The February 6th, 2013 edition of daily news for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim including Callaspo finalizes his new contract, Keith Law ranks Kaleb Cowart the 23rd best prospect and much more…
The Monkey Says: Beto was out of the country and had to wait to take a physical before the deal was complete. With these numbers now finalized, the Angels are commited to just shy of $151 million in payroll this year BEFORE their pre-arb contracts are counted, which should push it up another $5 million or so. They also are now on the hook for $133 million in guaranteed money in 2014. Hooray for regional sports network valuation bubbles!
The Story: Keith Law ranked Kaleb Cowart as the 23rd best prospect in baseball.
The Monkey Says: This is the first list on which I remember seeing Cowart crack the top 40. I suspect Law is ahead of the curve here though. My sense is that others have been a little reluctant to believe in Cowart because he really only has one good year of performance under his belt. I've said all along that his stock would skyrocket if he is able to replicate the same kind of success he had last year.
The Monkey Says: Honestly, I don't think baseball is cool enough to have their players hit it big with Madison Avenue. If someone is going to do it, I don't think it will be Trout since he just doesn't really have the personality for it. Maybe Harper has that kind of charisma/edginess that advertisers like, but I don't think it will overcome the general perception that baseball is the sport of and older, whiter generation.
The Story: Meet Young (and Li'l) Hank Conger.
The Monkey Says: I… I don't even… I'm not sure what that even was.
The Story: David Eckstein was ranked the ninth-best acquisition in Angels history.
The Monkey Says: Yeah, but on a pound-for-pound basis, he blows away the rest of the field.
The Story: A look at the Angels' depth chart at second base entering training camp.
The Monkey Says: The shame of the lack of depth behind Howie is that there is no possibility of Kendrick being put in a unique platoon situation where he sits against groundball pitchers. Not that Scioscia was ever going to be progressive enough to try something like that, but at least I could've dreamt about it.
The Story: A look at the performances of prospects Luis Jimenez and Manny Correa.
The Monkey Says: I'm not sure Correa actually qualifies as a legit prospect and I fear that Lucho is destined to become a Quad-A guy.
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