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People talk about how the Boston-Crawford signing puts a lot of pressure on the Yankees...but I believe it puts even more pressure on the Angels. Fans criticized the Angels for making no major free agent moves last offseason and we all figured that it was b/c they planned to make those moves this offseason. Artie Moreno swore that he would do whatever it takes to get the Angels back on top of the AL West and many had them pegged to stop at nothing for the opportunity to sign 2 of 3 big hitters (Crawford, Werth, Beltre) on the market. Werth left the market a couple days ago and Theo Epstein swooped in and stole Crawford right out from underneath the Angels' negotiations.
The Angels are in on Cliff Lee too; Rangers to pay him a visit
It’s not just the Yankees: Ken Rosenthal reports that the Angels — now free from the burden of having to pay Carl Crawford! — are bidding on Cliff Lee.
There’s not a ton of context to this and it’s hard to tell if it’s serious interest or, like Boston’s, merely head games, but the Angels do have some money to spend. You figure Adrian Beltre is now their biggest target — and their roughly $100M offer to Crawford suggests that Beltre is more doable for them — but Lee wouldn’t be impossible if they’re sufficiently desperate.
In other Lee news, ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick reports that the Rangers are sending a delegation to Little Rock today to meet with Cliff Lee and his agent, Darek Braunecker, who decamped Orlando yesterday. One wonders — based on what Nolan Ryan said last night — if this meeting will be a “we want to leave with you signed. Tell us what you want and we’ll do it now; if not, we’re out” kind of meeting.
The Yankees have to have this in the bag, though. With Boston adding $300 million in talent in the past four days, New York has to unleash a counter attack, right? Because this is war, and that’s what you do in a war.
-Hardball Talk
The Angels really, really wanted Crawford but now that he's gone, L.A. has gotta be breathing down the organization's necks. They sat back and watched a division rival make the World Series trip last season & if anything, the Angels need to do whatever it takes to keep Cliff Lee away from re-signing with the Rangers. This could be a major win-win for the Halos, thus salvaging another weak offseason.
Sign Cliff Lee and bring in Beltre, the Angels will be right back in the discussion for 2011.
