- The Story: The top trade chips in the AL West. The Monkey Says: For the Angels, it is allegedly Bobby Wilson, but as you are about to see, this is only the tip of the iceberg for Angel catcher trade ideas. However, I should point out that the Halos are in deep trouble at the deadline if their third catcher is really the best trade chip that they have.
- The Story: Tony Reagins is open to trading a catcher. The Monkey Says: And here we go, the blood is now officially in the trade market waters. There is going to be endless speculation that the Halos will look to trade Mike Napoli now that he has fallen behind Jeff Mathis on the depth chart. The Angels can certainly afford to trade on of the two, but I’m still not sure it is a good idea, though I do imagine Napoli could bring back a pretty nice return since other teams aren’t nearly as concerned with defense at catcher as the Angels are.
- The Story: Buster Olney thinks a Jeff Mathis-Mike Lowell trade makes sense. The Monkey Says: This is just speculation and not a report. Clearly Olney is unaware just how much Mike Scioscia doesn’t like Mike Napoli right now and even less aware of how much Angel fans would loathe Tony Reagins if he ever did anything to make the Red Sox a better team, especially if he traded a young catcher for an aging third baseman with the hip of an 82-year old.
- The Story: Angels preach patience with Brandon Wood. The Monkey Says: These articles about not turning on Wood are becoming an almost daily occurrence. Being patient with Wood won’t be easy if he doesn’t start producing soon. He had a rough series in Toronto and I suspect the home crowd isn’t going to have much tolerance for him when he returns to Anaheim for their next homestand.
- The Story: Mike Scioscia says the Angel offense isn’t “hitting on all cylinders.” The Monkey Says: Thanks for the clarification, Captain Obvious.
- The Story: Scioscia is more concerned with his pitchers giving up walks than homers. The Monkey Says: Much has been made of all the dingers Angels starters have allowed this year, but Scioscia would rather the staff stop issuing so many free passes. To me, the two problems are one in the same: poor command. I imagine Sosh has to be feeling alot better after the Toronto series though.
- The Story: Brian Fuentes will make a rehab appearance Monday for Rancho Cucamonga. The Monkey Says: If all goes well, Fuentes could be activated as early as Wednesday. Considering how the rest of the pen has been pitching this season, pray that his rehab stint goes off without a hitch.
- The Story: Mike Scioscia stands up for Canadian baseball. The Monkey Says: The comments were made after the preposterous notion of the Blue Jays moving out of Toronto to Caracas, Venezuela was floated late last week. After sweeping the Jays this weekend, I am sure Sosh is all for them staying where they are as long as they keep playing at the same level.
- The Story: All-Star package prices are astronomical. The Monkey Says: As they always are, only Angel fans get to see it first-hand this season. If you really want to got to the festivities this year, I highly recommend finding a wealthy benefactor in need of a kidney transplant.
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