Breaking Down the Weaver Extension

Jered Weaver was just recently extended to a 5/85MM contract, that comes with a full no-trade clause.This buys out his last year of arbitration, where he was set to earn 10-15MM. What this means for the Angels is that their top 3 starters: Weaver, Haren, and Santana are all locked up until 2013 (assuming Haren and Santana's options are picked up). This also means that Weaver won't be in a Yankee uniform after 2012, which was widely speculated if he got to free agency. Another thing is that he was extended in the middle of the year, and he's a Boras agent which happens very rarely. This shows that Weaver wanted to stay in Anaheim no matter what, he could be a career Angel. With Reagins and Moreno showing that they can negotiate with Boras, maybe they could negotiate a signing for a big bat this offseason. Especially since the contracts of Rodney, Kazmir, GMJ, and Piniero coming off the books, and not to mention Mathis will probably not be offered arbitration, and Morales' arbitration should be fairly cheap. Anyways, enough of that, lets talk about Weaver.

Weaver left a LOT of money on the table when he signed off for the extension.

Burnett: 5/82.5MM
Lackey: 5/82.5MM
Cliff Lee: 5/120MM
C.C Sabathia: 7/152MM
Weaver: 5/85MM

The advantage with him staying in Anaheim, is that he is an extreme flyball pitcher, and having one of the best defenses in the AL AND pitching in a stadium where it is very difficult for a left-handed hitter to hit a home run. Pitching in Angels stadium is perfect for Weaver. For his career, 49.7% of the balls Weaver has allowed to be put in play at home have been fly balls, and only 6.0% of those have been home runs. The defense in the OF will only get better, this years OF:
Wells, Bourjos, Hunter
Next years OF:
Trout, Bourjos, Hunter
2013 OF:
Trout, Bourjos, Grichuk

Weaver made a smart choice to stay in Anaheim, because he pitches perfectly for the stadium and defense around him. After his 5 years are up, he will be 34 going into the offseason, potentially setting him up for another contract, probably around 3 years and 30MM, maybe more. So a 14 year career with the Angels seems reasonable, with him getting his 100th win in a few years, and his 1,000 strikeout next year. He might not be the Angels HOF pitcher, or the best pitcher with the Angels, but he might be one a career Angel. He might pass Chuck Finley in career wins, and Nolan Ryan in career strikeouts (with the Angels, obviously).