Addition of Big Tex makes Angels baseball's top dogs

The Angels won the Mark Teixeira sweepstakes Tuesday, and with it they may well have won the 2008 World Series.

The Angels will look even scarier once Mark Teixeira dons their cap. (US Presswire)

But here's the other idea the Angels were telling people about Tuesday, even as they dealt for the biggest hitter available on the July trade market:

They still want CC Sabathia, too.

Not now, obviously. Sabathia remains a Milwaukee Brewer, and it might just turn out that the Angels have to beat him in late October. But even Tuesday, even with Teixeira on their minds and smiles on their faces, the Angels were telling people that they intend to do what they can to sign Sabathia this winter.

Yes, the Angels are thinking big.

Big as in Teixeira, who they got in a deal for Casey Kotchman. Big as in Sabathia, who they could get if the money is right (and since he's building a house down the road from Angels Stadium, you have to know he'll be interested).

The Angels might have had the best team in baseball as of Tuesday morning. It still wasn't good enough for them.

"Being able to add a player like Mark Teixeira makes us better," general manager Tony Reagins said on a conference call after the trade was announced.

Everyone thought the Angels wouldn't go hard for Teixeira, because he's going to be a free agent this fall and won't even think about signing an extension before then. Everyone thought Angels owner Arte Moreno wasn't going to get a "rental player," especially not if it was going to cost him an everyday player (Kotchman) in return.

Everyone was wrong.

"I don't view Mark Teixeira as a rental player," Reagins said.

In other words, he wants to sign Teixeira. And since Teixeira's agent, Scott Boras, is a regular at Angels games, you can bet they'll have a real good idea (some would say they already do have a good idea) of what it will cost.