Lyle Spencer makes a case for Weaver

Imagine my surprise today when I logged onto the Angels web site to find a piece by mlb.com's Lyle Spencer titled, "Who is Halos' ace? Leave it to Weaver." I was surprised for a variety of reasons.

First of all, I was happy to see a veteran baseball writer like Spencer also making an argument for Weaver. Makes me feel like those voices in my head aren't so bad after all. It was also funny to see the title of Spencer's piece as being similar to my own (Leave it Weaver/Lead it to Weaver). In case you're wondering, I'm not making any crazy assumptions and actually find the coincidence kind of cool.

Spencer makes a convincing case for Weaver becoming the Angels' new ace by comparing Weaver's numbers to those of Lackey's at similar stages in their careers. I'm not going to rehash those statistics here; you can simply read all about it on the Angels' web site. The important point of his article is that Weaver actually has better numbers at this point in his career than Lackey did at the same point in his.

In other news, it's being reported by Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News that Vladimir Guerrero is about to sign a one-year $5 million contract (plus incentives) with the Texas Rangers. I'm sure Ranger fans are excited about seeing Vlad in Arlington since he's always hit so well there; however, I would temper their expectations because Vlad's success there probably had more to do with his facing the Rangers' pitching staff more than it did the stadium itself.

I have to ask, what's with this trend of ex-Angels signing contracts within the Western Division? Last year it was Orlando Cabrera and Adam Kennedy signing with the A's and this year we've seen Chone Figgins head off to the Pacific Northwest and now Vladimir Guerrero in Texas; not to mention the trade that sent former Angel Casey Kotchman to the Mariners. I don't know about you, but I am not into having reunions at every home stand in 2010.

If you're wondering what the latest is on Aroldis Chapman, you're not alone. It's hard to get a handle on the truth. Where's Jack Nicholson when you need him? That bit about him "signing any day now" looks like any day means any day this year. The Red Sox have supposedly "pulled back" on their pursuit.

Pitchers and catchers report for sping training on February 18 in Tempe, AZ. Perhaps Chapman will sign by then. No doubt it will be "breaking news."