Baseball News from L.A. Times

Angels seemingly move close to a deal with Toronto for the much-needed shortstop, only for talks to stall, apparently when another club enters the picture.

The Angels and Toronto Blue Jays were closing in on a deal Friday that would have returned popular shortstop David Eckstein to Anaheim. But talks stalled, apparently when another club also expressed serious interest in the former World Series MVP.

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The other club is reportedly the Arizona Diamondbacks, who are in need of infield help after losing Orlando Hudson (O-Dog) to an injury a few weeks ago.  The D-Backs already made news by trading for Adam Dunn, but could use help as they battle the Dodgers for the postseason.

Arizona is usually a non-participant in trades & waiver wire pickups late in the season, but they are flexing some muscles & dollars this year as they try to win the division and get a playoff berth.

The Angels would be ridiculous if they picked up Eckstein (a former player), since they are already dominating the major league and picked up Mark Teixeira from the Braves.  But the Red Sox have been making a lot of moves to position themselves for another World Series run, so the Angels really have no choice but to tray and keep up.

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