Just like that the season is over. Erick Aybar not watching the ball make contact to his bat was the end of our season. Pitching Scot Shields for 2 innings in a park where he has a career ERA of over 13. It’s easy to critique the many mistakes the Angels made this year. Even such little things as not acquiring David Eckstein for the playoffs. He is a guy that would have watched the ball hit the bat during that squeeze play. I’ve seen him even throw the bat at the ball to protect the runner during a squeeze.

There are a number of moves to be made during the offseason. We’ve probably seen Frankie’s last game as an Angel. We may have seen Garret Anderson’s last game as an Angel as well. I don’t think Jon Garland is worth resigning and he may not have been worth trading for Cabrera. We definitely could have used Cabrera’s glove and clutch hitting in the postseason. There is an option for Vlad and it may be cheap but the guy is really not all that he is made up to be. He doesn’t deliver in the postseason because he swings at everything. He is a menace on the base paths and he isn’t a reliable right fielder. He has a strong arm but it is not necessarily accurate. If I had my choice, I would focus all efforts on resigning Teixeira. I am completely blown away by this guys performance. He is patient at the plate, a switch hitter, hits for power and average, and he is a gold glover on defense.

The Angels front office should make some additional moves this offseason as well. They are trying to copy the Red Sox with their singing of Sweet Caroline by singing “Build Me Up Buttercup” at the ballpark during the seventh inning. Does anyone not realize that this is the anthem for the team this year? Why do you build me up, just to let me down?

I’m also hoping that the city of Anaheim wins their appeal of the name change lawsuit. Arte Moreno has done a lot of great things with the team except for renaming them to Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. The team is not in Los Angeles county or city and the name change is an insult. The classic song Take Me Out To The Ballgame says to root for the home team but the Angels team isn’t even named after the home location. The Angels reside in Anaheim, a part of Orange County. He could have named the team something that everyone would identify with such as the older California Angels, Southern California Angels, or OC (Orange County) Angels but instead chose to opt for something he didn’t realize would be such an insult. Bud Selig should not have allowed this to happen and this is one of the few errors that he has made while commissioner. I find it very funny how MLB is so strict in enforcing their trademarks but they haven’t enforced anyone to use the proper name “Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim” on anything. You can find MLB sites with Los Angeles Angels and many tickets are sold at visiting parks with simply “Los Angeles Angels”. This is clearly a violation of the contract that was signed and I really hope that the proper name is restored to “Anaheim Angels”.