Vladimir Guerrero Should Still Be a Los Angeles Angel

He's too old. His knees are shot. He doesn't produce in the postseason. If he loved the Angels so much why wouldn't he take their offer? He's greedy. We don't need him. We have Hideki Matsui, and he's better...

These were the things being said on Los Angeles sports talk radio and written on Internet message boards and blog postings about Vladimir Guerrero.

How soon fans forget who drove in the biggest run in the postseason since Scott Speizio hit his home run in 2002.

Who stroked a two—run single off Boston closer Johnathan Papelbon to help the Angels sweep the Red Sox last October? Who posted a .900 OPS against Boston and a .985 OPS against the Yankees?

How quickly people forget and make apologies for a bad front office decision.

At this point if there are any defenders of the Angels left in terms of this move, their homer—dom just can't bring them to admit the Halos are capable of making a mistake, or they're in denial suppressing their rage and sadness.

Guerrero has been the perfect complement to an already potent Ranger offense.

Texas may have the most dangerous one—two punch in baseball at this point with Josh Hamilton on fire (.343, 18 HR 58 RBI, .998 OPS) and Guerrero hitting .330 with 16 homers (including one last night that might still be in orbit off Kevin Jepsen) along with 63 RBI (second in the AL).

The Rangers' line up also features outstanding infielders Ian Kinsler and Michael Young as well as a pair of exciting young players in Elvis Andrus and Nelson Cruz.

What's been most frustrating about the entire situation is that Guerrero was not replaced by a younger, potentially better player, as the Angels did with Kendry Morales taking over at first base for Mark Teixeira.

Los Angeles didn't pull off a spectacular trade for, say, an Adam Lind or a Jason Kubel type hitter. Nor did it open the check book for a hitter the caliber of Matt Holliday.

Guerrero's replacement also has shot knees and has had a tough time staying healthy despite putting up great postseason numbers. But Hideki Matsui is not faring quite as well.

Currently hitting .262 with 10 HR and 46 RBI, Matsui is not providing the offensive production the Angels had expected.

Essentially, the Angels replaced Guerrero with an older, left handed, less dynamic version of Guerrero.

Matsui had some good seasons in the past for the Yankees, but he does not have a track record of hitting compared to Guerrero. And with the Angels lacking punch in the lineup, you can be sure they would love to have Guerrero back.