I was reading an ESPN.com articl by Jerry Crasnick where he listed potential players to be moved through waivers.

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/columns/story?columnist=crasnick_jerry&id=2956988

He mentions Mike Piazza and I agree somewhat that they Angels could use his services but he seems somewhat immobile and would only block Jeff Mathis again, which is why they dropped Jose Molina in the first place. Another option I spotted below was Houston 3rd Baseman, Mike Lamb. This is intriguing to me because we were all talking about Morgan Ensberg as a viable option.

In my opinion Lamb may be a better fit since he is a left handed bat, not a great defender, but can play corner infield and outfield positions. He is hitting righties at an .819 OPS this year and .822 OPS the last 3 years, lefties seem to give him trouble over the course of his career but this year in 39 ABs his OPS is 1.041. I think he may be a more solid option than Quinlan down the stretch and in the playoffs, he could play 5 positions (including DH) and then Scioscia could spell any outfielder or corner infielder. He also has more power than Quinlan and is only a year older.

The Astros arent starting him anymore since they have acquired Ty Wiggington and so there seems to be a good chance he may go on waivers.
What do you guys think?

The Angels last year would be considered by most a middle-of-the-pack team. They were infact a couple of wins (or a couple of Seattle wins) away from another division title. However the abysmal offense and defense was luckily hidden by the stellar pitching. To me that sounds like 2 holes that need to be filled, not simply a problem that can be answered by a single position player. To fix this problem the angels went out and signed a center fielder, in Gary Matthews Jr. whose contract takes the place of Erstad's moneywise, but may not even be as good a hitter as Erstad and could not hold a candle to him or Figgins in center defensively. Lets hope GMJ's last year was not an abberation becuase if he is the player that he has been in the past even Figgins may hit more home runs than him. The money spent on GMJ is also crippling the angels trades or signings in the future.

With that said the Cubbies have spent more than any other team this offseason, some of it on people the Angels bid for. Missing out on the big guns and then settling for average or below average product is turning the Angels into the Orioles of the west coast not the Yankees that owner Arte Moreno had in mind. I'm aware that lots of free agents are overpriced this offseason, but trades were possible if Stoneman would pull the trigger. Its as if he doesnt realize that in order to get a big piece you must give up value as well, and pitching is an area they Angels have alot of value in the majors and minors. Missing out on these trades and free agents has shown the Angel fans that Stoneman values his prospects and would rather wait to win with them then take a gamble on a mixture of prospects and talent brought in from other avenues. The Cubs have spent alot, maybe not on all the best free agents, but they are going for it, all out. And not just Cubbie fans are paying attention, the Cubs are putting an interesting and fun product on the field made up of a mixture of Soriano's and Ted Lilly's. They have picked themselves up from the bottom of the National League garbage heap and put them selves among possible the top 3 or 4 teams, which means playoffs, and once you get there anything can happen.

This all happens while the Angels sit and try to wait out eveyone else in order to get the best possible deal but when that time comes it'll be October 1st 2007 with the Angels talking about a good "productive" season finishing 2 or 4 games out of first in the West and Angel fans will have to sit through another offseason of proposed trades and signings.