Los Angeles Angels Of Anaheim Baseball Team

The Angels are known for their aggressive baserunning -- they ranked second in the American League with 76 stolen bases entering Wednesday night. But they haven't done a very good job controlling the running game of opponents, a trend that had pitching coach Mike Butcher a little agitated after the Rangers stole five bases, including four by Elvis Andrus, Tuesday night. "There needs to be better awareness in the game," Butcher said. "We can't just let guys run on us at will."

The Lakers just won the NBA championship, and Southern California celebrated with them, with hundreds of thousands of fans attracted to a parade down Figueroa Street and a rally at the Coliseum. There are 122 teams in the NBA, NFL, NHL and Major League Baseball. And Southern California is home to the team that best repays its fans "for all the emotion, money and time fans invest," according to an ESPN study to be unveiled today. That team is not the Lakers. That team is the Angels.

Francisco Rodriguez on Friday asked the Angels to pay him $12.5 million this year, in what could be his final season with the club. The Angels offered their All-Star closer $10 million. If Rodriguez wins in an arbitration hearing next month -- or even if he and the Angels settle beforehand by splitting the difference -- he would become the second highest-paid relief pitcher in the major leagues this season, trailing only Mariano Rivera of the New York Yankees.

BANI, Dominican Republic -- It's just minutes before the scheduled start of a crucial Dominican winter league baseball game and no one can find Erick Aybar. He's not in Licey's painfully cramped, humid clubhouse suffering with his teammates. He's not in the Tigers' dugout. And because the field is slowly being washed away by a tropical storm, he's not there either.

TEMPE, Ariz. -- His left knee is still sore, but his feelings aren't hurt. One year after signing a five-year, $50-million contract to play center field for the Angels, Gary Matthews Jr. has been pushed to the corner spots by center fielder Torii Hunter, who signed a five-year, $90-million deal with the Angels in November.

TEMPE, Ariz. -- Maintaining a proper frame of mind might be a challenge this season for Francisco Rodriguez, the Angels closer who is headed for arbitration Thursday and, it's beginning to seem, out the door as a free agent after 2008. Upon arriving for his first spring-training workout Sunday, Rodriguez was asked whether he's going into this season thinking it will be his last with the Angels. "Yeah, probably," he said. "If they wanted me here, they would have done something a long time ago.

TEMPE, Ariz. -- While so many dwell on what the Angels offense lacks -- an Alex Rodriguez, a Miguel Cabrera, a Mark Teixeira -- Manager Mike Scioscia prefers to focus on what it has. That would be Vladimir Guerrero, still a prolific slugger; Torii Hunter, who has 25-homer power and excellent speed; Garret Anderson, who, when healthy, drove the ball with authority for long stretches last season; and Gary Matthews Jr., who had 18 homers and 72 runs batted in despite a variety of injuries in 2007.

TEMPE, Ariz. -- Second baseman Howie Kendrick was not traded this winter, but his security blanket was. When the Angels sent shortstop Orlando Cabrera to the Chicago White Sox for pitcher Jon Garland in November, they traded their only veteran infielder, a player who helped guide Kendrick through his first two big league seasons. When Kendrick needed help with positioning, Cabrera would provide the answer.

TEMPE, Ariz. -- The sting of an arbitration loss and the potential backlash it could produce may have been eased by the man who delivered the news to Angels closer Francisco Rodriguez on Friday. General Manager Tony Reagins pulled Rodriguez off the field during a morning workout to inform him the team had defeated the reliever in arbitration, meaning Rodriguez will receive $10 million this season rather than the $12.5 million he asked for.

TEMPE, Ariz. -- As much as Mike Scioscia would prefer to have one player -- Erick Aybar or Maicer Izturis -- emerge as his starting shortstop, the manager has not ruled out a possible time-share at the position. "They may play 80 games each during the season," Scioscia said. "There's nothing we're ruling out at this point."