FanHouse Bobby Abreu

In Advanced Scouting, MLB FanHouse's professional talent evaluator breaks down offseason moves from a scouting perspective.

It hasn't taken long for the Hot Stove to get heated up as we roll past the World Series. Some key players have already been locked up and some high upside trades have already gone down. What do these moves mean for each club involved and how will the players dealt respond to their new homes? Just as significant, how important will the prospects dealt turn out to be?

From Mark Teahen headed to Chicago, to the Carlos Gomez for J.J. Hardy swap, to Bobby Abreu's new deal with the Angels, each move had a distinct impact. Perhaps the most interesting of these, however, was Jeremy Hermida being shipped to Boston. For the price of a pair of young lefties, the Red Sox took a gamble that may prove very worthy.

After a few efforts over the second half of the season, the Angels were able to re-sign outfielder Bobby Abreu on Thursday, locking up the first of many potential free agents on thier roster.

According to a major league source, Abreu will get $9 million in 2010 and 2011. There is a $1 million buyout on a $9 million option for 2012, but Abreu can guarantee the third year with a certain number of plate appearances.

"We are excited to have Bobby and the presence he brings to our organization," said general manager Tony Reagins in a prepared statement. "He was an integral part of what we accomplished in 2009 and we look forward to his contributions both on and off the field."

NEW YORK -- They could have tossed aside their mittens and shunned their wool coats, that's how blistering hot the cozy confines of the new Yankee Stadium felt now that CC Sabathia had everything under control. It's been quite awhile since this corner of the Bronx has rocked with so much confidence and rolled with such delightful expectations, but that's what happens when the ace doesn't sweat.

Up on their feet, banging whatever or whoever stood near, tens of thousands of Yankee fans rose as one and emptied their lungs in rapturous unison: CC! CC! CC! It wasn't just that Sabathia was blowing through Angel hitters with shocking ease; no, it was so much more. It was the eighth inning and he was still throwing ridiculous heat, his fastball kissing the inside corner of the plate, his slider hypnotizing the batters from Southern California until it looked as if they were swinging at the big lefty's stuff with greased-up surfboards.

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In Advanced Scouting, MLB FanHouse's professional talent evaluator breaks down each of the playoff teams from a scouting perspective.

There are a lot of reasons that the Angels lead baseball in team batting average. Beyond the general fact that they are just loaded with quality hitters, they are loaded with hitters that are as comfortable hitting off-speed pitchs as they are the fastball. To shut down these hitters, you need to attack with power stuff and aggression. They thrive on jumping on pitches early in the count and forcing pitchers to go to secondary offerings before they want to.

By not allowing the pitcher that first-pitch strike, the Angels are creating a great deal of discomfort and taking him out of his rhythm. If you run out a pitcher with merely average stuff, Los Angeles has the approach to handle changing speeds.

Every Sunday, MLB FanHouse empties out its notebook in Baseball Brunch.

Bobby Abreu's influence has its limitations.

Vladimir Guerrero is still going to swing at everything.

But besides his fine season -- 89 runs scored, 96 RBI, .823 OPS -- Abreu seems to have passed on his patience at the plate to the rest of his Angels teammates.

"He's got the younger players understanding patience isn't a bad thing," Chone Figgins told FanHouse. "It's not about not being aggressive, but being patient, getting a pitch to hit. There's nothing wrong with being 1-1 and hitting, or 1-2, or 2-2.

"It's not something simple to do, but I think we did a good job of it in spring training and have tried to bring it into the season and have so far done a good job."

From the Windup is Matt Snyder's extended look at some aspect of America's pastime each Thursday.

Every Hot Stove season, each team reshapes its roster in an attempt to better themselves. After each transaction, whether a free agent acquisition, trade or something else, writers and bloggers everywhere provide knee-jerk reactions on each particular move. Though the majority of the analysis is educated, it's still just conjecture. Today, we'll take the long view and look back at some of the maneuvering this past offseason and see how it played out on the field.

BALTIMORE -- These aren't George Bush's Angels.

Something big has changed in Anaheim over the past year, and while it certainly has nothing to do with Bush or Barack Obama, it does have to do with a shift in power.

Namely, the Angels -- that scrappy juggernaut in the AL West known for pitching, defense and the type of speed-oriented offensive game that sets traditionalist hearts aflutter -- have it in spades.

"We're a great hitting team," Angels center fielder Torii Hunter told FanHouse. "We're a better hitting team than a lot [of the others] in the American League."

Poppin' out the box scores and right into your cubicle, the Roto Rush is your double espresso shot of fantasy baseball advice every weekday.

The Nationals of all teams are the hottest club in baseball. They've won five straight games, scoring no fewer than five runs in each of their six games in August. Mike MacDougal recorded saves in four of those five wins, but the real hero in Washington is Ryan Zimmerman.

Poppin' out the box scores and right into your cubicle, the Roto Rush is your double espresso shot of fantasy baseball advice every weekday.

In 2005, Tom Gorzelanny pitched in the majors for the first time. He was just 22. Two years later, he went 14-10 with a 3.88 ERA -- logging more than 200 innings in 32 starts for the hapless Pittsburgh Pirates. He did allow too many hits, but he was only 25 years old, so it appeared he would settle in as an anchor for the ever-rebuilding Pirates.

Instead, he had a disastrous past two seasons and had been relegated to the minors. Last week, Gorzelanny was traded to the Cubs, and Tuesday night he passed his Cubs debut with flying colors.

Poppin' out the box scores and right into your cubicle, the Roto Rush is your double espresso shot of fantasy baseball advice every weekday.

We've seen our fair share of no-hitters and perfect games get busted up in late this season, maybe even more then our fair share. In fact, if Jonathan Sanchez hadn't finally made it all the way through nine innings back in early July, I'd think there was some sort of conspiracy against the no-hit bid in 2009.

Sunday, Brett Anderson took a perfect game into the seventh inning against the Los Angeles Angels. But, just like most of the attempts for perfection this season, the Angels found a way to play spoiler. This time it was Bobby Abreu in the seventh inning.

Abreu also was responsible for breaking up Anderson's perfect game, grounding a clean single through the left side with two outs in the seventh. Anderson promptly picked him off.