As reported by the L.A. Times this morning, Tony Reagins, Mike Scioscia, and the team's coaching staff met for 45 minutes after the 7-3 loss to Boston yesterday.  Reagins acknowledged to reporters that he would be open to trading veterans for prospects before the trade deadline on Saturday, and he and Scioscia both suggested that they were looking into options that will improve the team "this year or in future years."

The Times speculated that the team could trade veterans such as Bobby Abreu, Brian Fuentes, Hideki Matsui, and Maicer Izturis, but that the team is "not likely to trade players they consider part of their core for the next two or three years."

"We would consider any move that would strengthen us, whether it's for this year or in future years," Reagins said.  "You have to look at the deal and make a determination."

"There are some things we need to take hard looks at," Scioscia said.  "We want to look at things that make us better now and in the future."

 Although the Times does not identify the "core" of players not likely to be traded, we can reasonably assume that the 2011 Angels will include Dan Haren, Jered Weaver, Ervin Santana, Joel Pineiro, Kendry Morales, Torii Hunter, Erick Aybar, Alberto Callaspo, and Mike Napoli.  Despite all of the problems this year, that is a great foundation for us, and we have many reasons to be confident about next season, particularly because even this year our starting pitching has been among the league's best (and it should be even better next season with the full-time addition of Haren).  In my opinion, that is why the trade for Haren was so great -- it brought in a front-line talent for multiple years without giving up any of the team's core players or taking away our flexibility to sell our spare parts.

With all of that said, having considered the standings, the team's recent play (7-16 since the Texas series a month ago), and the injury to Pineiro, I would be in favor of trading away veterans to re-stock the farm system.  I am pleased that the front office appears willing to do so.