FOR THE LA ANGELS, TONY REAGINS HAS TURNED TO STONE (MAN).

Some names are more appropriate than others. Pete ‘Rose’? He doesn’t really smell like one. John ‘Lackey’? Far from it.

But Bill Stoneman? Perfect. He was slow, and methodical, and immovable.

He built a nice team, a team that had many solid seasons and one miracle one. But miracles don’t happen often. And Stoneman couldn’t pull the trigger on the moves necessary to get the team back to the World Series.

Tony Reagins seemed different. Not in tone or personality. He was, after all, groomed by Stoneman himself.

But in his first crack, he did what Stoneman could not do and got the big bat in Teixeira. He couldn’t hold him, but that wasn’t Reagins’ fault.

It boded well, though, for this year.

I was sure the Angels would get a pitcher to shore them up for the playoffs. It was so obvious they needed one.

But it turned out that the Teixeira move was a mirage. An aberration. Not a man diving in to the water, but rather a man sticking his toe in the water and accidentally slipping the rest of the way in.

Not giving up the farm for Halladay or Lee is one thing, but not giving up a player to be named later for Carl Pavano is another. The shutout Pavano threw in his first start would have ALREADY made him worth it.

The worst thing that happens is he’s a stiff and you’re out a minor minor leaguer. Big deal. The Angels need pitching. Get creative.

This team is NOT the same as teams past. This team has the hitting. This team has the patience at the plate. What this team doesn’t have is the pitching. So do something, Tony.

One thing about this team and those in the past that is strikingly similar - the possibility of playing the hated Boston Red Sox in the first round (for those of you who say, it’s still August, the Angels might not make the playoffs, I say read my past articles and you know what I think of that.)

Reagins was quoted in the Los Angeles Times as saying, “The way I look at it, they (Boston) have to play against the Angels as well.” That’s right, Tony. They do. And they’re salivating at the thought.

So scan the waiver wires. Make a trade. Do something. But DO NOT go into the playoffs with Oliver and Fuentes and a bunch of rookies. Bulger and Jepsen might have talent, but they’re not K-Rod. And K-Rod had Shields and Percival to protect him.

I always knew that Reagins had been groomed in Stoneman’s image. I just never realized how much.