Anybody else want us to go after Uehara to shore up our bullpen?  Yes, he was hurt quite a bit the last two years.  Despite missing time last year with a right elbow strain and hammy issues, he was pretty great when he took the mound.  He does have a slight platoon split (dominating  RHB who only hit .185/.202/.272 against him while LHB fared better with a .263/.300/.447 line), but he struck out 11.3 batters per 9 IP and had an astounding 11 k / bb ratio.  (His stats are here: http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/u/ueharko01.shtml).  With Joaquin Benoit off the board (http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/tigers-right-hander-joaquin-benoit-nearing-deal-111710), Uehara would be a great get if we didn't want to bow down to Boras' demands for Rafael Soriano.   

UPDATE: KLAA sent along the audio - Listen to the entire eleven minute interview from earlier today, Jeff Biggs interviewing Mike Scioscia LIVE from the Winter Meetings on THE DRIVE on AM 830.

CLICK HERE FOR AUDIO of THE ENTIRE INTERVIEW

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Original Post:

Jeff Biggs interviewed Angels manager Mike Scioscia during the second hour of "The Drive" on KLAA.  He asked Scioscia how he felt about Jason Bay.  Scioscia said that signing Bay was a "long shot."  Sorry I can't remember the exact words spoken by Mike, but he did say the words "long shot" a couple of times in regards to signing Bay.  Scioscia did sound more positive about re-signing John Lackey.  Hopefully the KLAA website will have the interview up later this evening.   

NPB Tracker's Patrick Newman had some interesting info on Hideki Matsui in a recent post: http://www.npbtracker.com/2009/11/more-on-matsui/.  Specifically, he states that "reports persist that the Angels could turn to Matsui if negotations with Vladimir Guerrero stall," citing an article published in Nikkan Sports, a Japanese sports newspaper: http://www.nikkansports.com/baseball/mlb/news/p-bb-tp2-20091112-565202.html.  For those of you who don't read Japanese, I'll note a few things of interest from the article after the jump (though my Japanese ain't that great anymore):

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Buried at the end of Jon Heyman's latest article is a blurb about how if the Angels don't bring back Figgins, they are "expected" to look into Adrian Beltre (also some interesting info on some negotiations with Lackey that went on earlier this year): http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/writers/jon_heyman/11/09/winter.preview/index.html?eref=writers

Here is a link to Beltre's page on Fangraphs (as well as a recent article by Dave Allen about Beltre's value): http://www.fangraphs.com/statss.aspx?playerid=639&position=3B

Have to admit I hadn't thought of Beltre at all as a possible replacement for Figgy at 3b, but it is kind of interesting.  Beltre would probably be relatively cheap, coming off a rather poor year.  We wouldn't lose anything on defense.  We wouldn't have to rely on a young player (Wood) stepping in and being productive right off the bat...or could said young player be bait in a trade for Halladay?  Thoughts?

Angels may be interested in Scott Kazmir according to this article:  http://mlb.fanhouse.com/2009/07/23/rays-want-to-deal-could-move-kazmir-to-angels-to-clear-room/.   Not sure how credible this is, but a deal like this may be more likely than getting Halladay or Lee.  How does everyone feel about Kazmir?  Awful numbers this year (68 IP, 82 hits allowed, 54 runs allowed, 53/37 k/bb ratio, 6.62 ERA and experienced some left forearm cramping in his last start).  Solid track record, but this interesting article from Fangraphs notes that he started using his great slider less starting in 2007 and is steadily becoming an extreme flyball pitcher (which may not be all that bad in our ballpark): http://www.fangraphs.com/fantasy/index.php/kazmir-scraps-the-slider-takes-to-the-air.  He would still be under team control for two years after this one ($22.5 million for 2010-11).  Might be worth a shot if his struggles this year can be attributed to mechanical issues that have been resolved, but might be risky if this is more a physical/injury issue which could linger the next few years.

Here's a link from the Washington Post: http://voices.washingtonpost.com/nationalsjournal/2009/02/sources_nats_sign_adam_dunn.html

Looks like a 2 year deal.  Curious to see what the terms are.  I'm sure it's no coincidence this comes on the heels of us apparently signing Abreu.  He probably crapped his pants when he heard Abreu may be signing for as low as $5 million for one year.  Would have liked Dunn better (esp. since it looks like he may be playing 1b for the Nats), but I'm still happy with Abreu.

ESPN is reporting today that according to Jerry Crasnick, there are "growing indications that the Angels could be ready to make a late push on Bobby Abreu," and that "one person familiar with the situation" said that the Angels have "strong interest" in him.  Would link the article (more of a blurb) but it's accessible only to ESPN Insider subscribers.  Rather vague, as these types of rumors usually are, but it sure would be nice to see Abreu as an Angel.  OBP for the statheads, stolen bases for the SciosciaBallers, and comical defense to keep everyone alternately enraged and entertained on the hopefully few days he's not DHing...