ANAHEIM -- It's hard to believe the Los Angeles Angels will continue to watch baseball's worst-hitting offense since the All-Star break drag this team out of a pennant race. At some point, don't they reach for a knife and cut the cord?

How much longer can they field a National League lineup playing in the American League? It's as though their pitchers have to hit while other teams get the advantage of a designated hitter. Not literally, of course, but Angels catchers have hit almost as poorly as a few pitching staffs.

How much longer can they watch Vernon Wells lunge after the first pitch and hit weak pop-ups at-bat after at-bat and still keep playing him seven days a week, that .203 batting average just not budging?

Hank Conger had some defensive deficiencies, but the Angels could use his offense behind the plate. John Cordes/Icon SMI

Is it me or is this a good time to try something daring, with the Texas Rangers showing every sign of making the AL West race a coronation in September, especially after Tuesday night's 7-3 victory over the Angels at Angel Stadium.

The beauty of the solution I propose is that, even if it fails, it works out well in the long run.

It's time to go even younger, to make your roster look like that of a team with a $40 million payroll that's barely even trying. It might work. And if not, it'll make next year more interesting and probably more competitive.

It's time to bring up the most dynamic solutions at hand, catcher Hank Conger and outfielder Mike Trout, scramble to get them as many at-bats as possible in the next six weeks, and see where things stand on Sept. 28. With the current crop of hitting talent batting .220 since the break, doesn't that suggest change might be in order?

What else can they do to stir the lethargy out of this group? Manager Mike Scioscia can try as many lineup combinations as he wants, but it's like moving deck chairs on the Titanic. This offense isn't going anywhere but down. After 123 games, you kind of are what you are.

If you're still fixated on the Angels getting outside help, forget it. That ship sailed past general manager Tony Reagins three weeks ago, when the non-waiver trade deadline came and went. Sure, he could probably trade for a guy who will clear waivers this month, but he'd be picking from a scrap heap of the overpaid and the underperforming.

And how'd that work out the last time Reagins tried it? If you can't remember, give Scott Kazmir a call down in Houston. He's got plenty of free time.

Scioscia got a little testy when I phrased the question about Conger, "How could you not try his bat after what you've gotten from your other catchers?"