The August 4th, 2014 edition of daily news for the Los Angeles Angels including Skaggs and Thatcher placed on DL, Cowgill ready to return and much more…
The Story: Tyler Skaggs was placed on the disabled list with a flexor tendon strain.
The Monkey Says: The good news is that his UCL is intact. What we don’t know is when he will be back other than “at some point this year.” So, it could be two weeks, it could be two months. Either way, the Halos have to at least be thinking about acquiring some more rotation depth.
The Story: Joe Thatcher was placed on the DL with a sprained ankle.
The Monkey Says: And once again the Angels bullpen is without a southpaw. It sounds as if Thatcher will miss most of August at a minimum.
The Story: Collin Cowgill is on track to be activated today.
The Monkey Says: It is good for depth to have Cowgill back. but it is unclear how he will be used. Kole Calhoun has been too good to platoon anymore and C.J. Cron is showing signs of life. It could be that Efren Navarro ends up losing playing time, despite his platoon advantage.
The Story: The Angels activated C.J. Wilson and demoted J.B. Shuck.
The Monkey Says: Someone needed to go to make room for Wilson, but it had to be a tough call because of the uncertain health of Josh Hamilton and the bullpen being taxed due to Skaggs’ early exit. The Angels opted for bullpen depth instead, which proved to be a good call.
The Story: Michael Roth was optioned to Double-A with Fernando Salas and Cam Bedrosian recalled.
The Monkey Says: Roth’s long outing meant he’d be out of commission for a few days, so he was sent out for fresh arms in Salas and Bedrosian, though Bedrosian is unlikely to be up for long.
The Story: The Angels claimed Ryan Wheeler off waivers from the Rockies.
The Monkey Says: Wheeler is a lefty bat that provides depth at the corners. He’s failed to hit at the big league level in three stints in Colorado, so that should tell you about how excited you should be about him.
The Story: The Angels DFA’d David Carpenter.
The Monkey Says: This was done to make room for Wheeler. Carpenter has passed through waivers before. He’ll likely do so again.
The Story: They played Bugs Bunny cartoons during the power outage at Tropicana Field yesterday.
The Monkey Says: So they had enough power to play cartoons but not to light the field? It sounds like the priorities are a bit out of whack in Tampa.
The Story: The Angels have 10/1 odds to win the World Series after the trade deadline.
The Monkey Says: Which only matters if you are a degenerate gambler.
The Story: The change in World Series odds after the deadline according to PECOTA.
The Monkey Says: This matters slightly more. The Halos saw their odds drop by 0.3%. They also saw their odds win win the division drop by a little over two percentage points. Those aren’t big shifts, but it does show how much of a difference the Lester and Price deals made.
The Story: The Angels stood pat at the trade deadline and that is OK.
The Monkey Says: That is hard to agree with after seeing how bad C.J. Wilson was in his return and with Skaggs going on the DL. Still, the Angels will likely make the playoffs, but it is looking more and more like they will only be a Wild Card. The real issue though is that their rotation doesn’t seem to match-up well at all with those of their most likely playoff opponents.
The Story: A look at some August trade candidates.
The Monkey Says: Mat Latos and Cole Hamels are the two names of interest for Angels fans. Hamels seems the most likely to reach the Angels via the waiver process, but it doesn’t seem like the Phillies are rational enough to make a trade. The Reds and Latos, however, they might be, provided Latos doesn’t get claimed by another team first. A.J. Burnett is a trade candidate as well, but he’s never going to approve of a trade to the West Coast.
The Story: Mike Trout is baseball’s most exciting player, so why don’t the Angels draw on the road?
The Monkey Says: Because of MLB.TV, that’s why. People can see Trout anytime they want now, so seeing him in person doesn’t have the same appeal. My sense of things, just a hunch, no research, is that the teams that draw on the road are teams with fans in the area, which tend to be national teams like the Yankees or teams from cities where a lot of people move elsewhere. MLB hasn’t been a star-driven league for quite some time now.
The Story: Each MLB team’s logo re-imagined for the Star Wars universe.
The Monkey Says: They missed a real opportunity to call them the Tatooine Amidalas of Naboo.
The Story: A look at the Angels and the 2015 luxury tax.
The Monkey Says: Yup, they are pretty much boned. Not really though. If Arte Moreno thinks the Angels can win the World Series, he’ll get over it and pay the tax. The penalty the first year is not very punitive. They can get back under in 2016 if they don’t make any major payroll additions, too. If they do sign another big free agent, they could still manage to get back under the tax line for the 2017 season and avoid the really big tax penalties.
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