The July 17th, 2012 edition of daily news for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim including Brewers hoping for an Angels-Rangers bidding war over Greinke, Halos giving mixed signals on whether or not they would trade Bourjos, Vernon Wells is days away from starting a rehab assignment and much more…
The Monkey Says: That is a good idea, and one I think the Angels will be happy to go along with if they decide they can’t afford Greinke and want Texas to overpay. The same can likely be said for Texas though. The issue here is that Greinke’s stock is slipping after Milwaukee mysteriously decided to skip his next start so that he can “recharge his batteries” and get back to his normal routine. There is also no guarantee that Texas and the Angels actually prefer Greinke to Cole Hamels, though Greinke’s price tag seems to be more reasonable at the moment.
The Monkey Says: That is just weird, assuming it is true. Dipoto, in public at least, has been pretty matter of fact that he would be very reluctant to part with Bourjos, so I don’t lend a lot of credence to the idea of him being offered for just a reliever, unless that reliever is someone like Craig Kimbrel. On the other hand, I don’t think he is untouchable either, if only because nobody but Trout is really untouchable. I doubt he will give Bourjos away, but seeing how he is arguably the biggest trade chip JeDi has, he will (hopefully) only include him in a deal if it brings back a major impact player.
The Monkey Says: We all knew this day was coming and we all dreaded it. The Angels are going to have to activate him within two weeks, but what they are going to do with him remains to be seen as their quite simply is no role for him. I can envision a scenario in which he ends up in a platoon at DH with Morales, but think it is more likely that he is relegated strictly to a reserve role. What I don’t see happening is him being traded since he is unlikely to be given a chance to rebuild any semblance of value before the deadline since he would only have a few days on the active roster at best, and there is no guarantee he will even play once activated. I also doubt that the Halos would release him at this juncture either because they would somehow consider it unfair that he showed a glimmer of life then got hurt only to get released. I’m not saying I agree with it, but I can very much see them using that justification.
The Story: Chris Iannetta has finally restarted his throwing program.
The Monkey Says: Third time’s a charm, right? If Iannetta can avoid further setbacks, then he could be rejoin the team by the end of the month or a little bit after, depending on how cautious the team is with him. However, one has to think that if he suffers another setback that the Angels would have to try in earnest to trade for some more catching help.
The Story: Dan Haren pitched five strong innings on his rehab assignment last night.
The Monkey Says: He didn’t walk anyone, which is a great sign, though he did only fan two batters while allowing seven hits with his velocity still hovering around 88 MPH. He should be good to start for the Angels this weekend, but the real test is going to be how his back feels when he wakes up this morning and then again when he goes for his between-starts bullpen session.
The Story: The Angels officially called up Garrett Richards to make the start today, optioning Andrew Romine back to the minors.
The Monkey Says: This was expected, but now it is official. It may not be a good idea though as Richards got shelled during his brief return to the minors.
The Story:Peter Bourjos is not letting all the trade rumors involving his name distract him.
The Monkey Says: You’d think he’d be used to it by now since the internet has been trying to trade him since the start of the 2011 season.
The Story: Mike Trout is one of the best low-ball hitters in the majors.
The Monkey Says: Mike Trout is one of the best everythings in the majors. A few weeks ago there was a heat map showing that he also killed inside pitches, so basically he can’t be pitched anywhere. This is why he is so good.
The Story: Al Kaline is the latest to compare Mike Trout to Mickey Mantle.
The Monkey Says: I really don’t see the need for the constant comparisons Trout gets, but I understand people are just trying to put his greatness in context. The Mantle thing was the first such comp and I feel as if a lot of people are parroting it because they heard it somewhere else first.
The Story: The Yankees are still upset that they didn’t get a chance to draft Mike Trout.
The Monkey Says: The Yankees were one of the few teams that was on to Trout and it makes for a good story that the Halos used the pick they got from the Yanks as compensation for them signing Mark Teixeira to draft Trout. However, that narrative is somewhat false. The Angels picked Trout 25th, but they also had the 24th pick. Eddie Bane has made it very clear that he would’ve taken Trout over Randal Grichuk if all he had was just the 24th pick, so it isn’t like Trout was ever going to get past the Angels.
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