"I knew with Frankie on the free-agent market I had a chance to get to Anaheim," Fuentes said. "Being from California, it's always nice to stay here and have that comfort zone. . . . The Angels are a class organization, they're in the playoffs just about every year, and I hear [Mike] Scioscia is a players' manager."
Fuentes, who has a 17-27 career record, 3.41 ERA and 115 saves in seven seasons, became the Rockies' closer in 2005, going 2-5 with 31 saves in 34 chances and a 2.91 ERA in 78 games. He was 3-5 with 20 saves in 27 chances and a 3.08 ERA in 64 games in 2007, the year the Rockies reached the World Series, but was replaced as closer that midseason by Manny Corpas. Fuentes got his job back early in 2008 when Corpas faltered.
Fuentes said he has been asked to play for the U.S. team in the upcoming WBC but hasn't made a final decision.
The Angels will relinquish a first-round pick in next June's draft to the Rockies as compensation for signing Fuentes, but they gained first-round picks for losing Teixeira and Rodriguez.
As for the team's next move, Reagins said he has no "clear-cut" plan to add another hitter or a fifth starter.
"We're going to continue to work the phones and look for other opportunities to make the club better," he said, "and we will pursue them aggressively."
Jose Cruz Jr. played six mediocre seasons for the Toronto Blue Jays . The Jays tried to trade him during five of them. When his contract expired in 2002, the team let him sign with San Francisco, where he did nothing remarkable.
It is just down the road from Escobar Cres., named for Kelvim Escobar, an inconsistent former Jays pitcher who was once sued for allegedly drugging a woman and having sex with her without her consent.
Which is adjacent to Clemens Cres., named for superstar pitcher Roger Clemens, who was accused in 2008 of both using steroids and having an affair with a country singer that began when she was 15.
Three strikes. But H&R Developments, which came up with the numerous Baseball-related street names in this well-manicured subdivision between 1992 and 2000, is out: It sold the neighbourhood's detached and semi-detached homes when Cruz was moderately popular and Clemens and Escobar - who was never charged with a crime - were untarnished. No regrets, said Todd Jeffrey Ellis, H&R's marketing director.
"Not in the least," Ellis said during a brief telephone interview in which he was reluctant to talk about the subdivision. "Stuff happens, you know?"
Stuff about which almost every resident of Cruz, Escobar and Clemens is unaware. Few people in the Mavis Rd. and Highway 401 neighbourhood, in which at least 15 streets are named for Baseball players - both upstanding (Willie Mays, Mickey Mantle) and contemptible (Ty Cobb) - are even faintly aware of the athletic origins of their addresses.
