Halo Headlines: Hanson and Vargas avoid arbitration, Pujols honors the late Stan Musial

The January 21st, 2013 edition of daily news for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim including Hanson and Vargas avoid arbitration, Pujols honors the late Stan Musial and much more…

The Story: Jason Vargas and Tommy Hanson both avoided arbitration with one-year deals of $8.5 million and $3.75 million respectively.

The Monkey Says: That means Kevin Jepsen is still outstanding and that's it.  He wants $1.4 million while the Angels are offering $975,000.  They will almost certainly settle close to the midpoint before a hearing.  As for Vargas, he got about $1 million more than most estimated, which might mean the Angels are trying to earn some goodwill with him since he is a free agent after this season.  Hanson though came in about half a million below estimates, which probably means very little.

The Story: Albert Pujols in remembering Stan Musial who passed this weekend, saying he wanted his kids to grow up to be like Musial, the person.

The Monkey Says: Albert has always had an immense amount of respect for Musial, which is why he has never liked the "El Hombre" nickname.  Stan the Man was truly a legend and will certainly be missed in the baseball community.

The Story: Kaleb Cowart was the only Angel prospect to crack the Scout.com Top 100.

The Monkey Says: He checks in at a respectable 56th.  Nick Maronde and C.J. Cron might crack a few of these other lists, but I'd guess both mostly end up being just on the outside.

The Story: Sean Burnett ranks as the fifth-best left-handed relief pitcher.

The Monkey Says: Downs didn't make the list, which upset me at first until I remember how bad he was down the second half.  At his best, I could argue he is in the top three even though he isn't a classic power pitcher.