Mets acquire Gary Matthews Jr. in trade with Angels

Posted on January 22, 2010

Gary Matthews #24 of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim bats against the Oakland Athletics during the game at the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum on July 18, 2009 in Oakland, California. (Photo by Brad Mangin)

 

Switch-hitting outfielder Gary Matthews Jr. has been traded from the Los Angeles Angels to the New York Mets this afternoon in exchange for relief pitcher Brian Stokes (2-4 with a 3.97 ERA in 69 games last season) and cash considerations. Matthews has two years and $23 million remaining on his contract and the Angels will be paying most of that money. Matthews also gets $500,000 for being traded, according to SI.com’s Jon Heyman.

The Mets were getting nervous that outfielder Carlos Beltran might not make it back from knee surgery in a timely manner, so they needed to look elsewhere for outfield help. They ended up looking far away to Anaheim, where the Angels were stuck with the huge five-year, $50 million contract Matthews signed with them before the 2007 season. Things have not gone well for Matthews in Anaheim and has only batted .248 in his three seasons there and just .250 in a part-time role in 2009.

I remember shooting Matthews when he was a rookie with the Padres in 1999. I was excited to see him in a big league uniform because his father Gary Matthews was one of my favorite players when I was growing up. Gary Matthews Sr. (nicknamed Sarge) played left field for the San Francisco Giants in 1973 when I became a Giants fan. I was 8-years-old and Matthews teamed up with Bobby Bonds and Garry Maddox to form one of the best and fastest outfields in Major League Baseball history. Any son of Sarge had to be a great player, right?

Unfortunately Jr.’s career did not get off to a very good start. He bounced all over the big leagues, making stops with the Cubs (see above), Pirates, Mets, Orioles, and Padres again before finally settling down with the Rangers in 2004. In Texas Matthews started to establish himself and put together some good seasons, as his offensive production finally started to improve, while his defensive play in center field was dazzling.

Everything came together for Matthews in 2006 when he hit .313 with 19 homers and 79 RBIs and made the All-Star team. He had struck gold by putting together such a fine offensive season and continuing to show up on the ESPN highlights all the time making great catches in center field. He was a free agent that winter and commanded the above-mentioned HUGE contract from the Angels. Unfortunately for Matthews things went bad for him before he ever played a game in Anaheim when SI.com reported in February 2007 that Matthews was sent human growth hormone by Applied Pharmacy in August 2004, an accusation he denied. Major League Baseball concluded there was insufficient evidence to discipline him. Matthews had a disappointing year with the Angels in 2007 hitting .252 average with 18 homers and 72 RBIs, then lost his center field job when the Angels signed Torii Hunter.

It was pretty much all downhill from the 2007 season for Matthews with the Angels, which is too bad. Matthews is a really good guy who always has a smile in the dugout and some good words to say about his father, who is now doing some television broadcasting work for the Philadelphia Phillies. I hope this change of scenery works out well for Matthews. He has always been fun to shoot, I will miss seeing him as often as I did when he was playing in the AL West. I only see the Mets once a year when they come to play the Giants. I hope to see his smile in the visiting dugout at AT&T Park soon.