Matt's Angels blog has moved. Check it out at http://www.beloblog.com/Pe_Blogs/prosports/mlb/angels/

It seems that if the Angels are going to acquire Marlins slugger Miguel Cabrera, Florida will have to agree on a package already presented to them.

As owner Arte Moreno said last week, the Marlins are trying to make teams compete against each other with the Fish hoping to get the best possible package of players. But Florida's negotiating tactics have become tiresome in a way that the Angels have made their final offer.

The deal seems to be caught up on whether Nick Adenhart and Ervin Santana should both be included in the package centering around Howie Kendrick and Jeff Mathis.

According to a source, the Angels are not going to sweeten their offer and while the source said that talks are not "dead" the ball is basically in the Marlins' court. If Florida wants to trade Cabrera, they can return to the Angels and accept a deal already offered; if not, the Angels are already moving forward.

If Cabrera is not traded to the Angels, it's unlikely any Angels trade this week will be something as significant, or splashy. The team was said to be working on smaller deals, and late Monday night GM Tony Reagins was contacting teams that the front office executives had decided to try and make something happen with.

Of course that could change if the Marlins decide to deal Cabrera - and they have several suitors - it just depends on which deal they feel is the best for the 24-year-old slugger.

But, as of late Monday, the Angels had already made their final offer and any trade now is fully up to Florida.

During today's press conference, Angels manager Mike Scioscia was asked several questions regarding some of the happenings of the team (read two entries below) and about where Ervin Santana and Gary Matthews Jr. now fit into the team.

On the team right now vs. last year's AL West winner:
"We're a better team right now than where we were when we finished the season. There are a lot of young guys that we felt a lot of confidence in and we know they would play at a high level. When you combine it with the pitching depth we have and certainly the offensive depth with being able to get those four bats in Garret Anderson, Gary Matthews, Torii Hunter and Vlad Guerrero in the lineup every day, it gives you a solid look in the middle of the lineup that can only make us better. And then you add young bats like Howie Kendrick and Casey Kotchman to that mix, that lineup should be deeper than it has been in a while and we're excited to give it a look."

On making more deals:
"There are a lot of names you will hear floating around. As we approach the winter meetings, I think Tony (Reagins, GM) is in a good position of strength. And if nothing happens, we're a terrific ballclub. We're a deep club in areas that are important to us. He's always looking to make the club better but he's in a position where I think we can look to evaluate options we have. I would imagine we would have options because of the strength of our pitching right now and where we are in the outfield. I don't think there is anything we will be forced to do. Certainly Tony will listen and make the deal if it makes us better."

On all the pitchers and outfielders they now have:
"I think any time you have competition at any area of your team you're going to be a better club. The outfield depth we have will make us stronger. Gary Matthews has the ability to play both corners at a Gold-Glove level and fill in in center field when Torii is not out there. That will give us an outfield presence that is huge to us. And I think on the rotation side, you never have enough pitching. And even if you go to spring training with six projected starters it gives you the option if somebody would go down to have that depth. Or to pick who you think is throwing better and give them the ball. It's a good thing for us. There will be a lot of competition in our organization for the five guys that will be in the rotation. We're excited where we are now and if something happens next week that will make us a better club, Tony is in a good position to consider it."

On how Matthews took the Hunter signing:
"We talked to Gary and I think he put it best. He wants to win and that's the bottom line. His preference is to play center field because that's where he feels most comfortable, but to make us better he'll catch if he has to. Gary wants to win and he's going to do a great job on the corners and in our lineup. The ability for us to get GA together with Torri and Vlad and Gary Matthews, those four bats in the lineup on a daily basis will give us a good foundation. And when you add Howie Kendrick and Casey Kotchman to that mix and Chone Figgins at the top of the lineup, that gives us a deep lineup that can do a lot of things. That's where are now. We're happy with that and if something that happens to change that next week, Tony will consider it."

On Santana turning into a long reliever:
"Right now we want to get six starters throwing the ball well and then options can present themselves. I don't think there is one guy we're going to target and say this guy is fighting for the fourth or fifth spot. We want all our guys ready to start and competing to win jobs. And as the spring unfolds, if we go to spring training with six guys you will be drawn to one direction or another that will be our best chance to win."

ESPN.com is reporting that Riverside resident Troy Percival, who is the Angels' all-time saves leader, is close to signing a multi-year deal with the Tampa Bay Rays.

Calls to Percival and his agent, Paul Cohen, went unreturned.

Percival will re-join former Angels bench coach Joe Maddon, entering his third year as skipper in Tampa.

My goodness it's been a long time.

Sorry for the lack of entries over the past month - after getting married and honeymooning, I am just getting back into the swing of things. Hey, did you hear the Angels signed Torii Hunter? Oh. What about trading Orlando Cabrera for Jon Garland?

Hmm. Sorry. All this happened while I was away.

HOWEVER, now that I'm back I have all kinds of useful and good information for you, loyal reader.

The biggest news to come out of Wednesday's press conference introducing Hunter and Garland was that the Angels were thisclose to getting Marlins slugger Miguel Cabrera that owner Arte Moreno said "We felt we had a deal with them twice."

Problem is, the Marlins keep changing their trade demands. The Angels are OK in giving up several of their highly coveted youngsters, notably Howie Kendrick, but Florida keeps insisting the Angels sweeten their deal.

And why not? Cabrera is a 24-year-old stud who hit 34 homers and drove in 119 runs last year all while hitting .320. But, Moreno said the team is reluctant to part with four players, three of them major-leaguers to get Cabrera even though he wouldn't become a free agent until after the 2009 season.

Moreno also said the Dodgers were close to landing the Marlins' big fish (get it?) and they seem to be pitting teams against one another in a bidding war.

In other news ...

A report surfaced today saying the Angels were interested in Minnesota pitcher Johan Santana but I don't know how "interested" they are. Sure, the team may have made a few phone calls to land the game's best pitcher but with reports saying the two-time Cy Young winner is seeking a six-year, $150 million deal when he becomes a free agent at the end of this upcoming season, that would be a heck of a lot of dough to shell out after Moreno said Wednesday he didn't want "a Band-Aid" to win a ring.

Santana would be a Band-Aid kind of player because it's foolish to give that much money over that length of time to any player, let alone a pitcher. (Yes, I know it's Johan Freaking Santana, and he's not even 30, but a pitcher's shelf life is a lot shorter than that of a position player.)

If everything falls apart, the team could get into the DeLorean and go back to 2006 and trade for Miguel Tejada, who wouldn't cost nearly as much as Cabrera or Santana. (I use the DeLorean reference since the Angels had a deal in place for Tejada at the July '06 trade deadline but Baltimore's owner nixed it at the last minute.)

Either way, by this time next week, the Angels hope to have a deal in place for another piece to their 2008 team - and their preference is it's Cabrera.

Now, I ask you - who would you give up from among the following players the Angels have offered for Miguel Cabrera?

Kendrick (has to be included or the Marlins automatically say no), Jeff Mathis, Joe Saunders, Ervin Santana, Reggie Willits, Jered Weaver, Brandon Wood, Nick Adenhart.

Without knowing the specifics of the two deals the Angels almost pulled off, if I were GM (and thankfully I'm not) I would offer Kendrick, Adenhart, Santana and Willits.

Sure, Adenhart could be a stud. But he hasn't even pitched in AAA yet. So, he's at least two years away. Santana's stock is way down after his terrible 2007 season, and Willits' stock will never be higher than it is right now.

Saunders has shown he can win, Wood is too tantalizing to give up and Mathis proved he's ready for the big leagues now and good, young catchers are hard to come by.

What is your trade proposal? Leave a comment here or send me an e-mail to mhurst@pe.com

Oh, and thanks for being patient with my lack of blogging.