The Angels acquired the big prize hitter on the trade market sending Casey Kotchman and minor league pitcher Stephen Marek to the Braves for slugger Mark Teixeira.  The move should better position the team from Orange County for a serious run through the playoffs.  The Angels are virtually assured of winning the AL West, but their offense would probably be an issue against the other contenders like Boston, Chicago, and New York.

Teixeira should fit nicely hitting either in front or behind Vladimir Guerrero.  With the additions of Teixeira, Torii Hunter, and Juan Rivera to the lineup, the Angels feature much more pop than they did in the recent past.  They can now play Mike Scioscia small ball while also blasting balls out of the park.  Huge deal for Anaheim even if they are unable to resign Teixeira.  This move was well worth it to position themselves for a legitimate World Series run this fall.

The Braves got a decent return for their biggest trading chip.  Kotchman is ready to play now, and will be under contract until 2011.  He is, like Teixeira, a terrific defensive first baseman and is finally developing into the hitter people thought he would be when he was drafted back in 2001.  Marek ranked in the preseason as the No.6 prospect in the Angels' system by Baseball America.  Formerly a starter, he was converted to a reliever this season and has struck out 56 batters in 43.1 innings at Double-A.  He has also walked 21 batters, and likely projects as a set-up reliever because of his control issues.

Do you think Mark Teixeira is happy to be moving to California?