ANAHEIM, Calif. – What now, Arte Moreno?

Wait it out? Seethe in silence? Order changes? Move the press box to Fullerton? Choose to believe?

The first couple weeks of April have boxed around Moreno's Los Angeles Angels, a team many picked to go to the World Series. Even win it. Like, this year. Presumably, 10 rather clumsy and imprecise games haven't changed the minds of those who can see seven or eight months into the future.

Moreno, we don't know about.

It will be four years in October since the Angels last played a postseason game, the end of a decent run Moreno financed and bled for. It was in that era that Moreno came to be thought of as "the people's owner." Not, of course, because he owned people. He didn't. But because he ran the franchise with a feel for the average folks who sat in his bleachers, who parked in his lots, who drank his beer and, ultimately, who connected with his team.

And the people loved him back. They eagerly shook his hand in the

Read More »from Another April shower of losses for Angels shouldn't sit well with team owner Arte Moreno

On goats (with or without heads), the Babe, dream sequences, Francona’s inner GPS and incendiary bullpens:

The rankings (records through Wednesday):

1. Atlanta Braves (8-1; Previous: 9) – GM Wren kicks Cubs from Turner Field outfield. Cubs explain the grass will be fine, that they don’t actually travel with the goat.

2. Washington Nationals (6-2; Previous: 1) – Analyst notes with arched eyebrow that back feet of Babe Ruth and Bryce Harper leave ground on power stroke. Fails to mention that so does Davey Johnson’s, when he posts lineup.

3. San Francisco Giants (6-3; Previous: 2) – Kevin Durant attends game, refers to catcher as “my man, Buster,” which, honestly, makes Joaquin Arias a little jealous.

4. Oakland Athletics (7-2; Previous: 12) – Reddick declares that he will not shave beard. First off, he’s in a beard-growing contest. Second, when he hangs around 7-Eleven he can make 50, 60 cents in an hour.

5. Cincinnati Reds (5-4; Previous: 5) – Booing Cardinals fans,

Read More »from Power Rankings: Braves at top of food chain

Nate Freiman, left, talks with teammate Daric Barton. (AP) ANAHEIM, Calif. – Nate Freiman is 6-feet, 8-inches of Rule 5 draftee, of the latest Vince Flynn spy novel, of Thomas Jefferson fan, of strike zone.

He was a history major, a math minor at Duke. His parents have law degrees. His brother is preparing for his medical school boards at UMass. His wife plays on the LPGA Tour. They met at Duke.

In high school (Wellesley, in Massachusetts), he was co-editor, with his best friend, of the student newspaper. He was in the National Honor Society, both the English one and the Spanish one.

And, honestly, if it wasn't going to be baseball, if it hadn't pulled him along, if it didn't turn out that he was good at it and loved it and it generally loved him back, he hadn't the slightest idea what he'd be doing otherwise.

"I probably would have looked into graduate school," he said after failing to come up with anything. "Definitely not med school."

And that was that.

"I guess I'll cross that bridge some other day," he said.

At the

Read More »from Curious case of Nate Freiman: Oakland's tall drink can wax history, caddie if needed

ANAHEIM, Calif. – The Los Angeles Angels have an opportunity here, the same opening that allowed them to finish third, second and third in the American League West over the past three seasons.

Ace Jered Weaver has a broken left elbow and, a television reporter's pregame line of questioning here notwithstanding, will be unable to pitch for four to six weeks despite being right-handed. Something about mechanics and then, positioned 60 feet from a guy with a club, being unable to defend oneself against whatever comes of that.

Angels pitcher Jered Weaver is expected to miss four to six weeks. (AP)(Hey, it's the home opener. Not only do the poets come out, they bring their horrifyingly dense friends.)

Weaver's left arm is in a sling, where it will stay for a while, certainly for long enough to damage the Angels' hopes for organizational revival. You know, if they allow it.

And then this could be the slump of last April (Albert Pujols edition), or the slump of 2011 (they traded away Mike Napoli and traded for Vernon Wells edition), or the slump of 2010

Read More »from Angels try to pick up the pieces after Jered Weaver breaks elbow

LOS ANGELES – They don't play entrance songs for journeymen middle relievers, for set-up men whose job is to be neither seen nor heard. Jason Grilli celebrates his first save of the season. (AP)

So when Jason Grilli stood Wednesday night at the bullpen gate at PNC Park, the ninth inning – his ninth inning – calling, he heard the familiar guitar licks, the heavy drum beat, the lyrics even before they burst into the nighttime air. He'd played them before, so many times, in his head.

"Don't need a helmet, got a hard, hard head.

Don't need a raincoat, I'm already wet.

Don't need a bandage, there's too much blood.

After a while, seems to roll right off."

[Also: Watch fan go nuts after boyfriend catches foul ball]

It's Pearl Jam, a song called "Whipping," released in 1994, a few years before Grilli was the fourth overall pick in the draft. Now it had been released again, out of his imagination and into a ballpark, announcing 36-year-old Jason Grilli and his dream job, that as closer for the Pittsburgh Pirates.

The longer his

Read More »from Emboldened by Pittsburgh's confidence in him, Jason Grilli ready to thrive in closer role

Having broken camp with too many starting pitchers and not enough rotation spots, the Los Angeles Dodgers on Saturday traded right-hander Aaron Harang to the Colorado Rockies in exchange for catcher Ramon Hernandez.

Aaron Harang had been sent to the Dodgers' bullpen. (AP)In two weeks, the Rockies have added veterans Jon Garland, scheduled to start Saturday night against the San Diego Padres, and Harang.

Given the offseason signings of Zack Greinke and Hyun-Jin Ryu, the Dodgers had a surplus of starters. Behind Clayton Kershaw, Greinke, Ryu, Josh Beckett and the recovering Chad Billingsley, Harang, like Chris Capuano, was sent to the bullpen. He had no real role, however, so a trade was inevitable.

[Also: Dodgers allow Hyun-Jin Ryu to continue routine that goes against American custom]

The Dodgers believed they were short catching depth after starter A.J. Ellis and backup Tim Federowicz, so sought a veteran at that position. The Denver Post first reported Hernandez had been traded.

Assuming Billingsley continues to recover from a

Read More »from Dodgers trade Aaron Harang to Rockies

LOS ANGELES – At about the pace Hyun-Jin Ryu, the 26-year-old South Korean left-hander, is learning of life in America and its major leagues, the Los Angeles Dodgers are learning of him.

A couple months in, they've found Ryu to be bright, amusing and quite sure of himself, his confidence perhaps befitting such a pitcher so decorated in Korea.

And Ryu is finding his way. He allowed a run in 6 1/3 innings against the San Francisco Giants on Tuesday night, just a run in spite of the 10 singles with which the Giants peppered him. He pitched to contact, stubbornly and admirably, and over the course of 80 pitches wisely marginalized his unruly curveball. Instead, he leaned on what pitching coach Rick Honeycutt called, "a plus-plus changeup." Hyun-Jin Ryu gets his second start of the season on Sunday against Pittsburgh. (EFE)

All things considered, the Dodgers liked what they saw of Ryu, in whom they've invested $36 million over six seasons. He pitched himself into their rotation, held up well against the Giants, and on Sunday will start against the Pittsburgh

Read More »from For now, Dodgers let Hyun-Jin Ryu stick to a routine that goes counter to American custom

Tim Lincecum's control issues on Wednesday weren't enough to keep him from beating the Dodgers. (AP)

LOS ANGELES – Fairly obvious by now that Tim Lincecum probably will never again be that Tim Lincecum, the San Francisco Giants have him in the middle of their rotation, so somewhere between the shutdown ace he used to be and the shutdown reliever he was in October.

He took the ball Wednesday night against the Los Angeles Dodgers, at the end of a series that held the potential of giving one team something to think about, and was erratic, resourceful and oddly effective for five innings. Showing a reasonable enough fastball, he walked seven, pitched into, around and out of a handful of combustible moments, and generally held it together. The guy who threw the ceremonial first pitch worked out of the windup for longer than Lincecum (and possessed greater command), but after 91 pitches Lincecum hadn't allowed an earned run, because on top of the seven walks, the Dodgers were gifted a passed ball and an error and did almost nothing with those, either.

Maybe that was Lincecum. Or

Read More »from 'The Freak' might be gone but Tim Lincecum's stuff is good enough to keep Dodgers humble