Seeking to add a power bat to jump start the offense, the Los Angeles Angels set their sights on Chicago Cubs’ slugger Derrek Lee.

The deal made all the sense in the world. The Cubs are 10 games under .500 while the Angels, who just traded for pitcher Dan Haren, are at .500 and trying to run down Texas in the AL West. And Lee is building a house in Southern California.

But the veteran invoked his 10-years in the majors, 5-years with the same team clause and rejected the deal on Wednesday.

Lee, who is hitting .248 with 11 home runs and 44 RBIs, would have given the Angels a big boost at first base. Los Angeles lost Kendry Morales back in May when Morales broke his leg during a celebration following a walkoff grand slam.

The Angels are in third place in the West, 8 ½ games behind Texas and one game behind second-place Oakland. Baseball’s trade deadline is 4 p.m. Saturday.

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Santana only surrendered solo home runs to Michael Young and Nelson Cruz, striking out eight while allowing five hits to lower his ERA to 3.55 on the season. The win snapped a three-game skid for the Angels.

He was supported by Jeff Mathis’ third home run of the year and two RBI from newcomer Alberto Callaspo. Erick Aybar also collected three hits for the Angels, two more than any Ranger on the night. He helped chase Texas starter Scott Feldman, who lasted just 5 1/3 innings, giving up three runs on seven hits.

Cruz’ home run extended his career-best hitting streak to 13 games, and Young homered for the third consecutive game.

Rivera continued his torrid hitting streak after missing nine games due to blurred vision, which was caused by stress. He now has 11 hits in his last 31 at-bats after going 3 for 4 on the evening.Mike Napoli hit his 15th homer of the season for the Angels, and Kevin Frandsen went 2 for 4 with two RBI in the victory. They helped pick up starting pitcher Joe Saunders, who surrendered 10 hits and five runs in six innings of work.

He fared better than counterpart Ryan Rowland-Smith, though. The Seattle starter lasted just 3 1/3 innings, giving up six runs on eight hits to see his ERA balloon to 6.18 on the season.

A five-game winning streak. A four-game losing streak. The two biggest runs of the first month of the season for the Los Angeles Angels came in the opening 14 days of the season.

Roll it all together, and the defending AL West closed the first month of the season even steven at .500, sporting a 12-12 record that had the Angels tied with Oakland atop the division.

Los Angeles opened the season with a win over Minnesota on opening day, then dropped four straight games. Following a 6-2 loss at New York on April 5, the Angels were at 3-7 on the season.

Not the start they envisioned. But it didn’t take long to turn things around. Los Angeles launched a five-game winning streak the next day, sweeping a three-game set at Toronto and beating the Tigers twice at home. Four of the five wins were by two runs or less.

Uneven play resumed the next two weeks. Los Angeles opened May with a 3-2 loss at Detroit, dropping to 12-13 on the season.

Jered Weaver has been outstanding on the mound, going 3-0 in his first five starts with a 2.53 ERA. Kendry Morales sparked the offense, hitting .315 with six homers and 16 RBIs in his first 25 games.

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Morales hit the game-changing bomb after being given the green light on a 3-0 count against Demaso Marte. But it was manager Joe Girardi who really gave the Angels first baseman the chance. The Yankees skipper initially called for an intentional walk of Morales, but changed his mind after one pitch and Morales made him pay.

Morales finished 3-for-3 with 3 RBI and two runs scored. Bobby Abreu also homered and went 2 for 4.

On a less positive note, though, starting pitcher Scott Kazmir struggled again. He walked four batters and gave up four runs in 5 1/3 innings, and his ERA now stands at 7.20 on the season.

Kazmir also served up two home runs, to Robinson Cano and Jorge Posada.

The new Los Angeles Angel drove in the game-winning run in the 9th inning on Saturday, giving the club a 4-3 win over the Oakland Athletics.

The win ended a four-game losing streak for the Angels. Bobby Abreu’s one-out double ignited the rally, and an intentional walk to Tori Hunter set the table for Matsui’s heroics. “Godzilla” finished 3 for 5 with 2 RBI, and is batting .417 after a week in his new digs.

Jered Weaver pitched six strong innings, surrendering just one run while striking out seven. Fernando Rodney earned his first win with the Angels by pitching a scoreless ninth inning.

First baseman Kendry Morales followed Matsui’s big fly with one of his own en route to posting identical numbers from the No. 5 spot. And Erick Aybar, slotted in the leadoff spot with mainstay Chone Figgins signing with Seattle in the offseason, provided a spark with a 2-for-3 performance, drawing a walk and scoring two runs.

Jered Weaver pitched six effective innings, striking out six while surrending three runs. And the bullpen appeared formidable, providing three shutout innings.

Delmon Young went 2-for-4 with a home run and 2 RBI for Minnesota in a losing effort.

Kazmir, who has been dealing with nagging arm and hamstring injuries, will make a rehab start for Los Angeles’ Class A affiliate on Friday, after which the Angels hope he can rejoin the team.

Matt Palmer will take Kazmir’s place in the rotation and start on Friday against Oakland.

The Angels gave up left-handed pitcher Matt Torres, third baseman Matt Sweeney and a minor leaguer in the deal.

The trade instantly gives the better Angels starting rotation another quality arm. Kazmir is 8-7 with a 5.92 ERA on the season but has been much better since the All-Star break.

A former No. 1 starter, Kazmir still has plenty of ability and should serve as a quality arm for the Angels down the stretch.

The Rays were willing to part with him because of his significant salary, which the Angels will now pick up.

The Angels have had the least turnover of players and staff over the past three years, proving that continuinty does, in fact, breed success.

Players like Vladamir Guerrero, John Lackey and Chone Figgins, along with manager Mike Scioscia, have provided a lot of stability.

As the team has grown older together, they have become tighter and definitely developed a chemistry with one another.

It will be interesting to see if other MLB teams start looking to follow the Angels lead when it comes to building their organization.