Tom Tango has an excellent post on his blog about what would happen if god were to come down and make every baseball player on every team possess the exact same talent level, and how luck would factor into it. It’s a great read, and I definitely recommend it:
http://www.insidethebook.com/ee/index.php/site/article/god_and_500/

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According to multiple sources, minor league OFer Peter Bourjos has been called up to join the Major League club. While Bourjos was on a tear offensively for Triple-A Salt Lake, this move is seen as more of a defensive move, since the fly-catching struggles of our malfunctioning quintet of Rivera, Matsui, Hunter, and Abreu are pretty well documented, both here and elsewhere. Unfortunately, Hunter is still firmly entrenched in the Angels’ CF, with too many people still in love with the reputation of his defense to see the way he’s eroded over the years. Because of this, [...]

Thanks to LAAngelsInsider.com for posting this!
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Matsui’s Second Half Success Key For Angels
In the larger scheme of things it was just one home run. A two run shot in the 7th inning of a 6-2 ball game in July.  However Hideki Matsui’s first home run in almost a month felt much bigger than that. The “blast” that barely cleared the short porch in right not only gave the Angels an 8-2 lead over (Matsui’s former team) the Yankees, but it also gave them hope that maybe… just maybe Hideki can turn things around and provide them with the consistent power presence they thought they’d acquired this winter. [...]

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Although we’re a little past the break now, due to some technical problems beyond my control, I still wanted to finish up our look at where the Angels stand in the three facets of the game – pitching, offense, and defense – at the All-Star Break. If you’re feeling down about our recent losses, despite the Haren acquisition, then I hope reading this won’t push you over the edge. Consider yourself warned, and I’ll see you after the jump.

Finally some good news.  Haren visited with team doctor Lewis Yocum and received positive news when X-rays on his forearm came back negative.
The X-rays didn’t show anything. They looked pretty clear so it’s just a matter of getting the soreness and swelling out of there.  I got out there and threw from about 150-200 feet today and felt pretty good … so as of now I’d like to think I’ll be good to go on Saturday.  I guess I got lucky.  Dr. Lewis Yocum said that if it had hit an inch lower it would’ve been on [...]

The title is pretty self-explanatory.  Kevin Youkilis hit a rocket up the middle that hit Haren flush in the hand/wrist area.  Haren was really starting to dominate.  It did not look very good, either.  He dropped to the ground in agony, but was quickly standing and trying to shake his wrist area loose.  It hardly took 5 seconds for Mike Scoscia and the training staff to give him the hook.  We’ll update you at the Hangout as soon as more information is available.

Dan Haren makes his Angel debut on Monday against the mighty Red Sox and young stud Clay Buchholtz. It should be great entertainment. Follow the game on the Hangout as well to get real-time, in-depth analysis of Haren’s first game.
1st inning: Haren immediately shows his repertoire.  He has a 92-93 mph 4-seam fastball, 87-88 mph 2-seamer, and a nasty mid-80’s split-finger which is easily his best pitch.  It’s a little concerning that he seems to lack an above-average off-speed pitch, but every pitch looks like the fastball coming out of his hand and he uses this deception extremely [...]

Wow.  Just when we thought it was a bat the Angels were in search of, they pulled off a blockbuster and acquired Arizona ace Dan Haren.  The details of the trade are not completely clear, but SP Joe Saunders and multiple minor league players will become Diamondbacks (rumored to be left-handed pitchers Tyler Skaggs, Patrick Corbin and righty Rafael Rodriguez).
If you ask any Angels fan, Joe Saunders isn’t really much to write home about.  After posting 17 wins amidst a dominant 2008, Saunders has struggled badly the last 2 years.  The lefty was 6-10 on the year, with a 4.62 [...]

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Welcome to the second of three parts looking at the state of the Angels at the All-Star Break. Today we’ll be taking a look at their offense, naming names and showing who on the team has been good, bad, and ugly. Much like with our pitching, I suspect there is little suspense as to who will end up in the last category.