The December 4th, 2012 edition of daily news for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim including Angels falling out of Greinke bidding, have serious interest in Sean Burnett, exploring Lohse, Sanchez and Haren options and much more…
The Story: More reports surface that the Angels have fallen out of the race for Zack Greinke.
The Monkey Says: Here is what Dipoto had to say about those reports, "Sometimes speculation is just what it is, speculation." There are a lot of Greinke rumors floating around right now, mostly rehashing the same speculation that has been mentioned in recent weeks. Everyone still thinks the Dodgers will outbid everyone and the the Angels already think Zack is too expensive. I don't know how much we should put into Dipoto's quote other than he didn't take the opportunity to lower the fans' collective expectations, so that might be a good sign.
The Story: The Angels are said to have serious interest in lefty reliever Sean Burnett.
The Monkey Says: But a lot of teams are in on him too, so he could get priced out real quick. The Halos have also said that they intend to add one more reliever to the bullpen, so there should be more name cropping up soon and some have already mentioned Mike Adams. They won't, however, be in on Brian Wilson as Dipoto said yesterday that he was not interested in signing anymore relievers coming off major surgery.
The Monkey Says: Sanchez makes a fair amount of sense, though I am not a big fan. Lohse though scares me and he might scare the Halos too as Alden Gonzalez followed up on this rumor and threw some water on the Lohse portion of it.
The Story: The Angels are on of many teams who are "in" on Edwin Jackson.
The Monkey Says: Jackson isn't bad, but he is basically a walking stopgap measure for contending teams to plug a rotation hole. The Angels can do better than this.
The Story: It is possible the Angels could turn back to Dan Haren if all else fails.
The Monkey Says: I don't see it. The Halos already cut him loose as they seemed scared of his injury issues. Now they would supposedly bring him back to a rotation that now includes another major health question mark in Tommy Hanson? I can't imagine Jerry Dipoto being willing to assume that much risk in the rotation.
The Story: Peter Bourjos is on the Phillies' trade wishlist.
The Monkey Says: Again, the article acknowledges that he likely isn't available but it makes me wonder if he really is since his name keeps on popping up in rumors. I'm just saying that while Dipoto may not be shopping Bourjos, it is quite possible that he is still very willing to entertain offers from anyone who wants to call about him.
The Story: A look at how close Anibal Sanchez might really be to replicating Zack Greinke's production.
The Monkey Says: I'm still not wild about Sanchez, but I am very slowly warming up to him, especially after reading this. I don't think he has the ability to dominate for stretches like Greinke, but Sanchez could be the reliable mid-rotation workhorse that the Angels need to restore balance to the rotation.
The Story: The Angels announced their Spring Training schedule with tickets going on sale December 20th.
The Monkey Says: Due to the impending birth of my second child, I won't be attending this year. However, my parents are retiring to Arizona this spring, so I'll definitely arrange to "visit the folks" during Spring Training most years going forward methinks.
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