The Angels and Dodgers both made huge trades in the last few days to grab two of the best hitters in baseball.
The Angels, who recently swept the Red Sox at the Big A then again at Fenway, went out and got Mark Teixeira from the Braves in return for fan favorite Casey Kotchman and minor league pitcher Stephen Marek. Look for Arte Moreno, the best owner in all of MLB, to make a serious push at signing Teixeira long term. The Angels were already poised to make a deep run in to October. Now they have the bat to protect Vlad that they have been missing.
Not to be outdone, the Dodgers jumped at the opportunity to land the best right handed hitter of this generation and future HOF, Manny Ramirez. Manny's famous for his eccentric and at times kooky behavior, but nobody can deny that the guy can flat out mash. The NL West is up for grabs, and the addition of Manny may be enough to push the Azul over the top. Manny has already publicly announced that he'd like to finish his career in Dodger Blue. (As an Angels fan, I'm just happy he's out of the AL so he can no longer torment Angel pitchers.)
The addition of Mark Teixeira and Manny Ramirez to the Angels and Dodgers is sure to guarantee an exciting play off run.