Teixeira is the icing for the Angels

The headlines are going to scream that landing Mark Teixeira make the Los Angeles Angels the American League favorite.

Hogwash. They already were the favorite.

Best record in baseball, the deepest starting staff in the majors, a closer on pace to set a record for saves in a season, a huge lead in their division - sounds like a winner to me. Adding Teixeira makes the Angels the most complete team in baseball.

It was a seismic event in Los Angeles - literally, as Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register wrote. The Angels never were a rent-a-player type of team and not the kind to go out and get a bat at the deadline. They won a title six seasons ago with the "rally monkey" and a team that got very hot at the right time. Now they go make the boldest move at the trade deadline, and the second-best trade of the season (CC Sabathia-to-Milwaukee is still No. 1.)

Even their potential playoff opponents were shaken a bit. "I am [surprised at the Angels making a big deal]," Tampa Bay manager Joe Maddon, a former Angels coach, told MLB.com. "They've never been one to part with youth. And so this is a bit of a radical departure from the past. While I was with the Angels there were no real significant acquisitions. No real names like a Teixeira."

Teixeira, a switch-hitter and a former Gold Glove selection at first base, will give Vladimir Guerrero and Torii Hunter better pitches to hit and make the Angels' lineup stronger all around. They gave up Casey Kotchman, who is already a pretty good player, but picked up a proven big bat who will make the Angels that much tougher for the Red Sox (the second-best team in the AL right now, no matter what the standings say) to beat. And the deal made sense in Atlanta, too, especially with Tim Hudson's season likely over with what could be a serious elbow injury.

And then John Lackey no-hits the Sox in Boston for 8 1/3 innings in the Angels' seventh win in eight games against the champs this season. Now that's a message.