After a difficult, but not unexpected loss (with Trevor Bell on the mound) against the Rangers, the Angels find themselves 7 games back in the division and 9 games back in the wild card race. However, the Angels received some good news with the acquisition of Diamondbacks ace Dan Haren. The Trifecta of Jered Weaver, Haren, and Ervin Santana should keep the rest of the division off balance not only this year, but for the next few seasons.

Most commentators believe this was a steal for the Angels, but it didn’t come free. Our beloved pitcher Joe Saunders has been sent to Arizona after spending 8 years in the Angels organization. His interview was difficult to watch as you could tell he really loved the Angels organization. But in my view, this move will be the best thing for him. He has really struggled these last two seasons, and although Chase Field is a hitters ballpark, a national league relocation should help his ERA. He also lives in Arizona, so the Diamondbacks organization will feel like home soon enough.

So what does this mean for the Angels in the last two months of the season?

Many have shown a legitimate concern for Dan Haren’s 4.60 ERA this season. However, in Haren’s other full seasons, his era only breached 4 once and his strikeout total has increased every full season he’s been in the majors. Also, his fly balls are leaving the stadium at an unusually high rate with 23 home runs given up this season. This is a trend that should not continue, especially at Angels Stadium. He has also averaged 221 innings the past five seasons while only walking an average of 46 batters a season. His K/BB ratio over those five seasons is also one of the best in the league at 4.17. Other names with these kind of numbers include Roy Halladay and C.C. Sabathia.

But even with this addition, the Angels still find themselves 7 games behind, what seems to be, a very good Texas team. Can this gap be closed? There is no doubt that the addition of Dan Haren will help, but let’s take a took at the competing schedules.

It doesn’t get any easier for either team, but the Angels do have a slight edge. Texas will face 25 above .500 teams and 9 below .500 teams, while the Angels will face 21 above .500 teams and 11 below .500 teams.

So for argument sake, let’s give the Angels 4 games for strength of schedule and 3 games for the addition of Dan Haren. What does this mean? Get ready for a stressful September Angels fans.

This off-season has marked one of the largest turnovers in Angel’s history. Lackey to the Red Sox, Figgins to the Mariners, and Vlad and Oliver to the Rangers. In response, the Angels quietly brought in three so-called “band-aid” free agents in Hideki Matsui, Fernando Rodney, and Joel Pinero. We have heard all off-season about how there are really no clear-cut “stars” on any part of this team. Torii Hunter is the favorite in the line-up, but even with his spectacular defense he usually struggles to hit .280. Weaver is the guy in the starting rotation, but he has yet to win more than 16 games in a season. And finally the bullpen, well, we’ll let Alex Rodriguez tell you who the star is there. Baseball Prospectus has the Angels finishing in last place in the AL West which is pretty difficult to swallow for Angels fans. So how will the Angels win without an ace, a dominant closer, or a big bat?

I seem to recall a World Championship caliber starting rotation that consisted of Jared Washburn, Ramon Ortiz, Kevin Appier, Aaron Sele, and young John Lackey. This mediocre rotation managed to sneak into the playoffs and take down the prize of the National League, the San Francisco Giants, who just so happened to be lead by dominant starting pitcher Jason Schmidt. Ok ok, I hear you. That was a magical year, but was it repeatable? Take a look at some other recently successful starting rotations.

2008 Tampa Bay Rays – Scott Kazmir, James Shields, Matt Garza, Andy Sonnanstine
2007 Colorado Rockies – Jeff Francis, young Ubaldo Jimenez, Josh Fogg, Aaron Cook
2004 St. Louis Cardinals – Woody Williams, Matt Morris, Jeff Suppan, Jason Marquis
2003 Florida Marlins – Brad Penny, Mark Redman, young Josh Beckett, Carl Pavano
2002 – Angels – See above

A couple of things to note: most of these teams lost in the World Series, and many of these pitchers would later become aces, but the point in all of this is that you have to give them a chance. Did anyone expect young Josh Beckett to destroy the Cubs’ hopes of a World Series title with his 100 mph fastball, or Justin Verlander to shut down the rest of the AL Central in his first full season? The Angels are filled with young, live arms who can do some major damage in this division. This is also an Angels lineup who is mostly still intact, and who were second to only the New York Yankees last year in runs scored. Scot Shields is back and healthy, and Fernando Rodney comes in after only blowing one save last year. Also, don’t forget guys like Kevin Jepsen, Brandon Wood, Kendry Morales (future MVP), or Howie Kendrick. In my view, there is not a team in the league with this kind of depth. (Sorry Red Sox fans)

Now as many of you know, I was pretty upset this off-season. I felt Figgins should have been brought back, that there were better, cheaper relievers available other than Fernando Rodney, and that the disposal of Rex Hudler was wrong. But no off-season is perfect in the free-agent era, and all-in-all, the Angels are a better team. This team of two’s will soon be remembered as great.

Rotation: Jered Weaver, Joe Saunders, Ervin Santana, Joel Pinero, Scott Kazmir
Bullpen: Brian Fuentes, Fernando Rodney, Scot Shields, Kevin Jepsen, Jason Bulger, Matt Palmer
Line-up: Erick Aybar, Bobby Abreu, Torii Hunter, Hideki Matsui, Kendry Morales, Juan Rivera, Howie Kendrick, Brandon Wood, Mike Napoli

- Tony C

Joe Saunders takes the mound tonight for what could be a possible postseason preview between the Angels and Yankees. The Angels have not had much trouble with the Yankees in the past, but this is a new Yankee team with a different manager. This team is more aggressive, and as Torii Hunter says, “they have a fire in them that I didn’t see last year.” It will be important for the Angels to keep the Yankees from building to much confidence against them for the playoffs.

The Yankees are definitely out to prove something this year, but so are the Angels. In fact, maybe more so. The Angels are currently fourth on ESPN’s power rankings, but have been higher than that for most of the second half of the season. An yet the story of the year seems to be the Yankees, Dodgers, and Cardinals. Yahoo Sports is really the only site that has given the Angels there fair share. Even so, I think Mike Scioscia and Angels prefer it that way. Without the spotlight the team can focus on the prize: another World Series.

Things to look for:

Kendry Morales has been in a major September slump, and in the last week he is hitting .138 with 12 stikeouts. He may have ruined his MVP chances, but look for him to try and gain some momentum for the playoffs.

Right now Scott Kazmir has the lead on a three way playoff rotation spot. Saunders had a rough last outing, so look for him to rebound tonight. There is still a chance Scioscia goes four deep, but it’s unlikely.

Pitching Match-ups:

Game 1: Saunders (13-7, 4.75 era) v. Pettitte (13-6, 4.14 era)

Game 2: Santana (7-8, 5.43 era) v. Gaudin (5-10, 4.81 era)

Game 3: Kazmir (9-8, 5.08 era) v. Burnett (11-9, 4.22 era)

Things to look for:

Brian Fuentes: Scioscia just had a closed door talk with Brian about his mechanics, so look for a short leash in save situations.

Kendry Morales/Juan Rivera: Both have been sluggish lately, so we’ll see if they get back to their hot hitting ways.

Monday: @New York
Jered Weaver v. Joba Chamberlain

Tuesday: @Boston
John Lackey v. Diasuke Matsuzaka

Wednesday: @Boston
Joe Saunders v. (TBA)

Thursday: @Boston
Ervin Santana v. Josh Beckett

September is here and in the next couple weeks, Mike Scioscia will look to adjust the rotation for the playoffs. This will obviously be done with caution as Texas is still breathing down our necks. So the question is: What will the Angels playoff rotation look like?

Typically in a five game series, a team will go with a three man rotation, but Mike Scioscia, because of our depth, will have the option of going with four. I understand that many of you believe that John Lackey has lost his playoff magic, but he will be our number one. There is still no one I would rather have in a big game than Big John. I understand his Josh Beckett match-ups have been ugly, but he will always keep you in the game.

The number two slot is where the question lies. Because of the year he is having Jered Weaver will be in the playoff rotation but I’m not sure if he will be in the two slot. Scioscia may want to mix it up with a lefty which leaves us two options, Joe Saunders and Scott Kazmir. I think it will come down to last minute decision. If the Angels lose game one, Scioscia may want to go with Weaver. Also, if the Angels play the Red Sox, game three will be at Fenway where Kazmir has had a lot of success.

So where does that leave Saunders and Ervin Santana? It looks like they will come out of the bullpen. The great thing about the Angels rotation though is that this could change. It’s a good problem to have.

Rotation Projections for the Division Series.

Angels vs. Red Sox

Game 1 @LA – John Lackey
Game 2 @LA – Jered Weaver
Game 3 @BOS – Scott Kazmir

Angels vs. Tigers

Game 1 @LA – John Lackey
Game 2 @LA – Scott Kazmir
Game 3 @DET – Jered Weaver

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

It’s waiver time and the Chicago White Sox have already made their move by picking up Alex Rios.  The Angels need to make a serious look at who is available out there to fill some holes in their starting rotation.

Joe Saunders finally went on the DL after 8 consecutive starts of giving up 4 or more runs in less than 6 innings.  Ervin Santana has done the same in his last 4 starts (and as I write this, he just finished throwing a complete game, 3 hit 6 strikeout shut out.  Thanks for making my point a little weaker Ervin…).  Jered Weaver is getting great run support and striking out opponents in handfulls, but he has 4 no-decisions in his last 8 starts, giving up more than 4 earned runs in each of those games.  John Lackey has been the only solid pitcher in entire rotation.

Now is the time for the Angels to do some shopping, and two players that just went on the market are two Cincinnati Reds: Bronson Arroyo and Aaron Harang.  According to the Cincinnati Enquirer, both players have cleared waivers and it could mean they could be pitching for another team soon.

Arroyo has a record of 10-11 this season with a 5.04 ERA.  Although he has 2 losses in his last 3 games, he’s been cursed with low run support (something the Angels can easily fix) and looks like he is starting to shape up.  His ERA is the highest it’s been since he came into the league in 2000.  Everything is up (ER, HR, BB) except for strikeouts.  However, he does have 3.61 career ERA in September, and could be a useful plug-in towards the end of the season.

Harang was a stud in the mid 2000s, winning 16 games in 2006 and 2007 with a high ERA of 3.83 and an average or 217 strikeouts.  But 2 years later, he has a record of 6-13, matching his win total last year with a 4.43 ERA.  He’s giving up a ton of runs and almost a home run per game, but he has less than 40 walks in 148 innings.  He almost has as many strikeouts as Angel leader Jered Weaver, only trailing him by 5 strikeouts with 132.  His last two starts in August have been impressive, only giving up 6 earned runs and striking out 14 in 14.1 innings.  He’s still got the heat, but gives up a ton of runs.

So who is the better fit for the Angels?  Gohalos.com wants you to tell us who you think might be a better fit in LA as a 5th starter or back up in the closing months of the season.  Visit our comments section and voice your opinion.