All the cool kids are leaving

Darren Oliver is cool. I’ve thought that ever since he put on an Angels uniform. His stroll from the bullpen to the mound, late in a game is a picture of absolute coolness. You would never guess he’s heading into a fire to tame the flames. Instead, he looks like he’s just taking a stroll to pick up the paper off the drive way.

He pitches with a quiet confidence and stays cool under pressure. If I didn’t know better, I’d swear he doesn’t even sweat. However, I do know better because this past spring training when my wife Cheryl and I asked him to stop and pose for a picture, he was worried that he was a little too sweaty. We convinced him he was fine and he obliged us for photo.

Like I said; Oliver is just plain cool. What isn’t cool is the news coming out of ESPN via Jerry Crasnick, who claims Oliver is close to signing a deal with the Texas Rangers.

Excuse me while I scream because I’m clearly not as cool as Oliver.

The nightmare that is the Angels’ off season continues. It’s bad enough the Angels are losing Oliver, but to compound the issue, they’re losing him to a team within their own division. To make matters even more “peachy” – the Angels will not receive any compensation for Oliver since they did not offer him arbitration.

The Angels decided that they didn’t want to pay more for Oliver in 2010 than they paid for him in 2009 (which would have been a certainty had they offered and he in turn accepted arbitration.

There were rumors that Oliver might retire after last season. Word was that if he didn’t retire, he’d want to come back to Anaheim. It sounded good and I was sucked in.

Clearly, things aren’t as they seem. I don’t know, but it seems to me like Anaheim is not the premiere destination many people might have thought it was; unless, you’re heading to Disneyland for a family vacation. Then again, maybe that’s not even a sure thing.