We all know I love the Angels, but some of you may not know that I am also a reformed comic book nerd.  By reformed, I mean that I no longer actively read comic books, though I still maintain an interest.  The main way I get my fix nowadays is via the glut of comic book movies that Hollywood has been churning out recently.  In fact, I just got to see X-Men: First Class.

It was a very well done movie in almost every aspect (with the exception of January Jones' awful acting).  I should have loved the movie.  I should have been raving about it.  But... well, I just don't give a crap anymore.

Maybe I am just getting old and the fanboy inside me is fading away, but this movie didn't do anything for me.  Nor does the Green Lantern movie that opens today (although I am pretty sure I lack interest in that one because it looks like giant piece of green-colored crap).  Not even the release of the Captain America movie later this summer has me excited.

I hate to say, but I think the entertainment industry has spoiled a good thing by inundating us with it until we are all oversaturated.  Stupid, Hollywood, you just have to ruin everything, don't you?

A pretty good movie, but still, I just couldn't get that into it.

Daily Links for the LA Angels including Moreno tells Reagins no more spending, more Kazmir release reactions, the Angels now have a three-man catching rotation and much more...

The Story: Arte Moreno reportedly told Tony Reagins that the team cannot add any more payroll this season.

The Monkey Says: I've got some more thoughts on this major but obvious development later today.  However, this doesn't mean the Halos won't make trades as they could always do what the Rangers did last season and just give up bigger prospect packages in return for the other teams eating more salary.  Of course, that means the Angels need to be in position to be buyers and not sellers at the deadline.

The Story: Assessing the demise of Scott Kazmir.

The Monkey Says: I think a lot of people overlook Kazmir's history of relatively minor but persisting arm problems.  He never had to have major surgery or had to miss giant chunks of time, but my theory has long been that those nagging arm problems ultimately sapped him of his natural ability and velocity and screwed up his mechanics.

Eating, sleeping and breathign Angels baseball is a great way to live... most of the time.  However, there are a few things I could do without; chief amongst them is the collection of Angel-related jokes that have been beaten to death over the years.  I think it is high time we identify these lingering pieces of unoriginal humor and ban them from the Halosphere once and for all.

At long last, Scott Kazmir's days as an Angel have come to an end.  I'd say he was put out of his misery, but I don't know if the fans didn't actually suffer more from having to watch Kazmir's epic downward spiral.  Either way, the maligned Kazmir is gone, but as of right now, his legacy seems to be that he will go down as one of the worst Angel acquisitions of all time.

The trade that brought Kazmir to Anaheim certainly wasn't a good one, but does it really deserve such an ignominious distinction?  Believe it or not, I'm not so sure that it does.

Daily Links for the LA Angels including Kazmir finally gets released, Weaver's high pitch counts shouldn't be cause for concern, ESPN calls the Halos the fourth best franchise in sports and much more...

The Story: The Angels finally released Scott Kazmir.

The Monkey Says: This has been inevitable since last year, really.  The Halos gave Kazmir every chance to keep his job, but things just kept getting worse for him.  His acquisition will no doubt go down in Angel history as one of the worst ever, but I'll be taking a look later today on just how bad it really was.

The Story: A retrospective of just how quickly Kazmir's performance declined.

The Monkey Says: It really is staggering how fast Kazmir went from very good to absolutely miserable.  Hopefully he can catch on with a pitching guru like Dave Duncan in St. Louis and salvage his career since he is still plenty young enough to have a quality career.

Next time the Angels play the Mariners, I'd like to request that Carlos Peguero have the rabbit's foot up his butt be surgically removed first.

Mariners 3, Angels 1

Last time the Halos came to Seattle, Peguero won the game on a walk-off flyball that Torii Hunter lost in the sun.  Now tonight, Peguero broke the scoreless tie and drove in the eventual game-winning runs thanks to a routing grounder that hit second base and caromed safely into the outfield.

Losses don't get much more deflating than that.

And that's the real problem, isn't it?  Every time the Angels make some progress, something crazy like that happens.  I just hope the Angel players don't let this demoralize them.

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Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim   (33-36) @ Seattle Mariners (34-34)

Pitching Probables: LAA – Ervin Santana (3-6, 4.37 ERA)  SEA – Erik Bedard (3-4, 3.47 ERA)

Game Info: 7:10 PM PT; TV - Fox Sports West; Radio - KLAA 830 AM

Just like I had hoped, the Angels are eyed a huge series sweep against the Mariners that would put them within striking distance of 1st place in the AL West. My one worry however, is whether or not Santana will be able to find consistency in his pitches. If he can somehow find a way to keep the ball in the park, unlike his last 3 starts, then the Angels will stand a great chance of winning this game against the Mariners. Yes I know that is an extremely obvious statement to make, how else am I going to fluff up this paragraph?