The September 27th, 2013 edition of daily news for the Los Angeles Angels including Dipoto to pursue young pitching this off-season, Hamilton vows to put on weight and much more…
The Story: Jerry Dipoto stated his main focus this off-season will be to acquire young, controllable pitching.
The Monkey Says: Assuming he is still the GM, which seems unlikely if his frosty response to the question about his job security is any indicator. The quest for young pitching is no surprise though, but how he will pull it off remains to be seen.
The Story: Josh Hamilton vows to put back on the weight he lost last off-season.
The Monkey Says: Hamilton played 20 pounds lighter than normal this season but apparently feels he needs to have "a little extra butt" to regain his power. Or at least that is the theory. Even he doesn't seem all that convinced by it.
The Story: The difficult path the Angels have before themselves to get back into contention in 2014.
The Monkey Says: The good news is that it isn't impossible, it is just going to take a lot going right. They had a lot go wrong this year, so there is some hope that simply having some better luck should improve the team's fortunes. They still need at least one more quality starting pitcher and bullpen depth though, and they need to fill those holes without weakening themselves elsewhere.
The Story: The Angels hazed their rookies by making them wear custom speedos and water polo caps.
The Monkey Says: I think hazing is juvenile, but I would like to commend the Halos for thinking outside the box and going with a theme rather than just falling back on the tired trope of having the players dress up like female celebrities. Congrats on being slightly less sophomoric than the rest of the teams in baseball.
The Story: J.B. Shuck left last night's game with a sprained ankle.
The Monkey Says: Leaving a game with anything other than a compound fracture? Well, that's not very gritty at all. I feel like everything I've come to know about J.B. Shuck is a lie.
The Story: Why home field advantage is like Mike Trout.
The Monkey Says: Wait, if that is all true then how does this explain how the Angels are so underwhelming at home?
The Story: Angel Stadium replaced food vendor Aramark with Legends Sports and Entertainment.
The Monkey Says: I'm sure some will role their eyes at the Halos affiliating with a Yankee-backed company, but Aramark is just the worst. I don't know how concession service and quality has been at the Big A the last few years but, generally speaking, nobody likes Aramark. Legends should be an upgrade especially since they are run by other sports franchises and thus more in touch with the particular challenges of concession service at a ballpark.
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