Ervin Santana

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - An extensive video review of Ervin Santana's shoddy start against the Tampa Bay Rays on Tuesday night revealed plenty of hanging breaking balls and poorly placed fastballs, too many hitter's counts and some questionable pitch sequences. It did not reveal that Santana, who was tagged for a career-high four home runs and has given up a major league-high 10 homers in 23 2/3 innings of four starts this season, is tipping his pitches. “We're pretty confident that's not the case - we didn't see anything that stood out,” pitching coach Mike Butcher said.

C.J. Wilson seems amused by reporters who try to analyze him, or, as he puts it, "get inside my head. " Approached after a loss to Cincinnati in his first start, the Angels left-hander quipped, "Here come the sports psychologists. " Of course, Wilson tends to invite questions about his mental approach because his results often don't seem to match up with his array of what the Angels consider to be better-than-average pitches - a 92-mph four-seam fastball, a lively two-seam fastball, a slider, cut-fastball, curve and changeup.

After losing staff ace John Lackey to free agency over the winter, the Angels need a healthy Ervin Santana to step up this season. So no one was laughing when the former All-Star banged his valuable right elbow on a piece of furniture a few days ago. "Some people call it the funny bone," pitching coach Mike Butcher said. "It's just not that funny." So Santana, who made two trips to the disabled list because of elbow and forearm problems last year, was scratched from his scheduled start Tuesday and won't pitch again until Sunday.

NASHVILLE - The Angels made an offer to a veteran starting pitcher that was essentially blown out of the water by the Washington Nationals on the second day of baseball's winter meetings. Lucky for the Angels, that pitcher was Dan Haren and not Zack Greinke. Washington agreed to terms Tuesday on a one-year, $13-million deal for Haren, a move that probably takes the well-heeled Nationals out of the running for Greinke, the jewel of this winter's free-agent class and a top target of the Angels.

Struggling right-hander Ervin Santana will remain in the rotation for at least one more start, against Tampa Bay on Friday night, but with a limit of 15 outs, said Angels Manager Mike Scioscia. Of course, the way Santana has been pitching -- he's 4-10 with a 6.00 earned-run average and 23 homers given up after he was rocked for six runs and eight hits in 1 2/3 innings of Saturday's loss to the Rangers -- the Angels would be elated to get 15 outs from him. “We want him to concentrate on getting into a flow of the game and going hard and go from there,” Scioscia said.

CLEVELAND -- A getaway day afternoon game in Progressive Field could be just what Ervin Santana needs to turn his dismal season around. It was in Cleveland in a series finale last July 27 that the Angels right-hander threw the eighth no-hitter in franchise history and first since Mike Witt's perfect game in 1984. “I'm not really thinking about that,” Santana said. “It feels like a regular game for me. That's how I'm taking it.” Could a different approach really hurt Santana, though?

On the day Angels pitchers and catchers held their first spring-training workout, Ervin Santana reported to camp a wealthy young man, agreeing to terms Saturday on a four-year, $30-million deal. The contract includes a $13-million option for 2013 that can be bought out for $1 million. If the option is exercised, the Angels would secure one of their top young pitchers through all three of his arbitration years and his first two years of free agency.

It all looked so promising for Ervin Santana of the Angels in the first three innings Wednesday night, when the right-hander's fastball hit 95 mph and his slider had so much bite it was producing swings and misses on balls in the dirt. Then in the fourth inning, his fastball lost a little steam, and his breaking ball flattened out. A walk to Joe Mauer and a hanging slider that Justin Morneau crushed for a two-run home run to deep right-center field wiped out Santana's shutout. J.J. Hardy lined a slider over the left-field wall to open the fifth inning, Nick Punto tripled and scored on Denard Span's sacrifice fly, and the Minnesota Twins went on to a 4-2 victory in Angel Stadium.

Two pitchers who might well decide the fortunes of the Angels' rotation and bullpen this season reported to spring training Wednesday in good spirits and, apparently, in good health. Ervin Santana , who struggled for most of 2009 because of an elbow sprain that sapped him of his normal velocity and command, said his arm feels "very, very good" after skipping winter ball in his native Dominican Republic. And veteran reliever Scot Shields arrived at Tempe Diablo Stadium with his usual beginning-of-camp gusto, the left-knee surgery that sidelined the right-hander for most of 2009 barely registering a blip on his radar.

VS. NEW YORK YANKEES When : 7. Where : Angel Stadium. On the air : TV: FS West. Radio: 830, 980, 1330. Pitchers : Ervin Santana vs. Chad Gaudin. Update : Santana has not recorded a victory since defeating Toronto on Aug. 22, but the right-hander has posted a 3.41 earned-run average over his last five starts. He has also given up three earned runs or fewer in seven of his last eight starts, enhancing his chances of making the Angels' playoff rotation.

The Angels won't face stiff competition for Zack Greinke from the New York Yankees, Boston Red Sox, Philadelphia Phillies, New York Mets and Chicago Cubs, big-market teams that traditionally drive up the bidding for marquee free agents but who aren't good fits for the right-hander this winter. But it will still take a Brink's-like haul to sign Greinke, who was 6-3 with a 3.53 earned-run average for the Angels after his July 27 trade from Milwaukee and who is crucial to the team's rotation rebuilding efforts.

After a trade with the Chicago Cubs fell through, the Angels declined Dan Haren's $15.5-million option and bought it out for $3.5 million Friday night, making the veteran right-hander a free agent. Haren, slowed by lower-back tightness in the first half of the season, finished with a 12-13 record and 4.33 earned-run average, but the Angels, mindful of his high mileage and decreased velocity, determined the 32-year-old right-hander was not worth $15.5 million. Acquired from Arizona at the July 31 trade deadline in 2010, Haren went more than seven seasons without missing a start before going on the disabled list for the first time in his career in early July.

The Angels appeared to be on the verge of a trade that would send pitcher Dan Haren to the Chicago Cubs for reliever Carlos Marmol, with Marmol going so far as to tell reporters in the Dominican Republic late Friday afternoon he had waived his no-trade clause to come to Anaheim. Several media outlets in Chicago, citing unnamed sources, reported the deal was done. However, a source familiar with the negotiations, but not authorized to speak publicly about them, told The Times, “there is no deal between the Angels and Cubs.” Early Friday evening, well after reports of the trade filled Twitter, Haren, in an email exchange with The Times, said he had “not heard anything” from the Angels or Cubs about a deal.

A month ago, Angels pitcher Dan Haren saw his career heading in one of two very distinct directions. "Going into the off-season," the 32-year-old right-hander said in an email Thursday, "I thought I was going to be a free agent or come back to the Angels. " Most likely, neither will happen. The Angels are actively shopping Haren in hopes of netting some kind of return in a trade before he becomes a free agent. Several teams, including the Boston Red Sox, are believed to be interested.

Right fielder Torii Hunter and pitcher Dan Haren are pessimistic about their chances of remaining with the Angels as a 9 p.m. Friday deadline for decision making looms. The Angels and Hunter have made little progress in contract talks, and the chances of the team extending him a $13.3-million "qualifying offer" appear slim, according to a person familiar with negotiations but not authorized to speak publicly about them. "It's kind of disappointing, but what are you going to do?"

The Angels got something for Ervin Santana just hours before he would have become a free agent Wednesday, trading the veteran right-hander and $1 million to the Kansas City Royals for minor league reliever Brandon Sisk. The Angels had until 9 p.m. Wednesday to exercise Santana's $13-million option for 2013 or buy it out for $1 million and let Santana go. In effect, they did both, and acquired a 27-year-old left-hander who is yet to pitch in the big leagues but is expected to compete for a spot in the Angels' bullpen next season.

Ervin Santana will take his regular turn in the Angels rotation and start Saturday's exhibition game against Texas in Surprise, Ariz., but left-hander C.J. Wilson will not pitch against his former club when the American League West division-rival Rangers come to Tempe Diablo Stadium on Sunday. Manager Mike Scioscia announced Friday morning that Wilson, the former Texas ace who signed a five-year, $77.5-million deal with the Angels in December, will start a triple-A game against the Chicago Cubs on Sunday, with a target of six innings and 90 pitches.

The Angels exercised Ervin Santana's $13-million option for 2013 and traded the pitcher and cash to the Kansas City Royals for minor league pitcher Brandon Sisk on Wednesday, getting something in return for the veteran right-hander before he became a free agent. The Angels had until 9 p.m. (PDT) Wednesday to either exercise Santana's option or pay $1 million to buy it out. Had the option been declined, Santana would have become a free agent. [UPDATED: 3:19 p.m. The Angels are sending $1 million to the Royals as part of the deal.

Zack Greinke is expected to take his free-agent negotiations deep into November and possibly December, but the fate of two other Angels starting pitchers, as well as right fielder Torii Hunter, could be determined this week. The team must decide by Wednesday whether to pick up Ervin Santana's $13-million option for 2013 or pay a $1-million buyout and by Friday whether to pick up Dan Haren's $15.5-million option or pay a $3.5-million buyout. Neither option is expected to be exercised, and both will likely leave the team, but General Manager Jerry Dipoto on Monday raised another, albeit long-shot, possibility, hinting that he has explored trades of Santana and Haren in hopes of netting some kind of return before the players walk as free agents.