Show The rising cost of inning eighth-inning specialists Bill Los Angeles Times I The cash register inside the the mind of Scot Shields kept ringing all winter long ong The Angels spent 50 million on Gary Matthews Jr Whatever The Angels spent 18 18 million on Justin Ka-ching Ka It wasn't about the Angels It was about middle relievers I was excited Shields said where that market was going Danys Baez to the Baltimore Orioles for 19 million Jamie Walker Valker to the Orioles for 12 I 2 million S nH Sh C I 1 ULL J co tt o v c oen 10 to me LII New York Mets and Chad Bradford to the Orioles for 11 million each Those were the three- three year deals Then there were the year one-year deals LaTroy H Hawkins to the Colorado and Roberto Hernandez to the Cleveland Indians for 35 million each David Riske to the Kansas City Royals for million Chris to the Seattle Mariners for 2 million So by the time the Angels got around to a anew anew anew new contract with Shields 10 days ago he knew he would not have to choose between staying in Anaheim or leaving for forthe forthe forthe the big bucks as a closer somewhere I-f I He ier got matching contracts contracts' four four years million 18 18 million to set setup setup setup up Francisco Rodriguez When the Angels won the World Series five years ago was the paid highest-paid setup man manon manon manon on the playoff roster at The spiraling market for middle relievers reflects I supply and demand With pitching at a premium in trade talks the Atlanta Braves had to give up Adam LaRoche and his 32 home runs to get setup man Mike Gonzalez from the Pittsburgh Pirates free agents can sit back and cash in Good pitching is hard to get Angels General Manager Bill Stoneman said Middle relievers starters they're all hard to get in deals The Angels have the foundation to dominate the American League West Vest for years to come if Baseball Americas America's annual L talent ranKings are any indication The magazine ranked the Angels fourth in minor league talent among the 30 major league clubs far ahead of their division rivals The Seattle Mariners ranked the Oakland Athletics and the Texas Rangers The National League West rankings Colorado at No 2 Arizona Diamondbacks at No 3 Dodgers at No 6 San Francisco Giants at No 20 San Diego Padres at No 29 Tip o 0 the cap to the folks with the Lancaster Calif As baseball executives fret over how to attract a new generation of fans in this era of extreme sports and video games the the best idea Let em em in free By joining the kids club children 12 and under get free admission to every game except on July 4 Nothing sells a day at the ballpark better than well a day at the ballpark |