The December 11th, 2014 edition of daily news for the Los Angeles Angels including Richards won’t be ready until May, Angels willing to pay luxury tax and much more…
The Story: Evaluating the Kendrick-Heaney trade.
The Monkey Says: The Angels got worse in 2015, but better in the long run. However, if they use the money to upgrade other parts of the roster, they can negate the short-term drop off.
The Story: Garrett Richards is expected to miss the first month of the season.
The Monkey Says: He just started throwing again and things are supposedly on schedule, but now they are saying he’s going to miss the first four to six weeks of the season. It sounds like maybe they learned from the past experience with Kendrys Morales that being cautious after major injury is the prudent path. Seeing how they haven’t openly pursued any proven rotation candidates, they must not be too worried that he’ll fall further behind schedule or see a performance degradation.
The Story: Team president John Carpino said the luxury tax line is not a “line in the sand.”
The Monkey Says: Thanks for opening Pandora’s Box, Carpino. After weeks of Dipoto telling folks they won’t be going after big free agents, this comment is going to make everyone think they secretly are even though Carpino never said anything about any free agents. Just the fact that it is on the table is going to create speculation. Excellent troll job, John, especially now that the Angels have more breathing room in the wake of the Kendrick trade.
The Story: The Angels are pursuing a slew of middle infielders, but not Brandon Beachy or Kris Medlen.
The Monkey Says: In addition to the names in that post, add Eduardo Escobar and Eduardo Nunez. You’d know this already if you were following the MWAH Hot Stove Rumor Tracker.
The Story: The Angels signed Scott Snodgress to a minor league contract with an invite to spring training.
The Monkey Says: He’s a hard throwing lefty that has been a starter his whole career, but it wouldn’t be the least bit surprising to see the Halos convert him to relief.
The Story: The 2015 ZiPS projections for the Angels have been released.
The Monkey Says: The good news is that it doesn’t see Pujols falling off a cliff, yet. It isn’t rosy at all on Hamilton, but it isn’t a disaster either. Matt Shoemaker looks quite good while C.J. Wilson looks very mediocre. Interestingly, Andrew Heaney, Nick Tropeano and Drew Rucinski project to be useful starters, so maybe things won’t be so bad while one of them fills in for Richards while he is out.
The Story: Mike Trout might be moved to the number three spot in the order.
The Monkey Says: That’s a bad idea. Hopefully Dipoto intervenes before that happens. Scioscia is clearly concerned about Hamilton being able to bat cleanup, so he wants to move Trout down, but I’d rather see them move Calhoun to third or fourth and have Kendrick sign someone else to lead off.
The Story: Jerry Dipoto is glad to only have to “tinker” with the roster.
The Monkey Says: Tinker, Jerry? Is that what you call trading Kendrick for Heaney?
The Story: Former Angels broadcaster Dick Enberg won the Hall of Fame’s Frick Award.
The Monkey Says: Oh my! Congrats, Dick.
The Story: The Angels released their 2015 promotional calendar.
The Monkey Says: There is no Shoemaker Beard giveaway. Someone in Angels marketing needs to be fired.
The Story: The Angels intend to draft a player in today’s Rule 5 draft.
The Monkey Says: My guess is that it will be a position player, probably someone to compete with newly acquired Marc Krauss for a roster spot. If not that, then someone with an injury history that they think they can draft and then slip through waivers a few months from now. MWAH’s own Scotty Allen wrote earlier this week that IF Taylor Featherston is a strong possibility.
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