The July 27th, 2011 edition of daily news for the LA Angels including Angels approve more reportedly payroll, Erick Aybar offered straight up for Jose Reyes, Nationals want Peter Bourjos and much more…
The Monkey Says: Now THAT is a bombshell! Too bad I don’t believe any of it. Moreno loves Aybar and refuse to believe they would trade him straight up for potentially just two months of Jose Reyes. I don’t even really think the Angels have actually approved more spending, or at least not a significant amount of more spending.
The Story: The Washington Nationals have inquired on Peter Bourjos.
The Monkey Says: Angels fans went nuts on Twitter when this rumor came out. For some reason everyone just assumed that it was a Bourjos for Zimmerman trade, which is absolutely preposterous and I am ashamed that so many fellow fans jumped to this conclusion. If you’ve paid any attention to the Nats this year, they’ve been searching desperately for a regular center fielder since Opening Day, so they are kicking the tires on just about everyone right now, but not so they can give away their franchise cornerstone. There is a chance the Angels could trade Bourjos this off-season (though I doubt it), but it makes zero sense for them to trade him away in the middle of a playoff race.
The Story: The Marlins are said to be closely scouting the Angels this week.
The Monkey Says: Very interesting. I can see the Angels being interested in a Marlin reliever or catcher John Buck, but I don’t fully understand why the out-of-contention Marlins would be scouting the Halos’ big league team and not their farm system. The article suggests that it is because Florida wants Callaspo or Izturis, but I don’t know how much since that makes either since they have hot prospect 3B Matt Dominguez waiting in the wings.
The Monkey Says: I don’t think I’ve ever linked to Scott Miller before, but now I’ve done it twice today. Based on these rumors though, I don’t know if he will ever get a third. Cuddyer and Ramirez are logical fits, but in both cases, the player in question is long rumored to not actually be available via trade.
The Story: Mike Scioscia says the Angel offense will need to improve “in-house.”
The Monkey Says: Thus contradicting the above story and any other story suggesting the Angels are desperately seeking a big bat. Who do we believe at this point? I’m leaning towards Scioscia, but am thinking this is mostly just rhetoric from him.
The Story: What to do with Mike Trout?
The Monkey Says: I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again. Trout is going to stay with the team through the deadline, just in case they find a deal that requires them to move Bourjos or to salary dump Bobby Abreu. After that, he’ll head to the minors again to get regular at-bats.
The Story: Dan Haren has been battling back stiffness.
The Monkey Says: That would certainly explain his slow start to the half. Let’s hope he gets over it quickly, as back issues have a tendency to linger.
The Story: Hank Conger is on fire in Triple-A Salt Lake.
The Monkey Says: Which has to be part of the Angels’ plan when they sent him down. The question now becomes when to bring him back up? Do they do it now while he is scorching hot? Or do they wait another few weeks to make sure that this is a lasting boost to his confidence and not just a short-term boost?
The Story: Angel players are trying to ignore trade speculation.
The Monkey Says: I prefer to believe players aren’t all that affected by these crazy rumors, but given the abundance of youth on the roster, I do worry that the plethora of rumors could become a distraction to the youngsters on the roster who aren’t used to this annual sideshow yet.
The Story: Bobby Cassevah praises the mentorship of Scott Downs.
The Monkey Says: I’m glad it is working out for Cassevah, but I would say that Downs must not have spent much time with Michael Kohn or Kevin Jepsen then.
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