Dustin Ackley signs with the Angels, for some reason I’m upset

Ordinarily blurbs on Lookout Landing are reserved for signings made by the Seattle Mariners. Today we are making an exception.

NOT COOL, ANGELS. Dustin Ackley has been a shell of the star we thought we saw emerging in 2011. It’s been three years since he generated a positive season of fWAR. A torn right shoulder labrum ended his season in May last year. Before the injury Ackley struggled, with a dismal .148/.243/.148 line while platooning in the outfield and at first base. In 2015 Ackley was hampered by back injuries and failed to show even the average performance he’d put together in the outfield during 2014. In all likelihood Ackley’s body is breaking down as much as his mechanics were dismantled during the mismanagement of the Jack Z era. None of that makes him returning into the division any less painful.

Ackley has been easy to root for his whole career. His easy smile and seemingly limitless potential seemed to signal the return to glory for Seattle, but he has instead become the symbol of what went wrong over and over again in the last decade. The chances of him having an impact on the Major League roster this year seem slim, and Ackley will turn 29 at the end of February. Few things, though, will feel as wrong as seeing him in red and white, even just in Spring Training.

It had to be the Angels, Dustin? I thought you had Kyle Seager’s back?

Joking aside, best of luck to Ackley, and I hope he plays well enough to earn the interest of another, preferably National League club.