- The Story: Angel scouting director Eddie Bane gives his opinion of Cuban lefty Aroldis Chapman. The Monkey Says: The quote that sums it all up, “with Kendry in our system we think it would be a nice fit if Aroldis and his group think it would be.” In other words, the Angels will be going hard after Chapman, even if Bane claims they still need to see him more.
- The Story: Check out the first pictures of Hideki Matsui as an Angel. The Monkey Says: It is amazing how much less assholish a guy looks in Angel red instead of Yankee blue.
- The Story: To accommodate Hideki Matsui, Sean O’Sullivan will switch from #55 to #37. The Monkey Says: This might not really end up mattering if Sully doesn’t make win the fifth starter spot.
- The Story: Mike Scioscia is open to having Hideki Matsui play left field once or twice a week. The Monkey Says: If Matsui proves his knees are up to the challenge, that is. This probably isn’t a great idea since Matsui is a wretched fielder, but it will help keep Bobby Abreu and Juan Rivera fresh, so it does make some sense.
- The Story: The Angels are interested in trading for Javier Vazquez. The Monkey Says: This one scares me. Vazquez has just one year left on his deal and was a legit Cy Young contender last year, but that was in the NL. Javy has been wildly inconsistent in his career, but for the most part, the AL has not been kind to him, nor have pressure situations. This might be academic anyway because Vazquez has a not-trade clause that includes all AL West teams and he has been pretty vocal throughout his career about not wanting to play in the Pacific time zone.
- The Story: Will Bud Selig eliminate the DH? The Monkey Says: Selig has never been a fan of the DH and he could try to pitch the change to his special on-field issues committee which has several old school guys on the committee. One of them is Scioscia though, so don’t expect him to support such a drastic move right after his team signed Hideki Matsui. Either way, this won’t really happen for collective bargaining reasons.
- The Story: John Lackey gets introduced to the Boston media. The Monkey Says: If seeing Figgy in a Mariner uniform yesterday made your stomach churn, no doubt the photo of Big John in Red Sox gear is going to make you regurgitate your breakfast.
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