A few days ago I wrote an article asking for some much needed pitching help. Well, once again Tony Reagins has come through with a potential star. Now there are some concerns. Scott Kazmir has been injured much of the season, and when healthy he has not performed as he usually does. This is a high risk high reward kind of trade; however, the Angels really didn’t have to give up much so it was well worth it.

The Angels have used a major league record 13 starters this season. Many have come though, such as Matt Palmer, many have not. With Joe Saunders back strong there was really only one spot to filll in the rotation.

So what are we getting. Yes, Scott Kazmir, when healthy, is a solid starting pitcher. A potential ace. The Angels however, are pretty full of solid staring pitching. I don’t have to tell you that our problem is recent years has been losing to the damn Red Sox, and this year, losing to the Texas Rangers. Well, Scott Kazmir have a career 3.59 era against the Red Sox, and a career 2.28 era against the Rangers. In addition, Kazmir started game one of the World Series last year and was outstanding in the playoff.

So we now have a potential ace with proven success in the playoff for a low 12 million next season and three no name minor leaguers. This was a home run for the Angels. Yet another sign that the Angels just might be this years team of destiny.

- Tony C

A’s(55-71) v. Angels(75-49) @LA 7:25pm TV:FS-West

Brett Tomko(3-2 3.69 era) v. Trevor Bell(1-1 9.49 era)

After a tease for Tampa Bay pitcher Scott Kasmir, the Angels look to bring back the focus of the fans by actually winning a game. This will will be a make or break start for Trevor Bell. Hopefully can get back to their hitting ways against Brett Tomko and the A’s

Team Matchup:

In the spirit of countering to the constant bombardment of east coast sentiment offered by ESPN I have decided to but together a West Coast Bias Top Ten. Thanks for letting me vent.

10. Don’t patronize us with Sports Center LA and Stewart Scott.

9. West Coast: 30 home runs = 30 home runs
East Coast: 30 home runs = 20 home runs

8. Baseball is a family game, not a single fat guy game.

7. West Coast: 30 home runs = 12-19 million dollars
East Coast: 30 home runs = 22.5 million dollars

6. The wave is a fun fan experience.

5. A regular season ticket is not worth $1500.

4. A Boston Red Sox announcer should not be announcing the playoffs. (On the other hand we could just pair him up with Rex)

3. Steve Phillips is not a GM anymore for a reason; therefore, he should keep his commentary to a minimum.

2. There are two other teams in the AL Wildcard race other than the Boston Red Sox

1. Minnesota, Los Angeles, and Detroit are the possible homes of the future AL MVP. New York should not even be in the conversation.

-Tony C

A’s(55-71) v. Angels(75-49) @LA 7:25pm TV:FS-West

Pitching Matchup:

Trevor Cahill(6-12 4.86 era) v. Ervin Santana(7-6 6.13 era)

After two lost series the Angels throw out there most consistant pitcher of late, Ervin Santana. He will face of against Trevor Cahill and the last place A’s. This should be a chance for the Angels to get back to their winning ways.

P.S. There are a lot of good tickets available for the weekend on stubhub.com

Team Matchup:

It’s been a rough end of the month for the Angels. Halo fans witnessed a rarity in 2009: 3 consecutive losses. It’s only happened 3 other times this year. Los Angeles Dodgers/Colorado Rockies in June, Texas Rangers in May, and Minnesota Twins in April. The Angels have only been swept in 2 series, and have never lost more than 3 in a row. Some might be concerned about the recent increase in the loss column after LAA dropped 5 of its last 7 games. It’s easy to get swept up in the recent downturn, but GoHalos is here to right the ship of despair.

Yes, this has been a rough couple of series, but up until this past week of games, the Angels were 12-5 in August, averaging just over 6 runs a game. Despite our struggles, we had created so much space between us and the Texas Rangers that we still have a 5 game cushion and are tied for the second most wins in baseball. Don’t forget, Torii Hunter is back and starting to look like his old self, recording a hit in every game he’s played in since his return on August 16. His current hit streak is punctuated by 3 consecutive multi-hit games, improving his batting average to a team-high .318. Chone Figgins seems to be taking after Hunter, also having 3 consecutive multi-hit games which included 2 steals to bring his 2009 total to 39. Juan Rivera has quietly tallied 72 RBIs and hit 20 homeruns, only trailing possibly AL MVP candidate Kendry Morales in that category (27). And then there’s Howie Kendrick. Angel fans not only had to suffer through Howard’s commercials, but also had to endure his poor performance on the field. Since getting the call up on July 4th, he’s totalled 8 doubles, 4 homeruns and 26RBIs, raising his batting average nearly 40 points. Manager Mike Scioscia has seemed to figure out how to rotate the three-headed monster that consists of Kendrick, Maicer Izturis, and Erick Aybar.

Pitching woes? We’ve had to deal with that all year. But don’t be too concerned. Despite Ervin Santana having an enormous 6.13 ERA, he has won 4 straight games. Worried about John Lackey and his 11 innings, 11 earned runs in his 2 past starts? Don’t be. Before those recent outings, he had only allowed 11 runs in 52.1 innings with a 5-1 record in 7 starts. To top it off, Lackey, Santana and Jered Weaver have all pitched complete game shutouts in a little over a month. How many teams can send out a core of pitchers that can do that? Plus, Joe Saunders returns off the DL yesterday to pitch his best quality start since June 24, surrendering 2 earned runs in 5 innings while striking out 6. Welcome back, Joe.

The Angels will begin a 4-games series against the Oakland Athletics, who are 4th in the AL West with a 55-71 record. They are 6-3 against the A’s this year, and will face 3 rookies and a 36-year-old journeyman whose combine records totals 20-32 with a 4.55 ERA.

There’s really no reason to worry. The Angels have put themselves in a great position on top of the AL West, and will look to close out the season with their sights set on another Championship.

-Kevin H.

John Lackey failed to get his 100th win again last night and the pitching problems for the Angels continue. Yahoo sports reported today that the Angels tried to get Billy Wagner but the Red Sox had the better waiver position. That would have been consider the Angels only have two relievers who have actually finished out a major league season. In addition to John Lackey’s woes Jered Weaver seems to have lost his early season magic. What will the Angels do?

Well, before we get two worried there is a positive outlook. For the Playoffs your only really need three starters due to the distance between games. Ervin Santana has learned great lately and Joe Saunders returns on Wednesday and say he feels better than he has all year. Our big four are Lackey, Weaver, Saunders, and Santana. We really only need three of them to get their act together, and the fourth we can send to the bullpen for the playoffs.

Also, September call-ups are just around the corner. This should allow our young arms to take some pressure off our pitchers for the final month of the season. So I know at this point, a matchup against Josh Beckett and the Red Sox is dreadful, but remember we only need three.

- Tony C

Tigers(66-58) v. Angels(74-49) @LA 7:05pm TV:FS-West

Pitching Matchup:

Jarrod Washburn(8-7 3.18 era) v. John Lackey(8-6 4.00 era)

Both the Angels and John Lackey look to bounce back tonight after previous difficult losses. Both, however, showed some promise. John was great in his last outing until some bad luck late in the game, and the Angels nearly came back from a 10-0 deficit. Another great game to watch.

Team Matchup:

Tigers(65-58) v. Angels(74-48) @LA 7:05pm TV:ESPN 2 / FS-West

Pitching Matchup:

Justin Verlander(13-7 3.29 era) v. Jered Weaver(13-4 3.89 era)

The Angels are back home tonight for what could be a division series preview. This series will be full of pitching duels and tonight is no exception. Jered Weaver and Justin Verlander are both looking for their 14th win. Should be a good. Make sure you tune in.

Team Matchup:

It was a rough weekend if you were a rookie starting pitcher for the Angels. Sean O’Sullivan’s Friday night start ended in a close 4-5 loss thanks to a 3-run shot from Mike Napoli in the top of the 9th. However, after his 1-inning 4-run performance, the Angels decided to send him back down to the minors to work out some kinks. This was his fourth consecutive outing allowing at least 4 runs in no more than 5 innings. The Halos called on Southern California local Trevor Bell to pitch today, but he also struggled, giving up 6 earned runs in just 1.2 innings of work.

The blame can’t totally be put on the pitching staff. The Angels have been scoring in droves, averaging a little over 6 runs a game in August. However they only broke 6 once this weekend in the 7-3 win on Saturday (which was also Ervin Santana’s 4th win in a row; hopefully the beginning of a great trend). Chone Figgins, Bobby Abreu, Torii Hunter, and Kendry Morales collectively batted 9-for-43 with 3 runs, 2 RBIs, and 11 strikeouts.

However, there were some highlights. Napoli has proven again that he can come up big with runners in scoring position. Vladimir Guerrero had a great weekend, batting 6-for-14 with 4 runs, a homerun and a RBI. Juan Rivera also continued his stellar 2009 season, batting 5-for-13 with a couple RBIs and knocking out his 20th homerun. Angels relief pitchers also had a successful weekend, as 7 relievers pitched 16.2 innings, only allowing 3 runs. Control was an issue though, allowing 16 hits and walking 7.

Jose Arredondo looked back to his dominant 2008 form, striking out 5 in 3 innings while only giving up 1 hit. Darren Oliver and Kevin Jepsen also pitched scoreless innings, striking out 3 in the process. Shane Loux finally bounced back after three poor outings, throwing 2 shut out innings.

The Angels head back to Anaheim to take on the Detroit Tigers, who are first in the AL Central. They are 6-4 in their last 10 games, and are currently 3-3 with the Halos after the first two series. The Tigers will send out their ace Justin Verlander, who was out-dueled by Santana despite an 8-inning, 7K shut out performance. The Angels will send Jered Weaver out on the mound Monday night, who will make his first appearance after a complete game shut out last Wednesday. Get excited to watch a great game at 7:05pm on Fox Sports West. Go Halos!

-Kevin H.

When ranking candidates for AL MVP I look at a few things. I look first for the player to manufacture a huge chunk of the teams runs, to the point where the team would be hurting without the player. I also look for the player to not hurt the team in any particular stat category. Finally, I look for a player one of the overall best pure hitters in the American League.

1. Joe Mauer - runs(73), avg(.378), HR(25), RBI(77)
(This was pretty clear to me as Mauer may be one of the greatest hitters of our time)

2. Justin Morneau - runs(79), avg(.298), HR(28), RBI(94)
(He seems to be in this race every year. He is not flashy, but sure does put up the numbers)

3. Carl Crawford - runs(78), avg(.321), HR(12), SB(54)
(Stolen bases are like a guaranteed double, and that’s a lot of extra base hits)

4. Kendry Morales - runs(66), avg(.302), HR(27), RBI(81)
(I know this is a surprise, but look at the numbers)

5. Bobby Abreu - runs(74), avg(.311), HR(11), RBI(81), SB(26)
(Probably the best overall numbers in the American league)

6. Ichiro Suzuki - runs(72), avg(.365), HR(8), SB(24)
(Really just here because he is hitting .365)

7. Chone Figgins - runs(94), avg(.305), HR(3), SB(37)
(Chone Figgins might be the most important player for the Angels offensive production)

8. Mark Teixeira - runs(73), avg(.283), HR(31), RBI(89)
(I had to put him on hear even though I didn’t want to)

9. Miquel Cabrera - runs(71), avg(.335), HR(24), RBI(72)
(His RBI’s are down, but that really isn’t his fault)

10. Evan Longoria - runs(69), avg(.276), HR(24), RBI(88)
(He may move up in this race with an end of season surge)

Angels(73-45) v. Blue Jays(55-64) @TOR 4:07pm TV: FS-West

Pitching Matchup:

Sean O’Sullivan(3-1 5.91 era) v. Marc Rzepczynski(1-3 3.98 era)

The road trip continues as the Angels take on the disappointing Toronto Blue Jays. The Angels offense has had a bit of a hiccup the last couple of games; however, this to reason to be frightened and the Angels should be back to their winning ways very soon. Look for our September call-ups report very soon.

Team Matchup:

Angels(73-45) v. Indians(51-68) @CLE 4:05pm TV: FS-West

Pitching Matchup:

John Lackey(12-4 4.12 era) v. Justin Masterson(4-8 4.88 era)

John Lackey goes for the 100th win of his career while the Angels look to win their 6th straight against the struggling Cleveland Indians. The Angels won last night, but they only had three hits. It will be interesting to see if they get their hot hitting back on track.

Team Matchup: