As the rights to exclusive negotiations with their free agents closed, like every major league club, the Angels set their 40-Man Roster yesterday. It stands at 38. Here they are listed in order of the earliest that each can become a free agent. The final move was the addition of Peter Bourjos to the roster in order to protect him from the Rule 5 Draft in December.

The Angels who are 34 or older: Abreu, Matthews, Hunter, Shields and Fuentes

The Angels who are under 25: O'Sullivan, Bourjos, Trumbo, Bell, Ortega, Wood

* means a club option exists for an extra year.

• After 2010
• Brian Fuentes*
  
• Maicer Izturis
• Scot Shields

• After 2011
• Bobby Abreu*
• Scott Kazmir*
  
• Gary Matthews Jr.
• Juan Rivera
• Ervin Santana*
  

• After 2012
  
• Torii Hunter
• Mike Napoli
• Joe Saunders
• Howie Kendrick
• Jered Weaver
• Erick Aybar
• Jeff Mathis

• After 2013
• Kendry Morales
• Reggie Willits
  
• Jose Arredondo
• Jason Bulger
• Dustin Moseley
  

• After 2014
• Trevor Bell
  
• Robert Mosebach
  
• Sean O'Sullivan
  
• Anthony Ortega
  
• Matt Palmer
• Kevin Jepsen
• Fernando Rodriguez  
  
• Rafael Rodriguez
  
• Rich Thompson
  
• Ryan Budde
  
• Bobby Wilson
  
• Matthew Brown
  
• Freddy Sandoval
  
• Brandon Wood
• Terry Evans
  

• After 2015
  
• Mark Trumbo
• Peter Bourjos
• Chris Pettit

Blogger Bill Shaikin managed to get a few comments from Arte Moreno on his "Fabulous Forum"  blog:

LINK - to - BLOG

Some Highlights:

• Can only afford one of John Lackey and Chone Figgins
• Nope to Matt Holliday
• Maybe to Jason Bay
• Vladimir Guerrero? Loves Vlad, no answer yet.
• Five and Six Year contracts are for suckahs!
  

More photos » by Kathy Willens - AP

DEREK LOWE: Ugly as John Lackey, sweats like Kevin Appier ... what is not to like (AP Photo/Kathy Willens)

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A National League baseball team known as the Atlanta Braves are looking to dump pitcher Derek Lowe and his $45 Million over the next three seasons, according to The Fanhouse Blog. The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim are looking to trade Gary Matthews Jr. and $23 Million over the next 2 seasons.

If the Angels fail to re-sign John Lackey, could this deal be a backup plan for a veteran starting pitcher to round out our rotation and jettison the Matthews abomination of a contract from the Big A once and for all?

If the Angels fail to re-sign their beloved Chone Figgins, could Lowe + salary relief be packaged in a trade to the Detroit Tigers for, ummmm, maybe Curtis Granderson?

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Believe it or not, Halos Heaven isn't the only place to get Angels news.  There are fans that are so passionate about the Angels that they've created their own space on the internet in order to voice their passion.  Each has their own particular spin on stories, a history to share, and other relevant ways to talk about the team.

"I'm just a guy who loves his daughter and wife, baseball, collecting baseball cards and trying to bring them all together whenever I can" is the concept behind "ihearthalos", an Angels blog written by Ryan H. since the beginning of 2009.  When you visit "ihearthalos", you get a unique point of view of an Angels fan through baseball cards.  "I started this blog, mainly out of my love for baseball cards.  Over the last few years there has been a proliferation of baseball card related blogs, but none that ever dealt with my favorite team.  After kicking around the idea for a while I decided to give it a shot.  I've always been a little annoyed at what seemed like other fans snubbing the Angels, so it seemed like a great way to spread the word of the Halos and also discuss my hobby.  On top of that, I was an English major in need of a creative outlet.  I became hooked when I started to discover other Angels fans out there who shared my love of cards and the Angels."

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More photos » by M. Spencer Green - AP

Del Ninja (AP Photo/M. Spencer Green)

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General Manager Tony Reagins commented on all the trade rumors out there in the LA TIMES - just like me and many here he said that a lot of these rumors don't make sense.

In a bitch-slap to Scott Boras, the Angels GM specifically said the Angels are not pursuing Boras client Matt Holliday. Reagins said his priorities are RE-signing John Lackey and Chone Figgins and that Vladimir Guerrero and Darren Oliver are definitely on the team's radar as well.

Conclusion from these comments: Tony Reagins seems to understand that you don't blow up a 97-win team.

The Times' Mike DiGiovanna hinted at the tension surrounding the shakeup in the Angels front office when he noted that despite the current shakeups in management, payroll would not be affected.

Though the Angels are in the midst of a front-office reorganization that resulted in the loss of positions in the media relations and community relations department last week, Reagins doesn't expect the team's payroll -- about $113 million in 2008 -- to be reduced significantly.

Why would the Times bring up the team's on-field payroll in mentioning a shakeup involving a community affairs director and a media contact person whose combined salary is half of the major league minimum of a rookie player? Would it maybe be from an independent blog waking them up? Stay tuned.

More photos » by Chris Carlson - AP

...under the dugout... (AP Photo/Chris Carlson)

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None of the shufflings in the Angels front office that took place this week have anything to do with the on-field product. Tony Reagins is the sole shot caller answering to Arte Moreno and that is not at all in question.

But as fans of a team, we experience much more than the team. We take in the stadium experience, the television and radio broadcasts, the marketing and the merchandise, the commitment. When there is a change in duties at the top level of the club, the local media may brush it off, but we the fans stand to be affected.

The Angels' promotion of Dennis Kuhl to "Chairman" (as in Mao?) has all the hallmarks of a corporate kick upstairs, getting a beloved executive who is in over his head out of the way so the job can be done while everyone's good buddy can still draw a salary and show up at events that others cannot make.

The new Angels President is John Carpino. Like his old buddy Kuhl, Carpino is a longtime confidante of Arte. Our new team president is a guy who gets things done. If Arte is Don Corleone, Carpino is Robert Duvall. If Arte is Mister Burns, Carpino is Smithers. Who is Kuhl here? Lovable Fredo, innocuous Homer? It sure is hard to say when the local mainstream media cannot put the simplest facts together. Observe...

From Ben Bolch at the LA Times:

The Angels announced today that they have promoted two of their top front-office figures in a realignment of the organization, with President Dennis Kuhl taking over as chairman and John Carpino, senior vice president of sales and marketing, assuming Kuhl's spot as president.

Kuhl will oversee team administration and day-to-day operations as well as what the Angels termed "a renewed effort" in the areas of civic affairs and community outreach. Carpino will focus on business, sales, marketing and communications.

The OC Register had a similar - in fact an almost identical cut-and-paste rewrite of the Angels press release on this news item with a Bill Plunkett byline. His single unique observation was to play the meaning of this all down even more:

...moves that will probably mean very little to the day-to-day operation of the team...

But ... check out two other similar Angels items, both oddly buried at the end of college football coverage from newspaper writers who do not cover the Angels beat exclusively:

From TJ Simers at the LA Times:

... the Angels have now ...(let) public relations specialist Nancy Mazmanian go. They don't come more cooperative, professional, or stand as a better representative of what the Angels claim to be in the local community. It just doesn't make (cents) that Arte Moreno is that hard up for cash to dispatch someone who essentially lived doing everything she could to shine the brightest light on the Angels.

From Randy Youngman at the OC Register:

At least two employees in the communications department — Nancy Mazmanian, director of communications, and Matt Bennett, manager of community relations — received word this week that their jobs have been eliminated.

So is it f'n rocket science on my part to put two and two together here? Kuhl's "promotion" is actually a demotion in everything but title as he is given Matt Bennett's job of shaking hands behind the orange curtain and Nancy Mazmanian's job of pushing the Angels-brand beyond it.

Meanwhile Carpino has more to do than just introduce a red alternate jersey over the next six seasons. He will be revamping everything from KLAA's colon cleansing commercials to finding something besides the same two-dozen 5th inning baseball race cartoons for the jumbotron.

My prediction is that we should expect more partnerships between the Angels and A-List brands - that is Carpino's specialty. The radio station will get some nationally syndicated shows, the television broadcasts will get the occasional guest who has a national profile and, meanwhile, the pancake breakfasts around the OC will get the team Chairman, a good buddy of Arte's with all the time in the world to talk Angels baseball.

Is the local "big" media too stupid - or too timid and afraid for their precious access to their precious pressbox and jocksniffing locker room visits - to call afternoon foreclosure scam commercials what they really are ... lost opportunities when branding goes bad.

More photos » by Denis Poroy - AP

2 months ago: San Diego Padres CEO Jeff Moorad, right, holds up a jersey next to boxer Manny Pacquiao, left, before Pacquiao threw out the ceremonial first pitch before the start of a baseball game between the Arizona Diamondbacks and the San Diego Padres Tuesday, Sept. 15, 2009 in San Diego. (AP Photo/Denis Poroy)

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My prediction is a KO of Cotto by Man-Pac in the 4th round.

SBN has a great boxing blog, BAD LEFT HOOK in case you are interested or have money on the fight (which is a gray area of irony, people betting on events in which they are otherwise not interested).

UPDATE: TKO in the 12th. Just Pacquiao being Manny.

In case you missed this earlier this season, my dog, Aybar, was not too enthused about the Jack in the Box Mini Sirloin Burger despite its heavy advertisement on his favorite team's baseball games.