Manager Mike Scioscia

SEATTLE -- The Angels are all but certain to decline Dan Haren's $15.5-million option for 2013. The 32-year-old right-hander, slowed by a lower-back injury and showing signs of wear and tear after seven straight years with 216 innings or more, went 12-13 with a 4.33 earned run average this season. And the Angels would like to use their rotation resources to re-sign free-agent right-hander Zack Greinke, who could command a deal in excess of $100 million. But Manager Mike Scioscia would not be be surprised to see the veteran bounce back next season.

SEATTLE -- When Torii Hunter reflects on Mike Trout's historic rookie season, it's not the .326 average, .399 on-base percentage, .564 slugging percentage, 30 home runs, 129 runs, 49 stolen bases, the highlight-reel catches and All-Star selection that jump out the most. "It's how humble he is," Hunter said. "He never got caught up in the limelight. It's unbelievable. It's going to help him a lot in the future because he won't expect things from people, or expect somebody to say this about him. He's just going to work and have fun and treat people the way he wants to be treated.

SEATTLE - Ervin Santana is so even-keeled you wouldn't know if he was throwing a no-hitter or getting shelled, a temperament that helps him cope with the stress of being a big league pitcher but irritates those who want him to show more fire on the mound. So it's hardly surprising that Santana, in his 12th year with the only organization he has known, attached no special significance to what very well could be his last game as an Angel, Sunday night's 2 2/3-inning, six-run, seven-hit effort in an 8-7 loss to Texas.

ARLINGTON, Texas - Torii Hunter added a page to his free-agent resume Sunday. For the first time in his career, he will be a .300 hitter. With seven hits in Sunday's doubleheader - including the game-winning double in the first game - he lifted his batting average to .313. If he were to go 0 for 5 in each of the remaining three games, he still would finish at .304. Hunter has hit at least 21 home runs in every full season in the major leagues - until this one. He has 16 home runs this season, but his average and on-base percentage are on pace for career highs.

ARLINGTON, Texas - The odds are against the Angels, and now Mother Nature might be too. The Angels entered play Friday two games out of a playoff spot, with six to play. Their weekend series in Texas could be interrupted by rain, forcing the Angels into what Manager Mike Scioscia called “a worst-case scenario.” Thundershowers are in the forecast Friday night and steady rain Saturday. A postponement either day could force a doubleheader Sunday, an unsettling proposition for a team with a leaky bullpen.

Mike Scioscia traded blown saves, tough baserunning decisions and a jeopardized playoff position for success and stability Saturday night. The Angels manager received a guarantee from owner Arte Moreno that he and General Manager Jerry Dipoto will return next season. The Angels then claimed a 4-2 victory over the Chicago White Sox to move to within 21/2 games of the Oakland Athletics for the American League's second wild-card spot with 10 games remaining. "We know what we need to do," Scioscia said in the manager's office he has occupied for 13 years at Angel Stadium.

A pair of ninth-inning meltdowns against Kansas City last Saturday night and Texas on Thursday night have cost right-hander Ernesto Frieri the Angels' outright closer job. Manager Mike Scioscia said before Friday night's game against the Chicago White Sox that he will "match up more" in the ninth inning with left-hander Scott Downs, right-hander Kevin Jepsen and Frieri, citing the need "to take a little pressure off a guy whose confidence is...

This little two-man relay team the Angels have forged with Zack Greinke and Ernesto Frieri is not going to work as long as the anchor man keeps dropping the baton. In a near carbon copy of Saturday's gut-wrenching loss in Kansas City, Greinke handed the ball to Frieri after a superb effort, and that ball was deposited way beyond an outfield wall by an opposing slugger. This time it was Adrian Beltre who drove yet another dagger into the Angels' fading playoff hopes, crushing a Frieri slider for a two-run home run to left field in the top of the ninth inning to lift the Texas Rangers to a 3-1 victory Thursday night in Angel Stadium.

It's an awkward and unexpected position for a team with a $159-million payroll, a superstar-filled roster and World Series aspirations, but the Angels are not too proud to admit it. They need help. "We're going to need some teams to stub their toe a bit," Manager Mike Scioscia said, "but it's not going to mean anything if we don't take care of the games we're playing. The best way to pressure the teams ahead of you is to win. " The Angels did that in convincing fashion Tuesday night, busting out for eight runs in the fourth inning and riding Jered Weaver's 100th career win to an 11-3 victory over Texas that moved them to within 61/2 games of the Rangers in the American League West with 14 games left.

Jered Weaver was in command from the moment he strode to the mound Thursday, his fastball sizzling and his hard slider confusing the Oakland Athletics as effectively as it had befuddled everyone else before biceps tendinitis sapped his strength and forced him to miss his previous start. How good was he? He struck out six of the first eight batters he faced and, at one point, hit 137 mph on the scoreboard pitching speed display. "It was that hard. I was feeling good out there," he said, with a straight face.