Baseball

It’s been a rough offseason for the Angels

Mariners seem to close gap in AL West as L.A. loses Figgins, Lackey

Stephen Dunn / Getty Images

The Angels didn't want to pay John Lackey $80 million to be their ace. The Red Sox paid him that much to be their third starter.

OPINION

By Stan McNeal

updated 7:51 p.m. ET Dec. 15, 2009

Among the lessons to be learned from the revolving aces in the news Monday: Jason Bay won't be signing with the Mariners.

No way the Angels can allow that, can they? If the Angels watch one more player they'd like to have wind up in Seattle, they might actually lose their favored status in the AL West.

To avoid further slippage in the division, the Angels may need to step up their pursuit of Jason Bay.

Their hold on the division already had been slipping. First, the Angels watched Chone Figgins sign with the Mariners. Retaining their leadoff hitter was the Angels' No. 1 priority this off-season. The "catalyst," as Angels manager Mike Scioscia calls him. He made the Angels' offense go. And he's gone.

Losing Figgins was a blow but his departure proved nothing but a warmup for Monday. Before lunch was over on the West Coast, the Angels found themselves on the wrong side of an offseason triple play:

1. They lost their ace. No. 1 starter John Lackey left for the Red Sox and a five-year deal worth more than $80 million. The Angels didn't want to pay him that much to be their ace. The Red Sox will give it to him to be their No. 3 behind Josh Beckett and Jon Lester.

2. The Blue Jays finally traded Roy Halladay, and it wasn't to the Angels. A Halladay deal was being considered if the Angels didn't keep Lackey. They had the prospects to give Toronto. They had talks with Toronto last week. They had a need. One thing the Angels didn't have in their favor was location. The Phillies' spring-training site is right where Halladay wanted — practically in his Dunedin, Fla., back yard.

3. The Mariners traded for Cliff Lee. Ouch. Seattle led the majors with a 24-game turnaround last season and already had snatched away Figgins. Now the Mariners have boosted their rotation by adding the lefty who dominated October. Despite his excellence for the Phillies, they quickly said good riddance when given another chance to get Halladay. Now Lee will pair with Felix Hernandez to give the Mariners arguably the top rotation in the game and definitely the best west of St. Louis.

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Just like that, the Angels no longer own the AL West. Adding to the insult, the Mariners have closed the gap by putting together the type of club to make the Angels envious. That is, one built on pitching and defense. Seattle features four of the league's top defensive players at their respective positions: Franklin Gutierrez in center, Ichiro Suzuki in right, Jack Wilson at shortstop and Figgins at third or, perhaps, second base (the Mariners need to make at least one more move).

Almost lost in the Angels' blue Monday was more bad news: The club has agreed to terms on a one-year deal with Hideki Matsui. There's nothing wrong with signing the World Series MVP as your DH. But Matsui's arrival means the end of the Vlad Guerrero era in Anaheim, which covered six years and included an MVP and five trips to the playoffs.

Don't feel too sorry for the Angels. They overcame far worse adversity last season. They have enough depth to remain the team to beat in the West. Their lineup still is stronger than the Mariners' and their rotation is the deepest in the division.

The Angels will make other moves, too. The Braves are dangling one of their starters. Bay, of course, still is out there. After watching the Mariners this offseason, the Angels would be wise to grab Bay just to keep him away from Seattle.