Angel Pagan
From BR Bullpen
Angel Anthony Pagan
- Bats Both, Throws Right
- Height 6' 1", Weight 180 lbs.
- School Indian River Community College
- High School Republica de Columbia High School
- Debut April 3, 2006
- Born July 2, 1981 in Rio Piedras, P.R.
[edit] Biographical Information
Scouted by Gary LaRocque, Outfielder Angel Pagan was the 4th-round pick of the New York Mets in the 1999 amateur draft. When the two parties failed to come to terms, Pagan played in community college for a year, then signed with the Mets a day before they would have lost rights to him. He debuted with the 2000 Kingsport Mets and hit .361/.410/.458 with six steals in seven tries in 19 games.
In '01, Angel hit .298/.365/.351 in 15 outings with the Capital City Bombers but spent most of the year with the Brooklyn Cyclones (.315/.388/.374, 30 for 48 in SB). He led the New York-Penn League in times caught stealing while tying Chris Duffy for the league SB lead. Pagan made the NY-P All-Star team in the outfield and Baseball America rated him the league's #14 prospect.
In 2002, Pagan had a .279/.325/.338 line for the Bombers and stole 52 in 73 tries. With the St. Lucie Mets, he hit .343/.405/.448 in 16 games and stole 10 of 12. He was fifth in the minor leagues in steals overall. The next season, the 21/22-year-old struggled in St. Lucie, only hitting .249/.307/.313 and being thrown out in 15 of 50 steal attempts.
The 2004 season brought Angel to AA, where he had a good year for the Binghamton Mets (.288/.346/.406, 29 SB, only 5 times caught). In '05, the outfielder was a stop shy of the majors, batting .271/.333/.395 for the Norfolk Tides. He fanned 111 times and was caught 15 times in 42 tries to steal but did leg out 10 triples. He tied Tony Pena Jr. for the International League lead in times caught stealing.
The Chicago Cubs purchased Pagan's contract from New York that winter. He played seven games in the minors for Chicago but spent most of the year as a backup corner outfielder and pinch-hitter, batting .247/.306/.394 for the 2006 Cubs.
Pagan hit .250/.310/.414 in 33 games for the Iowa Cubs in 2007 with 6 steals in 7 tries then was called up when Félix Pie was sent down. He hit .264/.306/.439 in 71 games for the 2007 Cubs. Angel returned to the Mets that off-season in a deal for Corey Coles and Ryan Meyers. He was limited by injury in 2008 and batted .275/.346/.374 while seeing some rehab action in the minors.
For the 2009 Mets, Angel batted .306/.350/.487 with 11 triples as a back-up who played in 88 games, filling in at center field for Carlos Beltran when he was injured. Despite his part-time role, he was 4th in the 2009 NL in three-baggers behind Shane Victorino, Stephen Drew and Michael Bourn.
Pagan became a starter in center in 2010 and was hitting .286/.354/.429 after 42 games. On May 19, he hit an inside-the-park homer and started a triple play in the same game. It had been 55 years since Ted Kazanski was the last performer to accomplish both feats in the same contest.
Main Sources: 2000-2006 Baseball Almanacs
