- The Story: Scott Kazmir will stay in the rotation after a closed door meeting with Mike Scioscia and Mike Butcher. The Monkey Says: The Halos are clinging to the hope that a return to a more over the top arm slot will salvage his season, but seeing how Kaz dropped his arm slot because his old one hurt his elbow, it seems like it might be more likely to hurt him, literally, in the long-term. Expect Scott to get at least three more starts before the Angels really consider yanking him from the rotation, in large part because they really don’t have any viable replacements.
- The Story: Mike Scioscia sees no need for wholesale changes to the bullpen. The Monkey Says: That seems short-sighted, especially since he doesn’t appear to have made even any minor changes to the bullpen other than DLing a few guys who have had some injury problems. This whole plan of riding Jepsen and Rodney until their arms fall off isn’t going to work for long.
- The Story: Will Brian Fuentes get paid? The Monkey Says: History is against him, which is in favor of the Angels. There is no scenario in which the Angels are going to want to pay him his 2011 option and I am mildly surprised that they haven’t already used his struggles as an excuse to yank him from the closer gig and prevent that games finished clause from ever kicking in.
- The Story: Following up on the Kazmir trade from the Rays perspective. The Monkey Says: Ray fans were livid about the trade when it first happened, but it seems pretty clear now that they are probably thanking their lucky stars that they got anything at all for him.
- The Story: Prospect Randal Grichuk is out at least four weeks with a thumb injury. The Monkey Says: Normally, I don’t care about minor league injuries, but Grichuk is a big prospect and such an injury could be worth noting going forward.
- The Story: Did the Angels teach the the Phillies bullpen coach how to cheat? The Monkey Says: No, though the bullpen coach in question did used to work as a coach for the Angels. Seriously, if the Angels were stealing signs, don’t you think that they would actually be able to score runs on a consistent basis?
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