By Victor Varadi - AngelsWin.com Columnist
(Anaheim, CA) Reporting from Angel Stadium - Earlier the Los Angeles Angels GM Tony Reagins' met with the media to discuss the Kendry Morales injury and the options they're going to look at. Here's what Reagins' had to say to the questions he was asked while I was in attendance.
Tony, from your standpoint, obviously you gotta make some moves, Mike Napoli is at 1st base. But what’s the long-term goal at first base right now?
“Right now we have some internal options that we’re going to seek out and evaluate over the next few days, and then take the course of action from that point. There are options out there, both internally and externally, and we’ll take a look at each one of them.”
Will the performance of your internal options determine your external exploits?
“It will. Like I said, we have some players that are capable of playing first base for us. But we’ll take that day by day and as things become more available to us, we’ll explore them.”
How difficult is it to make a trade now that teams KNOW you’re looking? Does it become that much more difficult?
“In any trade you want to get value for value. Obviously in this situation things can be a challenge, but not as much of a challenge that we can’t overcome it.”
Are you currently exploring any potential Free Agents that might be out there?
“Like I said before, we are going to explore what we have internally at this point. Obviously, there are players out there who are free agents and players on other clubs that could potentially help us, but at this point we are going to explore internally.”
Does it hurt that we’re still 2 months from the trading deadline and the market hasn’t really developed yet?
“I don’t know if it hurts us because there are players that are potentially available, whether it be a current player, or players that are on the free agent market, so, again I think it’s my job to pursue every opportunity that’s out there that can potentially help us.”
Lance Berkman is available, could he be someone you’re looking at?
“In this environment I’m not going to get into players who are on current clubs. I will get into some trouble with the commissioner’s office if I start speaking about players that are under contract for other teams. But there are players out there that could potentially help us.”
Have you guys talked internally about a player like Jermaine Dye or Carlos Delgado?
“I think I’ve spoken to it before. There are players out there on the free agent market that are available. There are players under contract with other clubs that potentially could be available. But that’s something we are going to explore each day. First of all we are going to let our players who we have in-house go out and play and see where that takes us and then make adjustments from there.”
Do you think Napoli is a potential long-term solution given his lack of experience?
“He’s played there in the past and we know he’s capable of playing there. Obviously he hasn’t played there everyday, so, that’s a challenge. But as he gets out there and gets more comfortable he’ll get a chance to play out there. He’s one of our internal options and we’re going to pursue it.”
In terms of Mark Trumbo, how close is he to being able to contribute and is he someone who could be up at the club at some point in time?
“He’s an option. He’s a quality player and he’s having a good year there at Salt Lake. Again, that’s one of the options we have available to us.”
Does it make sense to rush a player like that into this situation?
“Well you want to make sure a player is ready. And with Mark, he does need some more seasoning at Triple A, so that’s not our first option. But it is an option for us.”
What’s your view on what’s an appropriate way to celebrate a game winning homerun?
“ Obviously yesterday’s situation wasn’t, the outcome wasn’t what we wanted. The injury being what it is, we definitely have to take a look at how we celebrate, and how players in general celebrate. I think this is an eye opener too, not only for baseball, but for all of sports as to how you celebrate after that type of a win. And we’ve addressed the club with respect to how we’re going to celebrate going forward. This is a tough lesson to learn.”
