Los Angeles Angels closing situtation gets some closure.

“I don’t know. It was funny – I felt like I was pitching on the road  quite a bit,” he said. “I came in to a lot of boos. Fans come out here  in droves and they come out to be entertained. They’re going to be  entertained one way or the other – either by my frustration or by my  success. I felt like I gave them a lot more success than failure. … I  put it on the line every time.”

Much to my surprise, Angels General Manager Tony Reagins made another move that would not get too much national attention.  Reagins dealt the Angels closer Brian Fuentes to the Twins.  The Halos will not know what they will get in return from the Twins until October 15th.  This was ultimately a win win move.  When you look at the Twins bullpen, which was plagued with injury this season, this move makes them immediately deeper in the bullpen.  And it is being said that Fuentes will be used mostly as a Lefty Specialist and will close on some occasion.  The Twins currently have the 3rd Best Record in the American League and hold the lead in the American League Central by 4.5 games.  Especially in the playoffs, the more depth you have, the better your team will do.  And although Fuentes wasn't lights out in the Playoffs last year, he did lead the league in saves last year and his more recent stuff was looking good.

I'm glad to see Fuentes get an opportunity to play for a winner and perhaps make another post-season appearance.  I think had the Angels attempted to make Fuentes a Lefty Specialist, the Angels might have won a handful more of games.  He didn't have the caliber pitches of Percivial or K-Rod, but he did lead the league in saves last season.  The Angels promote Fernando Rodney, who looked lights out prior to Fuentes' return from his early stint on the DL.  Unfortunately, the damage has been done to the Angels in 2010.  The struggles finding consistency has plagued every aspect of the Angels this year.  The good news is that with Fuentes now in another uniform there is no chance his option vests (not that it was likely to vest as a Halo), the Angels save a little money and perhaps get a nice piece from Minnesota.  And if the prospect isn't so nice, at least this will allow the Angels to move forward and piece next years bullpen together now. With Rodney closing; Stokes, Bulger, Jepsen, K-Rod2.0, and Thompson seems to set up next years bullpen.  With more defined roles, perhaps the Angels bullpen can return to form of their dominant selves.  

Go Halos