- The Story: Erick Aybar and Jeff Mathis are both scheduled for arbitration hearings this week. The Monkey Says: Not many players seem to actually go all the way to arbitration these days, but it looks like both players will actually make it there. Not to begrudge Aybar and Mathis the money, but I hope they lose even if it only saves the Angels a less than 1% increase in payroll.
- The Story: Hank Conger from prodigy to top prospect. The Monkey Says: There is a lot of gushing about Hank’s hitting ability in the piece, but he is going to have to prove he can stay healthy and improve defensively before he gets a shot in the big leagues.
- The Story: A graphical look at how Joel Pineiro’s new fastball saved his career. The Monkey Says: Saved it for a year at least. Pineiro still needs to prove his new sinking fastball can achieve the same level of success in the AL that it did in the inferior NL.
- The Story: The Angels are in a holding pattern with Jake Locker. The Monkey Says: The Halos shouldn’t hold their breath for Locker as he is likely going to be the #1 pick in the NFL Draft when he goes pro after this coming season. But at least they gave him a cool $300k for his final year of college, that is good for like 50,000 cases of Natty Light.
- The Story: Former Angel Dustin Moseley signed a minor league deal with the Yankees. The Monkey Says: Moseley will get the privilege of cluttering up someone else’s disabled list this year.
- The Story: A profile of prospect Trevor Reckling. The Monkey Says: Read this article very carefully because it makes it abundantly clear that Reckling is NOT a potential ace as so many Angel fans want to believe. Reckling can certainly have a long and successful MLB career, just don’t count on him ever fronting the Angel rotation.
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