The November 15th, 2012 edition of daily news for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim including Hunter signs in Detroit, Weaver finishes third in Cy Young voting, Nate Silver says Trout should win AL MVP and much more…
The Story: Torii Hunter signed with the Detroit Tigers for $26 million over two years.
The Monkey Says: This kind of worked out for everyone. Torii is a great fit for Detroit and he got them to overpay him by a few million which somewhat justifies the Angels’ decision not to re-sign him. Then again, he might’ve taken less to stay with the Halos had they been more serious about keeping him. Personally, I know people are mad Hunter is leaving, but I just don’t seem him being worth this kind of contract and, more importantly, if letting him go allows the Angels to keep Greinke and sign another quality starter, it is all worth it.
The Story: Jered Weaver finished third in the AL Cy Young voting.
The Monkey Says: That was completely expected. What wasn’t expected was that some of the votes he got would become controversial. Jered got just two second-place votes, both coming from Angels beat writers. Some have pointed to that as a source of blame for Verlander not winning the award, as it was one of the tightest Cy Young votes in history. Of course the other controversial vote was the Texas writer that gave Fernando Rodney a first place vote. So, there’s that.
The Story: Statistical projection wizard Nate Silver says that Mike Trout should be the AL MVP.
The Monkey Says: Before I even address this, I ask that you all refrain from political commentary. I just don’t care about it, but I know invoking Silver’s name can spark such conversation. For those who don’t know, Silver first made a name for himself with his statistical work at Baseball Prospectus, so between that and his spot on election projections, his words carry major weight. Plus, you always should listen to the opinion of somebody that might be a witch.
The Story: The Angels announced the signing of seven players to minor league deals.
The Monkey Says: This is kind of a weird announcement because we already knew about some of these. They actually signed Pena last season, and he could some help in the bullpen this season once he fully recovers from Tommy John surgery. We also already heard about the Stetter signing and then promptly ignored it. Oeltjen, Shuck, Carlin and Reyes are pretty much just around for some much needed organzitional depth though they do all have limited MLB experience. The one guy I do like is Brendan Harris. It wasn’t so long ago that he was a half-decent starter for the Rays and Twins. He hasn’t been in the majors since 2010, so he is a longshot, but he does have a shot at challenging Andrew Romine for the utility infielder role.
The Story: Former Angel closer Brian Fuentes has announced his retirement.
The Monkey Says: Alex Rodriguez is deeply disappointed to see him go.
The Story: One fan is profoundly disappointed about the Angels pushing Torii Hunter out the door.
The Monkey Says: You know what, people? Get over it. Re-signing a player because he is very likeable just isn’t a good reason. If you want to make a case that he should have been kept strictly for performance reasons, I’ll listen to that, but spare me all of the crap about the magical powers of his personality and charisma.
The Story: What if the Angels made a trade like the Marlins just did?
The Monkey Says: Good idea, glad I thought of it. I kid, of course, but this does show that this hypothetical that I introduced and expanded upon yesterday is something that people would seriously consider.
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