It is official. Billy Beane traded Huston Street, Greg Smith and Carlos Gonzalez to the Rockies for Matt Holliday.

Make no doubt that Billy, a slave to Pythagoras in the RobNeyerian Orthodox manner, believes that the American League West can be had. He obviously subscribes to the wonkish theory that the Angels' 100-Win record was produced by luck and cannot be replicated.

If Beane is using Seattle 07-08 as a model, he is distinctly missing out on the fact that the '07 Mariners over-performed while completely healthy while the '08 Angels over-performed with a host of injuries to key players.

In addition to forcing the Angels to instinctively spend more money on free agent pickups, this challenges Texas and Seattle to go out on a limb as well. Beane knows any strong club in the division will beat up on the Halos as much as they will challenge his Mathletics game by game.

Holliday's numbers outside of Denver are below league average. In the Al Davis Colliseum, they will likely be terrible. But the guy is in his prime and in a contract year and the Great White Hope Holliday may actually be able to put together a decent season. Couple this with the chance that Mark Teixeira will not be re-signing with the Angels and you have one offense prrobably gettting better while the other is likely going to suffer if one or both of Kendry Morales and Brandon Wood cannot rise to the occasion of being everyday major leaguers.

But the gamble on Beane's part goes to the heart of statisitcal measurements - was the Angels' won-loss record this year a fluke of luck in the team's favor? If the answer is YES, than the A's have better than a slim chance to capture the Division title,a  chance that improves if the Angels recent ridisculously bad luck with injuries continues. But if the 2008 Angels record was an indicator of where they would be had they enjoyed ordinary health, than look for Beane to simply be trading Matt Holliday in July.

I had the great pleasure to be interviewed by Andrew and Brian from SportsHub L.A. for A PODCAST concerning the Angels.

You will probably find that link entertaining, we gabbed so much that they made it a two-part podcast, but it fills in all the details of the offseason.

Teixeira, Sabathia, Boras, Frankie, G.A., The Game 4 Squeeze, Arte's money... the whole lot of it awaits - be sure to wear headphones at work if the boss is within earshot.

Name the Angels 2009 Opening Day Starters

Winner gets $50 - I will pay you at the game if you and I are both there.

SP: Ervin Santana

C: Mike Napoli

1B: Kendry Morales

2B: Howie Kendrick

SS: Maicer Izturis

3B: Brandon Wood

LF: Pat Burrell

CF: Torii Hunter

RF: Vladimir Guerrero

DH: Terry Evans

NOTE: Position and player correct = 2 points; player correct, position wrong = 1 point

Tiebreakers:

1. Yes or No: Will Garret Anderson be on the Angels 25-Man Roster on Opening day, 2009?
2. Yes or No: Will Chone Figgins be on the Angels 25-Man Roster on Opening day, 2009?
3. Yes or No: Will Robb Quinlan be on the Angels 25-Man Roster on Opening day, 2009?
4. Yes or No: Will Jose Arredondo make an appearance for the Angels in the game on Opening Day?
5. Yes or No: Will Justin Speier make an appearance for the Angels in the game on Opening Day?

If Garret Anderson has played his last game with the Angels, look at where he ranks among the All-Time Angels:

Plate Appearances – 8,400+ (1st)
At-Bats – 7,989 – (1st)
Total Bases – 3,743 (1st)
Times on Base – 2,771 (1st)
Hits – 2,368 (1st)
Games – 2,013 (1st)
Singles – 1,572 (1st)
RBI – 1,292 (1st)
Runs – 1,024 (1st)
Extra-Base-Hits – 796 (1st)
Doubles – 489 (1st)
Sacrifice Flies – 76 (1st)

Home Runs – 272 (2nd)
Intentional Walks – 101 (2nd)

Batting Average - .296 (3rd)
Triples – 35 (3rd)

Slugging % - .469 (5th)

Walks – 397 (9th)

OPS - .796 (10th)

Runner-Up, AL Rookie of the Year (1995)

American League All Star (2002, '03, '05)

Silver Slugger (2002, '03)

All-Star Game Homerun Derby Champion (2003)

All-Star Game MVP (2003)

And perhaps most importantly of all, Garret's 3-RBI Double in Game 7 of the 2002 World Series was the difference in that deciding contest.

Garret Anderson has had his club contract option for 2009 declined by the Angels. They will be paying hima $3 Million buyout. He is a free agent.

The Angels have picked up their options on John Lackey and Vladimir Guerrero for the 2009 season. It is the final year under contract to the Angels for both players.

Anderson made his debut with the California Angels in 1995. John Lackey was the winning pitcher in the team's World Series clinching Game 7 in 2002. Vladimir Guerrero was the Most Valuable Player in the American League in 2004, only the 2nd Angel to win a league MVP.

Mildly important and somewhat impactful news... yeah?

Kendry Morales might be the next Mark Texeira, he might be a switch-hitting Mark Grace, he might not be that great but he is pretty good and there doesn't seem to be a chance of him totally falling on his face. He turned 25 on June 20, so he still has a little room to grow and he is an absolute bargain contract-wise. in 1,220 Minor League At-Bats he has a .901 OPS, 55 HR, 72 Walks and only 168 strikeouts.

BUT... he IS blocked if the club signs Mark Teixeira, unless the Angels give him on-the-job training in Right Field while Vlad Guerrero's kneecaps are rested at DH.

And yet... he has the glow of "magic prospect" about him, though, that could yield a LOT from other teams - teams hit by the economic downturn looking to unload primo players who are paid well.

So tell the Angels: Kendry Morales... Play Him or Trade him?

Jered Weaver turned 26 in October. 2009 will be his last season before salary arbitration. He had 152 strikeouts in 177 Innings Pitched in 2008 with only 54 BB.

He would be the ace on at least 5 Major League teams and the strong #2 starter on another 10. Despite some struggles, he appears to be maturing in the right direction.

He could really bring in something nice in a trade. But we would be losing a big piece of the future by dealing him. It would be nice to have some power in our lineup, power a Weaver trade would most certainly bring. But you can never have toomuch pitching. Is Jered Weaver TRADE BAIT?

From a notice on Rob McMillin's 6-4-2 Blog, reliever Darren O'Day, torn labrum and all, has been removed from the Angels' 40-Man Roster, cleared waivers and will be a minor-league rehabber with us for the foreseeable future, as pitcher Rafael Rodriguez takes his place there, avoiding exposure to December's Rule 5.

Figgy and Reggie are two of the most popular players among Angels fans. Figgins at least has contributed to franchise glory as the all-time Angels stolen base leader. Willits has done little more than look like the average Angel fan's neighbor with a monster truck. But cheer approvingly and purchase authentic jerseys with #s 9 and 77 is all Angel fans seem to do.

You might love their grit and intensity, but ask yourself... Is it time for the Angels to ditch these easily-replaceable spare parts?

Chone Figgins will be a free agent after the 2009 season. He turns 31 in January. In 8 postseason series he has a .207 batting average with 26 strikeouts, 10 runs scored and 5 RBI.

Reggie Willits will be eligible for salary arbitration after the 2009 season. He turns 28 at the end of May. Despite getting the loudest ovations in Angel Stadium next to Vlad and Teix, the guy is not a great baseball player. he can run, that is all he is better at than the average baseball player. The league adjusted tohis hitting style and in 2008 he did not adjust back. Of his 159 major league HITS, 133 have been singles.

With Gary Matthews, Jr. under a no-trade clause for 2009 and as competent an outfielder as either Figgins or Willits, could Scioscia's style of speed at the top ball mean dumping the thin speedy depth of Figgins and Willits in favor of one last try of GMJ as the everyday leadoff hitter? The $10 Million they pay Gary hurts to be on the bench - and that is a reality a LOT of offseason discussions just plain avoid. It is pretty easy to imagine Matthews rebounding just enough in '09 to outperform the singles-slapping Reggie-Chone machine.

We are not going to get anythign resembling major league talent for Chone or Reggie  unless either is the co-star along with Kendrick or Santana in a blockbuster. I do not see any team out there in need of semi-fast singles hitters. Perhaps a AA pitching prospect is the best one of these guys could bring.

Am I missing something or are Figgins and Wilits our smallest scraps of TRADE BAIT?