The September 9th, 2013 edition of daily news for the Los Angeles Angels including Kendrick to be shopped in off-season, Bourjos to have season-ending wrist surgery and much more…
The Story: The Angels intend to shop Howie Kendrick in the off-season in exchange for young starting pitching.
The Monkey Says: This was the plan at the deadline as well, but it didn't come to pass for whatever reason. Still, there should be a great market for him this winter only now Howie knows he is going to be traded and can re-set his no-trade list to the top six teams likely to trade for him, giving him some leverage that could make things interesting.
The Story: Peter Bourjos will soon have season-ending wrist surgery.
The Monkey Says: They might use him as a pinch-runner for a little bit first, but he is done batting. It is kind of stupid that they didn't have him get the surgery earlier, but at least they aren't going to have him try and rehab it all winter only to get surgery in February after the rehab doesn't take.
The Story: The Angels and Jason Vargas have mutual interest in signing a long-term contract together.
The Monkey Says: It really only works if Vargas gives the team a hometown discount, but in this pitching market he may not feel particularly compelled to do so.
The Story: Mark Trumbo understands the concern over his on-base percentage.
The Monkey Says: Trumbo is a guy who constantly analyzes his game and is fully cognizant of his OBP shortcomings, but in this piece he sounds a bit torn over it since he has some counting numbers that he feels he should get at least some credit for. The thing about his OBP is that his walk rate is at a career-high, but his average has dropped so low that his OBP has taken a swan dive. It is hard to stay positive with Trumbo sometimes, but I believe the talent and willingness to make adjustments will help him succeed in good time. That being said, I wouldn't be too broken up if the Halos traded him this off-season and let some other team try to get him on the right track.
The Story: What Mark Trumbo does do well.
The Monkey Says: There really is a lot of value in his power and it is the one thing that keeps me from fully endorsing a trade of Trumbo. The Angels need that power and he has never really slumped for too long in that department. I disagree that he hasn't evolved as a hitter though. He has made some progress, it just isn't always consistent progress.
The Story: Howie Kendrick still intends to play again this season.
The Monkey Says: He is close to fully healthy, but not yet able to run full speed. There is really no sense in trying to get him back on the field though. The only thing it would accomplish is taking playing and evaluation time away from Grant Green.
The Story: Fun with player comparisons.
The Monkey Says: The Trumbo and Hamilton comparison is fair, but to say Trumbo gets less criticism because he has more dingers completely overlooks the fact that a major reason Hamilton gets hammered by fans and media is that he makes $25 million per year while Trumbo is still making less than a million this year.
The Story: Anaheim handing the land around the Big A over to the Angels may payoff big for the city.
The Monkey Says: I still don't get the logic other than just assuming the city is going to continue being too inept to make even more money off of the land. The notion that they will recoup their investment through increased tax revenue is fairly suspect as well since so many studies have shown what little economic benefit new stadiums really have to the city. The way I see it, the only actual benefit is that it would prevent the Angels from leaving Anaheim for a very long time.
The Story: Mike Trout probably won't be MVP, but he is still awesome.
The Monkey Says: He may not be MVP, but he is probably the best player in baseball. Just like last season, an argument can be made that Cabrera is a better hitter, but he isn't so much better that it negates the huge edge Trout has in defense and baserunning. So, if you are a person that believes an MVP can only come from a playoff team, then you can at least acknowledge that Trout might be the better overall player.
The Story: Mike Trout may end up having the best sophomore season ever.
The Monkey Says: So I think what this article is saying that Trout is destined for greatness so long as World War III doesn't break out.
The Story: A look at David Price vs. Mike Trout.
The Monkey Says: Conclusive of nothing other than both players are great and seeing them compete against each other is great.
The Story: Luis Jimenez will be out for a few days after injuring both thumbs in separate incidents.
The Monkey Says: He hurt one sliding and the other on a hit by pitch. The Angels will have to get by with Andrew Romine and Tommy Field as they are pretty much out of viable infielders in their obviously deep and rich farm system.
The Story: Mike Trout and Yasiel Puig could be the new Mantle and Mays.
The Monkey Says: After two years of the forced Trout-Harper narrative, I can actually get behind the Trout-Puig rivalry since there is an actual geographic element to it. That doesn't mean it won't get beaten into the ground my newspaper columnists, it just means that it actually has some sense of logic to it.
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