The August 27th, 2014 edition of daily news for the Los Angeles Angels including LeBlanc designated for assignment, why the Angels didn’t pursue Bartolo Colon and much more…
The Story: The Angels DFA’d Wade LeBlanc and added Yoslan Herrera to the active roster.
The Monkey Says: Cross LeBlanc off the rotation help list. The Angels will turn to…. someone when LeBlanc’s briefly occupied spot in the rotation comes up this Saturday. Who? I have no idea. Michael Roth would be the internal frontrunner, presumably, but they might opt for a more proven commodity in Randy Wolf. Or they could make a trade. Herrera is surprisingly back. He’s been excellent in Salt Lake, but is really just around as a potential mop-up man for the next few days.
The Story: Bartolo Colon doesn’t appear to be a fit for the Angels.
The Monkey Says: Nor does he appear to be fit, in general. FAT JOKES! Anyway, the main issue appears to be the money owed Colon which will cause luxury tax issues for the Angels next year. It would also mean moving him, Shoemaker or Santiago to the bullpen next year. If they are going to kick one of those two out of the rotation, they’d probably only do it for a top-flight starter which they wouldn’t be able to afford if they were paying Colon.
The Story: The Angels passed on Bartolo Colon and that is OK.
The Monkey Says: Their lack of interest makes a lot of sense, but it really limits their options on the trade market. No pitcher worth anything is going to clear waivers if they are affordable. There is no disincentive for other teams to put in a claim like the money owed to Colon and Feldman was. It looks more and more like the Angels will have to fill from within or maybe take a shot on a free agent like Erik Bedard. Gulp.
The Story: 10 sustainable breakthrough performances.
The Monkey Says: Garrett Richards is on this list but so is the phrase “if his knee allows it.”
The Story: The Angels, the A’s and agony.
The Monkey Says: Agony? Yeah, narratives can get annoying, but just ignore them and focus on the fact that there is a great division race going on that could blossom into a tense rivalry.
The Story: Mike Scioscia thinks the home plate blocking rule will be clarified by the playoffs.
The Monkey Says: Can they just do it now? Because it is pretty unclear and being enforced in really stupid ways. Scioscia has some say in this matter, so it will be curious to see what, if anything, they do to influence the enforcement of this rule.
The Story: The Angels named Kaleb Cowart, Trevor Gott, Chad Hinshaw, Danny Reynolds, Mark Sappington, Eric Stamets, Cal Towey and Nate Smith to their Arizona Fall League roster.
The Monkey Says: Yep, they are stubbornly trying to act like Kaleb Cowart is still a top prospect. His placement on this team suggests that his much-rumored transition back to pitching may not come to fruition this offseason as many had predicted.
The Story: A look at prospects Victor Alcantara and Tyler DeLoach.
The Monkey Says: With the exception of Sean Newcomb, it feels like every Angels pitching prospects includes some version of the phrase “but he’ll probably end up coming out of the bullpen.”
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