The February 23rd, 2015 edition of Los Angeles Angels news including Hamilton to miss additional month, Angels don’t intend to restart stadium talks and much more…
The Story: Josh Hamilton could be out a month longer than expected.
The Monkey Says: Oh boy. This is obviously not going over well with fans. It also, based on the tone of the quotes from Moreno, doesn’t seem to be going over well with the franchise. Hamilton isn’t even in training camp right now and it is hard to tell if the Halos are OK with that or if they are just acting as if they are. I’d say that this isn’t going to end well, but I think we all knew that when Josh signed his contract.
The Story: Arte Moreno says the Angels have had no stadium talks with Anaheim and don’t intend to restart them.
The Monkey Says: Speaking of things that won’t end well, the Anaheim stadium talks remain at an impasse. The Angels probably have another two years to iron something out with Anaheim or another city so that they can opt out of their lease after the 2019 season, so it isn’t as if there is no time to fix things, but it certainly sounds as if this is going to take a long time to resolve.
The Story: The Angels considered signing James Shields, but were only willing to offer him a three-year deal.
The Monkey Says: This was part of a comment from Arte about being willing to pay the luxury tax, but only for one year or so rather than every year. While they obviously didn’t land Shields, it does show that the Halos are willing to spend more this season if they feel the need. That’ll be helpful at the trade deadline.
The Story: Garrett Richards wants to be ready for Opening Day.
The Monkey Says: That’s nice and all, but he doesn’t need to be ready then. First, Weaver is going to get that start over him anyway. Second, and more importantly, the Halos don’t need a fifth starter until the first time through the rotation, so they can push his debut back. In all likelihood, he’ll spend the minimum amount of time on the DL to start the season just so the Angels can be sure he is ready.
The Story: C.J. Wilson believes he tried too hard to throw strikes last season.
The Monkey Says: He supposedly got too much of that advice from elsewhere even though his personal hashtag on Twitter has been #throwstrikes ever since he signed with the Halos.
The Story: Mike Scioscia wants Chris Iannetta to start 100 to 115 games behind the plate.
The Monkey Says: But he might DH some against lefties. That’s pretty much the typical workload for Iannetta, so the organization seems to be wise to the risk of overworking him. However, that means 45 to 60 starts for a replacement level backup.
The Story: Albert Pujols says he might retire if his daughter makes the 2020 Olympic gymnastics team.
The Monkey Says: It would behoove the Halos to bribe whatever USOC offficials they need to to convince Albert to walk away from the final two years of his deal.
The Story: Mike Scioscia is still trying to figure out the cleanup hitter role to start the season.
The Monkey Says: I’d have Joyce and Freese share the role based on platoon matchup, though that does leave them vulnerable later in games. Freese and his groundball tendencies are a little scary in that position though. Then again, it isn’t like there are many other options unless they want to have Calhoun hit third or fourth.
The Story: Jered Weaver isn’t worried that his increased bulk will hinder his mechanics.
The Monkey Says: He’s coupled the muscle gain with an arduous stretching program so that his flexibility is not impacted. He at least appears to know what he is doing.
The Story: The KATOH projection system has Nick Tropeano as a top 100 prospect.
The Monkey Says: It has Heaney too, but only barely. This may not mean anything, but it does go to show that some guys can find success without having big flashy tools so long as they have the right amount of tools in the right combination.
The Story: Could Riverside make for a new home for the Angels?
The Monkey Says: NOPE. No offense to Riversiders, but Arte isn’t going to move to the IE when he’s trying to court the LA market. The corporate support isn’t available in Riverside and Riverside isn’t exactly a family friendly area where people from LA, Orange County and San Diego are going to want to drive to attend a game. Or at least I wasn’t when I last lived in Southern California four years ago.
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
