Dear John,

I am officially done with John Lackey. No killer instinct. No belief in his stuff. No will to win. Once again, he's undone by two strike hits. He gets ahead in the count, and then he's got to nibble, nibble, nibble with his curveball, hoping someone swings at a pitch in the dirt, hoping they don't rip his curveball for a base hit. Well, tonight they ripped it for hits, including the single that put the game winning run on base. He allowed more than two runners per inning tonight, and it wasn't because they were teeing off on him. It's because he refuses to go after hitters. He pitches scared. He's done it his whole career. Worst part is that I think it's rubbing off on Santana.

This team is maddeningly frustrating to watch. They squander their talent trying to be perfect. I simply can't watch a game with confidence that they'll win, mostly because the Angels have no confidence in themselves.

They fought back valiantly from a slow start this season, and they got themselves in position to challenge for the division, based half on their decent play, and half on the poor play of the rest of the division. But they've squandered that opportunity, playing even or worse with dominant teams like Kansas City and Cleveland. They now trail the A's by six games in the loss column, and despite what history tells us, they simply don't have the talent or make-up to gain back that much ground.