The April 21st, 2014 edition of daily news for the Los Angeles Angels including Trout compromised on his extension, Pujols played with a foot injury to the start season and much more…
The Story: Mike Trout and the Angels met in the middle on his big contract extension.
The Monkey Says: It is quite interesting to see that his agent was willing to 13 years, but was also willing to talk about a deal that didn’t buy out any free agent years. It is no wonder that it took them so long to settle where they did.
The Story: Albert Pujols had been playing with a bone bruise in his heel early in the season.
The Monkey Says: It is supposedly all better now, but any kind of injury to his feet has to make the team nervous. This is definitely something to watch. Also, buried in that post, it is revealed that Dane De La Rosa is dealing with shoulder issues, as opposed to the forearm issues that sidelined him during training camp.
The Story: Jose Alvarez was optioned to Triple-A Salt Lake and Josh Wall was called up.
The Monkey Says: Wall, of course, was awful in his two appearances over the weekend, so he probably isn’t long for this world. In fact, the team is expected to recall Nick Maronde for tomorrow’s game. As for Alvarez, he didn’t really fit as a left-hand specialist, so it made more sense to keep him stretched out in the minor league rotation.
The Story: Mike Scioscia is championing a change to the “transfer play” that has come under scrutiny in instant replay.
The Monkey Says: Scioscia is on the special committee, so he has real sway. Even then, a lot of teams are unhappy with how that rule has been interpreted via replay, so it seems very likely MLB will address it before long.
The Story: Torii Hunter is still mentoring Mike Trout.
The Monkey Says: Hunter is probably overblown as a leader of men, but Trout could probably also do a lot worse in terms of picking a mentor.
The Story: Raul Ibanez will likely only make one start in Washington this series.
The Monkey Says: With no DH, there is no place to put him. However, he is barely hitting, so it isn’t as if his bat will be sorely missed. In fact, one could argue letting him make on start in the outfield this series is probably one start too many.
The Story: Mike Trout already leads the league in WAR.
The Monkey Says: He leads in fWAR and WARP right now, but he is actually third in rWAR. Slacker.
The Story: Whither Mike Trout’s stolen base attempts.
The Monkey Says: Honestly, he just hasn’t had a lot of opportunities this year. Even someone as fast as he is has to pick their moments and he has only had 27 stolen base opportunities. That isn’t nearly as many as it sounds like when you factor in game situation and who is on the mound.
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