In Sunday’s Los Angeles Times, beat writer Mike DiGiovanna recycled his winter rumor that the Angels are trying to acquire third baseman Garrett Atkins from the Colorado Rockies.

Naturally, this has the fan boards in a tizzy, but I just thought I’d be the sober driver (as usual) and point out Atkins’ career home/away splits as evidence he’s a figment of Coors Field’s mile-high imagination:

HOME AVG/OBP/SLG: .326/.390/.519 (.909 OPS)
AWAY AVG/OBP/SLG: .274/.353/.428 (.781 OPS)

Hardly worth backing up a truckload of top prospects, now, is he?

Although in all fairness I’ll post his 2006 numbers which are much more balanced:

HOME AVG/OBP/SLG: .346/.416/.583 (.999 OPS)
AWAY AVG/OBP/SLG: .313/.402/.531 (.933 OPS)

Year-to-date in 2007, however, he’s been mediocre no matter where he’s playing:

HOME AVG/OBP/SLG: .291/.350/.418 (.768 OPS)
AWAY AVG/OBP/SLG: .250/.356/.383 (.739 OPS)

One month does not a season make, but the long-term career numbers suggest a bit more sobriety before assuming he’ll replicate Coors Field at Angels Stadium.