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California Angels

Update [2006-7-29 6:33:4 by Eric Hinz]:From this morning's LA Times:

The Angels prefer Tejada over Soriano, because Tejada is under contract through 2009 at an average of $13 million a year and Soriano will become a free agent after the season. The Orioles are also in serious negotiations with the Astros about Tejada.
Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports is reporting the Angels offered RHP Ervin Santana and AAA SS Erick Aybar for Baltimore's Miguel Tejeda.

The offer looks good as Santana has taken a step forward in his second season and that is encouraging.

Erick Aybar would step into the starting shortstop job in Camden Yards.  Whether he would be decent - .265/.330/.400 - is the key from he Orioles' perspective.  30/100/.300 SS are not easy to replace and if Aybar cannot be projected to be a major-league adequate one, the O's may pass.

The angle I like best is the pressure it puts on the Nationals.  Soriano would be a great fit on the Angels, but Washington is reported to be asking for the sky.

What the Angels offer does is set a price for what they would pay for a signed superstar - a good, young, cheap SP and a top AAA prospect.

From this, Washington gets to adjust the price downward for a two-month-rental superstar.