"It looks like Mike Trout's first taste of the major leagues will continue at least through this weekend.

The incumbent center fielder, Peter Bourjos, took batting practice and shagged fly balls Thursday and said he no longer feels anything in the right hamstring he pulled last week, but manager Mike Scioscia is inclined to take it slow. In fact, it's possible Bourjos still could wind up on the disabled list, extending Trout's stay at least another week.

Scioscia hopes Bourjos can play one of the game's in Saturday's doubleheader.

"I don't know if Peter's going to show that he's healthy enough to just keep going," Scioscia said.

It's also possible the two players could play in the same game at some point, since Vernon Wells still has some residual pain from jamming his foot into the first-base bag.

* Reliever Fernando Rodney is scheduled to pitch in a Class A game in San Jose Saturday and will either re join the Angels afterward or make one more minor-league rehab outing.

* Scioscia asked American League manager Ron Washington to limit the use of Jered Weaver in the All-Star game to one inning, which Washington complied with, pulling Weaver after a scoreless inning. Weaver pitches the first game of Saturday's doubleheader. Dan Haren starts the Angels' rotation, followed by Weaver, Ervin Santana, Joel Pineiro and rookie Tyler Chatwood Tuesday against first-place Texas."

What I found the most interesting is that Saxon mentions we could see Trout and Bourjos in the outfield together this weekend.

A pretty decent writeup on the #1 prospect in baseball

Saw this story and thought it was interesting. Apparently the in-seat service in the pricey seats in Yankee Stadium has a 20% gratuity added on to any item purchased, but that 20% does not go towards the people actually doing the serving. Instead the servers receive $35 flat per game along with around 5% commission of their sales. Now the Yankees have some pissed off employees who have filed suit (rightfully so IMO).

What I found really interesting is that the company who handles these concessions is owned by the Yankees, the Dallas Cowboys and Goldman-Sachs. Do these corporations not have enough money already where they need to essentially steal their servers' tips? The Yanks and Cowboys are valued to be the richest franchises in each of their sports, and Goldman sure isn't hurting either. I wonder if this is also happening in the new Cowboys stadium.

Ex-Angel and current Philly Kevin Fransden has tested positive for Ritalinic Acid (whatever that is) and will now be suspended for 50 games. Bummer.

Some interesting stats (and info) from ESPN.com about our co-ace. The writer also ponders if Haren is the (very) early Cy Young favorite. As of today I'd say that its between him and our other co-ace, Weaver.

I bet my buddy after Weaver's 15 K performance that he'd win Cy Young, got 3-1 odds. I didn't even hesitate when shaking his hand, but how funny would it be if I lost because Weaver lost out to Haren?

Could this guy be Brandon Wood's saving grace? It worked for Tin Cup, sort of.

Just thought I'd mention this since up until a couple days ago, I wasn't sure when they went on sale. The link takes you to the Angels page to purchase tickets for any single game.

The most likely games to sell out first will be the Boston series, April 21-24 (Easter weekend), so don't lag on getting your tickets for the first opportunity to boo Carl Crawford (and Lackey, and Beckett, and Papelbon, etc.).

On the bright side, if the Halos were in college they'd still get their credits!

From a recent interview with Carl Crawford:

"(Agent) Brian Peters called me, and he said, ‘All right, if the figures are the same, where do you want to go?' I'm thinking nothing of this call. I'm just driving on the freeway. I said, ‘Man, to be honest with you, B.P., if everything was the same, I think I'd rather go to Boston.' He said, ‘Really?' [...]

"And he said, ‘Well, I'm glad to hear that because that's where you're going.' I was like, ‘Oh really?' and he said, ‘Yeah, you're going to Boston,' and I was like, ‘Shoot, let's go.' That's just how it happened. Then, he told me the dollar amount, and I almost got into a wreck on the freeway."

If I read this correctly, it means there were two offers on the table in order for Boston's offer to be "the same." I can think of no other team this could have been other then the Halos.

Getting past the BS about how he'd prefer Boston and how excited he was to go there, my question is; Did Arte lie to save face when he said no offer was ever made? I mean, the only person to come out and say no offer was made is Arte, and that is going up against numerous sources saying they did make an offer, as well as a story about Reagins going on a tirade to CC's agent about how he thought $142 would get the deal done. And now CC is saying there were 2 matching offers.

I'm officially confused, but I really hope Atre wasn't lying when he said they never made an offer. Its one thing to miss out on a targeted free agent, its quite another to lie about an offer ever being made.

This ended up being longer than I thought it would, but I'm still unclear on fanposts vs. fanshots. if it should've been a fanpost due to the length, I apologize.

"To put the label on as the favorite, that is used a lot, but I don't know how accurate it is...Are we disappointed? No. It is part of the process."

Part of the process? Process of getting owned by the AL East? Yes, Tony, it is part of that process.

So he should win manager of the year within 5 years, right?

If the Halos put their money into a 3rd baseman (Beltre) and a closer (Soriano), could Podsednik be a relatively cheap option for 2 of the Halos other glaring weaknesses? Perhaps a short-term filler until Trout or Petit is ready for LF and Bourjos is ready to leadoff? He isn't my ideal LF for the Angels, but if they spent their money on the other 2 guys mentioned, I wouldn't have a problem with giving him a 2 year deal, with perhaps an option for a 3rd.

This made me almost throw up on my keyboard...seriously

From the article:

Texas has been getting it right all October, even celebrating better than the Angels. Out of respect to Josh Hamilton and his problems with substance abuse, the Rangers have been showering ginger ale on one another before switching to champagne.

To do so would have shown a perspective that goes beyond the baselines.

After pitching 8 innings of 3 run ball, Lackey came in to the 9th and quickly gave up a lead-off HR. Sphincter Lips then came in to protect the 2 run lead only to give up 3 more runs to cap a Toronto comeback, making his motivational gym workout video longer than the director's cut of Gone With The Wind.

I wonder if Lackey was upset he didn't get the W, or if he is taking the high road and understands baseball is a team sport and these things happen. Either way, I guess now he knows it isn't only his former team that can let him down, but rather life in general.