Halo Headlines – 4/18/11

Daily Links for the LA Angels including Conger appears to be atop the catcher depth chart, Kazmir flees to Houston to find answers, Morales takes a small step forward in his rehab and much more…

 

The Story: Hank Conger appears to be the Angels’ top catcher after Scioscia met behind closed doors with all of his catchers.

The Monkey Says: Mathis was upset after the meeting, so draw whatever conclusion you want, but it still isn’t 100% official that Conger is the new top dog behind the plate.  Why Mathis is so upset is beyond me though.  He has been one of the worst hitters in the majors for years and yet he still continued to get copious amounts of playing time.  He had to know he was living on borrowed time.  But let’s not get bogged down by Mathis, the important thing to take away here is that Scioscia has finally seen the light and freed Hank Conger.


The Story: Scott Kazmir spent the weekend in Houston to work with some old coaches on figuring out his problems.

The Monkey Says: Desperation, table for one!  Kaz is rejoining the team today, so it clearly wasn’t much of a counciling session, but at this point he has to try anything and everything since his career is pretty much on the line.  He should be heading out on rehab assignment in the next week or two, but don’t expect any miracles.


The Story: Kendrys Morales is now running with turns in the next phase of his rehab.

The Monkey Says: Almost there.  He just needs to start running the bases next and then he shold be cleared to start a minor league rehab assignment.


The Story: Evaluating Jered Weaver’s candidacy for a contract extension or trade.

The Monkey Says: This almost made me feel like Weaver actually could come to an extension agreement with the Angels… almost.


The Story: Fernando Rodney credits his improved play to working on his delivery with Mike Butcher.

The Monkey Says: Rodney’s mechanics are so high maintenance that they should just hire him his own personal pitching coach at this point.


The Story: Jered Weaver is the first pitcher to win four games in his team’s first thirteen contests since Roger Clemens in 1991.

The Monkey Says: Congrats, Jered.  Now please don’t replicate Clemens and bolt the team that drafted you in favor of big bucks elsewhere.


The Story: The Halos and Horrors exhibit is now open in Pomona.

The Monkey Says: I get celebrating the whole history of the Angels by remembering some of the tragedies that have befallen the franchise, but making the “horrors” so prominent makes me think that this exhibit is kind of a bummer.

Arrow to top