Not to be cowed by the Rangers' acquisition of a shiny new Cliff Lee, the Angels have made a splash of their own by trading for Dan Haren. The Diamondbacks get Joe Saunders, lefty Patrick Corbin and right-hander Rafael Rodriguez, along with a player to be named later.

I, meanwhile, get the sinking feeling that the existentialists were right. CAMUUUUUUUUUUUS! /shakefist

Alright, so maybe it's not all that bad. Actually, yes, it is. Nick Swisher is a member of the hated Yankees and Dan Haren is a member of the still-more-hated Angels. Two of my favorite players from the 2006 squad that went to the ALCS are now mere cogs in the monolithic machines of evil hellbent on destroying the purity of baseball and humanity at large at least that's how it plays out in my head.

But this isn't about me, is it? No, this is about the Rangers and Angels getting locked into a game of cat and also-cat. What say you, oh prescient ANers? Is this the move that brings the Angels neck-and-neck with the club at Arlington? Or are they just treading water in a slightly more vigorous fashion? And, of course, how does this affect the A's?

As for the prospects: you can look at what the L.A. fans think of Pat Corbin here (if you can stand the smell of that place), or you can check out the oft-entertaining Sickels report here (hint: he gives Corbin a C+).

Rafael Rodriguez is 25 and has played in 19 major league games thus far, with a 1.81 WHIP and a dead-even K/BB rate (11-11). And of course, many of us are well acquainted with Joe Saunders at this point. All of which leads me to ask-- did the Angels get their swindle on? 'Cuz this seems to me like a mighty crappy return for Dan Haren. Please tell me how I'm wrong.

Damn it all.