Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim

Heading into the winter after their worst season in eight years, the Angels looked like they planned on being among the offseason's biggest buyers.  Arte Moreno and Tony Reagins both asserted that they would do everything they could to shore up the team's obvious weaknesses.  They targeted All-Star left fielder Carl Crawford, and were thought to be the favorites to sign him from day one.

With Christmas approaching and Santa having decided that Carl Crawford was a better gift for the Boston Red Sox, where do the 2011 Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim go from here?

Los Angeles Angels owner Arte Moreno could probably be accused of a lot of things, but one of them will never be loyalty to his fan base. In the seven plus years that Arte Moreno has owned the Angels, he has steadfastly committed himself that the baseball experience at Angels Stadium remains affordable for fans, and that, with the exception of the 5-year, $90 million contract given to center fielder Torii Hunter, the team remains committed to exercising fiduciary responsibility.

It's as if spirit has suddenly vanished on Katella Ave.; almost as if the Angels couldn't care less in revamping an inactive ballclub faced with tremendous emptiness and shame, unable to lure a blockbuster free-agent in an offseason attempt.

Adrian Beltre picked a good time to become a free agent and a good year to produce like an elite offensive force. Of course we've seen this before. Teams should be scared to offer Beltre anything close to the deals given to elite hitters so far this offseason. Beltre has not been especially consistent over his career, though he does play exceptional defense and can be counted on for 25 home runs of so wherever he plays.

I am going to say that this week was not the best one in the career of Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim GM Tony Reagins.

Cliff Lee is the hottest player on the free agent market right now, but that doesn't mean that he and the Los Angeles Angels would be a good fit. 

A "mystery team" is said to have made a seven-year offer last night for the starting pitcher, and speculation abounds as to who it was. ESPN that same night also wouldn't disclose their source, but claimed that the Angels had entered the race for Lee.

Could those pieces of news be related?

The dominoes are starting to fall. Jayson Werth has signed a surprisingly large contract with the Washington Nationals (seven years, $126 million) leaving outfielder Carl Crawford as the number one prize on the free agent market. Crawford and his agent were already looking for a contract in the $100 million dollar range, but if Werth going to average $18 million a season what can Crawford now command?

The 2010 MLB Winter Meetings kicked off with a bang this week when the Washington Nationals signed outfielder Jayson Werth to a seven-year, $126-million deal—and ignited the baseball world in the process.

One baseball writer called the signing “irresponsible.” A general manager reportedly nearly fell out of his chair when he heard the terms of the deal.

The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim enter this holiday season with a rather sizable wish list. Now they might be able to check off three items with one deft move.

On Thursday, left-handed relief pitcher Hisanori Takahashi agreed to a two-year, $8 million deal with the Halos. It was not the high-profile signing many are expecting, and media coverage of the deal is all but non-existent.