The Angels have acquired 28-year old righty swinging catcher Chris Iannetta from the Rockies for 21-year old righty starting pitcher Tyler Chatwood. Iannetta played in 112 games for the Rockies last year and he was 82 for 345 (.238 avg, .785 OPS) with 51 runs scored, 14 homers, 55 RBIs and 6 stolen bases. He has now played in 458 games in his first six years in the majors and he is 336 of 1,429 (.235 avg, .788 OPS) with 196 runs scored, 63 homers, 236 RBIs and 7 stolen bases. Catcher was a Black Hole offensively for the Angels last year, so it was a smart move in bringing in Iannetta, who has pretty good power. Tyler Chatwood pitched in 27 games (25 starts) for the Angels as a rookie last year and he was 6-11 with a 4.75 ERA and a 1.67 WHIP. Chatwood has a nice upside, but the Angels should be o.k. without him for now.

The Los Angeles Angels are talking to C.J. Wilson right now, but the starting rotation is one of the strengths of the team right now. They need to get more thump out of 3B and they need to get some offense out of the catcher position in 2012. With that in mind, here is how I would spend owner Arte Moreno’s money:

1. Aramis Ramirez - The Angels need to get some power out of 3B and Ramirez is by far the best player on the free agent market. Alberto Callaspo did a decent job last year, but 3B is a power position.

2. Ramon Hernandez - The Angels were essentially a National League style team last year as their catchers hit like pitchers last year. Hernandez is a solid .270 hitter who can whack 10-15 homers in a season.

3. LaTroy Hawkins - LaTroy Hawkins would essentially replace Fernando Rodney in the Angels’ bullpen and that would be a nice upgrade.

52-year old Mike Scioscia finished in sixth place in the A.L. Manager of the Year voting. He led the Angels to a 86-76 record (53.1%) last year despite the utter lack of hitting on the team. Scioscia now has a 1,266-878 (54.8%) record in his first 12 years in charge of the Angels in the dugout. He is a 2-time winner of the Manager of the Year Award, and there is no reason to think he won’t win this award a couple more times before he hangs it up.

The Angels have released 26-year old righty reliever/starter Anthony Ortega. Ortega pitched in 24 games (4 starts) in Rookie+AAA-ball last year and he was 1-3 with a 7.24 ERA and a 1.76 WHIP. He did pitched in 3 games (all starts) for the Angels back in 2009 and he was 0-2 with a 9.24 ERA and a 1.97 WHIP. This is no loss for the Angels.

29-year old righty starting pitcher Jered Weaver finished 2nd in the voting for the 2011 Cy Young Award voting in the A.L. Weaver pitched in 33 games (all starts) for the Angels last year and he was 18-8 with a 2.41 ERA and a 1.01 WHIP. If the Angels had a better hitting team, Weaver might have beat Verlander out for the Cy Young Award. Weaver has now pitched in 177 games (177 starts) in his first six years in the majors and he is 82-47 with a 3.31 ERA and a 1.17 WHIP. Weaver just keeps getting better and that has to be scary, especially for the teams in the A.L. West.