The October 15th, 2012 edition of daily news for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim including Selig says Angels not looking for new stadium, Eckstein to donate kidney, Angels could make qualifying offer to Hunter and much more…
The Story: Selig claims Moreno has never approached him about moving out of Angels Stadium.
The Monkey Says: That doesn't mean it isn't a possibility. Moreno probably still has another year to make a decision on that front. He has the advantage of having two stadium projects in LA that are already shovel-ready, so a lot of the planning, permitting and red tape management has already been taken care of. The Angels probably will stay where they are, but until Arte comes out to make an official statement one way or the other, this will be an issue.
The Story: David Eckstein will donate a kidney to his sister.
The Monkey Says: It won't happen for awhile, but this has always been something that Ecksetin assumed he'd have to do, even dating back to his playing days because of his family's logn history of kidney problems. Best of luck, Ecks.
The Story: The Angels could make a qualifying offer to free agent Torii Hunter.
The Monkey Says: $13 million is a bit steep for Hunter and there is a very real chance he might take it. However, if Hunter really thinks he can land a two-year deal, then it might be worth it. Frankly, I would imagine the Angels re-sign Hunter before they ever even need to make that offer. If they don't they'll probably just let him walk with no offer since Hunter isn't the sort of player any team is going to give up high draft picks for.
The Story: Japanese phenom Shohei Otani is expected to receive multiple offers from MLB teams.
The Monkey Says: This is a fascinating situation because he would be one of the first top Japanese prospects who could skip the Japanese pro leagues altogether and come straight to MLB. He'd definitely end up in the minors, but he'd automatically be one of the best prospects in any system. The Angels are not linked to him right now, but I would be disappointed if they didn't make some kind of offer. The Halos have only recently jumped back into the international market and this would be a big boost to that effort. This is also a great opportunity for them to use their financial resources to their advantage in something other than standard free agency.
The Monkey Says: Not really. I mean, it isn't like we didn't know that when guys get old and start getting hurt that they decline. What is happening with A-Rod is nothing out of the norm. Honestly, I feel all this attention being paid to him being pinch-hit for is overblown. I'm not even sure that Girardi would still be doing that if Raul Ibanez had just flown out to the warning track the first time he pinch-hit. The thing is, Rodriguez is still a solid player. Injuries this season reduced his value to a point that makes his salary hard to justify, but overall he was still one of the better third basemen in all of baseball.
The Story: Dino Ebel has been inducted into the San Bernardino Valley College Hall of Fame.
The Monkey Says: He joins former NFL receiver Mark Seay as the only name I kind of sort of recognize in that Hall of "Fame."
The Story: Who will be the Angels closer in 2013?
The Monkey Says: I'm fairly certain it will be Frieri. Dipoto could've made a big money move to go after Madson or Broxton last off-season and was never really even linked to either player directly. He also stated recently that he really doesn't believe in making large investments in relievers. That being said, he is certain to add some new bodies to the Angel relief corps, but it will probably be more in middle relief, where the Angels truly struggled, than it is in the late innings where Frieri and Downs were pretty reliable.
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