Michael Ventre

There may be no connection whatsoever between the trade Tuesday that brought Mark Teixeira to the Los Angeles Angels and the earthquake that hit Southern California, but it sure works in a metaphorical sense.

The Angels, already possessors of the best record in baseball and winners of nine of their last 11 since the All-Star break, made their Pau Gasol deal, the kind of transaction in professional sports that shakes up everything and causes people to stagger in astonishment.

And no, the Lakers did not win the NBA title after getting Gasol, but the move was still a transformative event for them. In the Angels’ case, they changed from likely World Series contestants to sure-fire ones.

I’ve always said that there are two kinds of dieters in the world: Those who kind of want to lose weight, and those who absolutely do. It’s easy to lose weight if you really want to: Just get off your butt and exercise regularly while watching your burger and beer intake.

By the same token, there are two kinds of baseball teams in the majors: Those that kind of want to win the World Series, and those committed to doing so. A team like the Milwaukee Brewers went out and got CC Sabathia. The Brewers want to win it. A club like the Dodgers got Casey Blake. They would like to win it if it isn’t too costly or inconvenient.

The interesting thing about the Angels is that fans could never quite be sure which kind of team they were. They’ve acted as though they wanted to keep all their prospects in the fold and not let the payroll get too Yankee-like. But they also went out and signed Gary Matthews Jr. and then Torii Hunter to fat contracts.

And now they’ve taken the boldest step of all by acquiring Teixeira, who was shipped to Southern California in exchange for first baseman Casey Kotchman and pitching prospect Stephen Marek. It not only showed the cajones the Angels’ braintrust is often accused of not possessing, it also displayed a touch of the gambler.

Teixeira, a 28-year-old switch hitter who was batting .283 with 20 homers and 78 RBI and who plays a near-flawless first base, is likely to command a contract in the $200 million range when he becomes a free agent at the end of the season. The Angels may only be renting a player for the stretch run, which is not like them.

The mere fact that they broke policy by trading a solid prospect in Kotchman for a player who might leave after the season hints that they might be altering their philosophy and could be willing to meet Teixeira’s asking price on the open market, which is REALLY not like them.

The Angels outbidding the Yankees for the premier free agent on the market? That happens about as often as an earthquake.

In the meantime, the Angels have a dream lineup, the meat of which will now consist of second baseman Howie Kendrick, Teixeira, Vladimir Guerrero, Hunter and Garrett Anderson. That is comparable to Boston’s prime fillet of Kevin Youkilis, David Ortiz, Manny Ramirez, Mike Lowell and J.D. Drew, with one major difference: This year, the Angels have won seven of eight meetings against the Red Sox.

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