- The Story: The Angels avoid arbitration with Maicer Izturis by signing him to a three-year, $10 million deal. The Monkey Says: That contract buys out two years of free agency for Izzy. My initial reaction to the signing was that it is an awful lot of money for a bench player, but given the uncertain health and performance statuses of Aybar, Kendrick and Wood, it actually sounds more and more like a great insurance policy. Plus, at that price, Izturis can be great trade bait the next two seasons, especially since he could probably start for many of the teams in the league right now.
- The Story: The Angels got a great bargain on the Izturis deal. The Monkey Says: The number crunchers actually believe he deserved twice the contract he got, so chalk up another victory for Tony Reagins.
- The Story: Do the Angels still need bench help? The Monkey Says: It remains to be seen whether or not the Angels choose to fill their final two bench spots with internal candidates or veterans. Their payroll is already pushing $120 million for 2010, so shelling out for veteran bench bat may not be in the budget.
- The Story: Would the Angels be willing to trade either Mike Napoli or Jeff Mathis? The Monkey Says: beat reporter Lyle Spencer doesn’t seem to think so, but I sure wouldn’t mind the team trading Jeff Mathis to save a little bit of money since they have a capable replacement in Bobby Wilson.
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