Los Angeles Rumors: Halladay, Matthews, Pierre

Mike DiGiovanna and Dylan Hernandez of the Los Angeles Times pass on a few interesting notes related to the Dodgers and Angels. Here are the highlights:

• If the Angels were to make a run at Roy Halladay, it would cost them at least one big-league arm from the Joe Saunders/Jered Weaver/Ervin Santana group, which could help offset Halladay's 2010 salary.
• Angels' owner Arte Moreno has said in the past that he's willing to bump the club's payroll a little for a potential franchise player. This could give the team some financial maneuverability if they tried to trade for Halladay or sign a free agent like Jason Bay.
• The Dodgers don't want to give up any major league pitching to acquire Halladay, making them an unlikely trading partner for the Jays.
• Both the Dodgers and Angels have a handful of salaries coming off their books, but will owe plenty of players raises through arbitration, restricting their ability to make much impact in free agency.
• The Angels will look into dealing Gary Matthews Jr., but would probably have to eat too much of his salary to make a trade worthwhile.
• The Dodgers have their own outfielder with an oversized contract: Juan Pierre. The team might try to trade Pierre for an equally overpriced back-of-the-rotation pitcher.
• If the Angels were to retain one of their big free agents (John Lackey, Chone Figgins), they could attempt to backload the contract, helping themselves out financially in the short term.