Hideki Matsui, Angels Complete One-Year Deal

According to reports by the New York Times and ESPN.com, longtime Yankee and World Series hero Hideki Matsui has signed a one-year deal with the Los Angeles Angels and will join them pending a physical.  For Matsui, he finally finds a suitor that wants him.  As for the Angels, this is as much about billboards and tapping into the Asian market as it is about replacing Vladimir Guerrero's bat.

Halos Heaven sees the deal as a goodbye to Vladdy but a hello to a new era of Angel Awareness.

This signing is a goodbye to Vladimir Guerrero. We love you Vladdy, but you don't move teevee sets in Tokyo. It is an unsentimental move to bring in revenue from other streams besides ticket sales and at least the Angels have an expert in the outdoor advertising field operating behind the scenes.

Hideki Matsui will sell more billboards in the stadium and introduce Angels management to partnerships with corporate advertisers that were off limits to anyone besides the top tier of international markets only last week. Welcome to the future, Angels fans... expect red pinstripes by 2012.

Along with being named World Series MVP, Matsui batted  .274 last season with 28 home runs and 90 RBIs.