AngelsAndRamsFan

They'll still end up competing for some inexplicable reason.

The Angels don't plan on eating any of his contract. Good luck trading him without eating any of his contract.

Nice headline.

20 years from now are people going to still think "the Angels are always the surprise team! Look at Pujols and Hamilton"?
Talk about a small sample size.
There are a few reasons this is different.
1. The Luxury tax. They signed those guys without going over the tax.
2. The team is better. They just won 98 games.
3. Lester/Scherzer are pitchers. History shows that giving nine-figure deals to pitchers is much more risky than hitters. With hitters the fear is performance falls off (like Vernon Wells) but with pitchers you have a greater chance also of injury, sticking you with a Mike Hampton or CC Sabathia albatross. Hitters also have the DH option as they get older. That's why I don't think the Angels would be in on these guys even if they were 30M under the CBT.
4. They just in the last 12 months discovered two pitchers who are pretty damn good and cheap (Richards and Shoemaker), reducing the need for a guy like that.
5. Arte and Arte alone pushed for Hamilton/Pujols. Since then Arte has allowed Dipoto to go a whole winter without signing anyone, which led to a 98-win season and Dipoto's option being exercised. I think it's likely that Arte learned his lesson.
So, you can continue thinking "the Angels are always the mystery team" because they were twice. Heck, they may be and I may end up looking like an idiot.
However, I am convinced the Angels are being honest and have zero chance of signing any big name pitcher.

Hamilton would look good in an M's uniform.

What's there to get? He still enjoys playing and he wanted to end his career with the organization that he started his career with.

I don't think the majority of players would choose to live in either the areas close to Dodgers Stadium in LA, or in Anaheim. I've read and seen interviews where many players on both teams seem to like being in the beach cities in LA or Orange County - Manhattan Beach, Newport Beach, et al. Distance doesn't always translate to time spent commmuting, either. I've heard of the Dodgers Express bus from Union Station, which is, I think two miles away, taking an hour and a half to get to the stadium because of traffic.
 
So regardless, they're probably all going to have traffic getting to work and they probably make their decisions based on a lot of factors - how they like the neighborhood, safety, price, schools (if they have kids), what the other players recommend, etc. Not the county. Just because they're an Angel doesn't mean they're in the OC; just because they're a Dodger doesn't mean they're living in LA County.
 
Having said that, many folks, inside and outside of baseball, find moving to Southern California *in general* to be a really appealing prospect. It might raise the stock for the Angels, Dodgers and even the Padres with some players. Certainly, living in, say, Manhattan Beach has a lot to offer over living in Detroit or Cleveland, for instance...

Hamilton would look good in an M's uniform.

Hamilton would look good in an M's uniform.

Hamilton would look good in an M's uniform.

You're the best man....I think we should all bow down to your genius behind our computer screens. 

Hamilton would look good in an M's uniform.

Hamilton would look good in an M's uniform.

relax. Hes making a common inside joke on this site, not calling you out.

Guess the OP was too easy.

Who are you and what have you done with Storm?

Even a blind squirrel finds a nut once in awhile.

A creepy stare or more of a furtive glance?

His career .225/.297/.372/.670 career slash line just screams irreplaceable.

I didn't know he did

The team could come back to Cowart and tell him that they've tried it his way and it hasn't worked out. They could ask him if he'd rather play third base or make the Show.

Amy Adams was always hot imo

I dunno about #4 SP, he's posted 3 consecutive years with an ERA over 4 and the periphs indicate that's no fluke. He's experienced a substantial drop in velocity and isn't going to give you more than 170 innings anymore. That's a 5th starter if you ask me and the Angels already have a couple of guys who could profile in that spot like Nick Tropeano or Cory Rasmus.
If the Angels are going to go out and chase pitching, best to go after quality. Nice as he is, Haren's not the quality the Angels need to trade for right now.

Haren is experiencing a huge velocity loss each new year and has been about a 1-1.5 WAR pitcher in the past 3 years. If you can get the Dodgers to eat 6-7 million dollars of the deal, then getting Haren for 1 year at 3-4 million may make sense. Taking on the 1/10 deal is a little unwise though. And this is coming from a huge Dan Haren fan. I just think his time as a quality pitcher in the majors is done. 

I didn't realize he said that. I'm in now.