Maybe it’s me, but I’m trying to figure out what all the fuss is about Dan Haren being traded from the lowly Arizona Diamondbacks to the Los Angeles Angels, who acquired the veteran right-hander in an effort to shore up its suspect pitching staff and make a run at catching the AL West division-leading Texas Rangers.

Now, again, maybe it’s me, but I just don’t see how the addition of Haren is going to help an Angels’ team that doesn’t have a single .300 hitter in the starting lineup and one that features a pitching staff with just two starters wit respective ERA’s under 4.18.

The Angels are expecting the talented Haren to be a legitimate staff ace for them down the stretch run of their final 61 games, but I think Haren may be more of a No. 2 starter than an actual staff ace.

One thing is for sure – the Angels and their fans won’t have to wait long to see their newest addition as Haren is scheduled to take the mound tonight against the Boston Red Sox at Angel Stadium, beginning at 10 PM ET.

The right-hander was acquired from the D-backs on Sunday evening for left-handers Joe Saunders, two prospects in young right-hander Rafael Rodriguez and southpaw hurler Patrick Corbin – and the always proverbial, player to be named later.

The Halos rotation bumped their entire rotation back a day with Jered Weaver no scheduled to start on Tuesday night against the Red Sox, followed by Joel Pineiro on Wednesday afternoon.

Veteran right-hander Ervin Santana will kick off a series against the Rangers on Friday night.

Now, while I am going on record as saying the addition of Haren won’t help the Halos catch the Texas Rangers, it’s not because I don’t like Haren or anything.

However, the 29-year-old right-hander did go just 7- 8 in 21 starts for Arizona this season with a 4.60 ERA while allowing a whopping 23 home runs in 141.0 innings pitched.

Haren will be familiar with the NL West after spending three seasons with the Oakland A’s, but again, it’s not like Haren was the second coming of Nolan Ryan or something.

Haren went 43-34 with a solid, but not outstanding 3.64 ERA while pitching for the A’s from pitched for the 2005-07.

The fact of the matter is that the Texas Rangers are a better ballclub than L.A. right now and it’s fairly easy for me to see that.

The Rangers have five regulars batting a least .302 and have six hitters in double digits in home runs just like the Halos, except two Rangers have already topped the 20-home run plateau, while the Angels don’t have a single hitter with 20 long balls.

Believe it or not, the Rangers also have the better pitching staff thanks to the addition of Cliff Lee, a true Cy Young contender that is better that Haren every day of the week.

In addition to Lee, Texas also has two other starters with nine wins and respective ERA’s under 3.53.

In the end, I like the Texas Rangers to win the AL West and MLB betting enthusiasts can back them as a -2000 MLB Futures Odds selection to win the AL West or the Halos at +1000 to win the division they’ve owned for the last three seasons.