few weeks to try and build at least a little bit of value once again. That way the Angels can trade your sorry butt this off-season to get you out of everyone’s hair and you can get that full-time job that your delusional mind still thinks you deserve. And don’t even think about being a jackass and invoking your no-trade clause because you don’t want to go somewhere like Cincinnati. You should be grateful that a major league team might actually still want you.
Let’s just make the best of this untenable situation. Matthews is now a necessary evil for the Angels. If he is going to continue to constantly strike out looking, he just needs to pretend that he cares for a change so as not to give me and thousands of other fans an aneurysm. Expectations for Sarge Junior are so low that just keeping his mouth shut and playing at the level of a below-average major leaguer is enough to keep the Angel faithful from frothing at the mouth. So, Gary, if you can at least do that much, I think we can all weather this nasty turn of events and go our separate ways this winter. Deal?