Mark Saxon of ESPNLosAngeles.com points out that the Los Angeles Angels do not have any hitters batting as well as .300 this year – a dramatic drop-off in production to a team that set franchise records for batting average, runs scored and RBIs last year. Because of the offensive drought some of the older veterans could be on the way out.

Saxon points out that designated hitter and outfielder Hideki Matsui is 41 points off his career average and he suspects that if his numbers don’t pick up, he could be traded or released in the coming weeks.

Other older players that are seeing a drop-off include Howie Kendrick, Juan Rivera, Erick Aybar, Maicer Izturis, Bobby Abreu, Torii Hunter and Mike Napoli.

The Angels are eight games out of the American League West, and are struggling to stay afloat. At some point this month, they may want to wave the white flag and see if they can trade some of their players to save cash on their payroll and get the younger guys more playing time in preparation for 2011.

Yesterday, Angels’ GM Tony Reagins said the teams received calls about veteran players just before the deadline, but “those [calls] didn’t make sense for us with what we want to accomplish.”