The April 3rd, 2015 edition of Los Angeles Angels news including Hamilton decision delayed until after Opening Day, Angels set rotation and much more…
The Story: Commissioner Manfred is now saying that he will make his decision on disciplining Josh Hamilton “shortly” after Opening Day.
The Monkey Says: This story progressed throughout the day. At first, Commissioner Manfred made it sound like he just hadn’t made a decision for some stupid reason. However, it appears the real reason for delay is the arbitrator has not returned a decision yet and Manfred is stuck waiting on that. This post suggests the arbitrator could render a decision as soon as today, but then we get into a state where Commissioner Manfred probably doesn’t want Opening Day being overshadowed by a big name like Hamilton getting suspended filling up the news cycle.
The Story: The Angels announced their rotation to start the season as Weaver-Wilson-Shoemaker-Santiago-Weaver.
The Monkey Says: Which means they are officially going with a four-man rotation… or they’ve coaxed Jeff Weaver out of retirement. Too bad they didn’t announce this yesterday because that would’ve been one hell of an April Fool’s Day joke.
The Story: The Angels have made BodyARMOR their official sports drink.
The Monkey Says: Mike Trout endorses the drink and has a small ownership stake in the company, so clearly this was done to show Trout a little love.
The Story: Mike Trout wants to cut his strikeouts by half.
The Monkey Says: As Dipoto says in the piece, that’s not really possible. It is a good thing for him to focus on, but he has to make sure he doesn’t compromise his plate discipline or his power stroke to make it happen.
The Story: Jered Weaver is an unheralded master craftsman.
The Monkey Says: It finally happened. Weaver is now old enough and lost enough velocity to officially earn the “crafty” label. Congrats, Jered. You earned it.
The Story: Every Team’s Moneyball for the Los Angeles Angels.
The Monkey Says: This is a very interesting and very detailed look at Dipoto’s bullpen building philosophy. If there is more I’d like to see out of it is whether or not Scioscia has been effective at making the most of the “different looks” that Dipoto has provided for him.
The Story: 125 predictions about the MLB season.
The Monkey Says: Three of which are relevant to the Angels. One of which is just Leitch reminding you that the thinks the Angels will suck.
The Story: Fangraphs positional power rankings for bullpens.
The Monkey Says: The Halos rank 18th largely due to a poor WAR forecast for Street based on whether or not his magical ability to strand runners is real.
The Story: The overall summary of the Fangraphs positional power rankings.
The Monkey Says: The Angels actually have the fourth best cumulative WAR. It doesn’t fully translate to their projected record, but it goes to show that the Angels have as much talent as most of the other perceived top contenders in MLB.
The Story: A unique preview of the 2015 MLB season based on a random tweet about each team.
The Monkey Says: Those of you who worried about the Fat Mike Trout thing are going to be very concerned about the parallel drawn between Trout and Scioscia.
The Story: Previewing the Texas League.
The Monkey Says: It doesn’t look like the Travs are going to be particularly interesting this year, at least to start. I can’t argue with that because I haven’t thought about who is slated to start in Arkansas this year. I could do that, but it feels like a lot of work with very little payoff.
The Story: Do you still believe in Kaleb Cowart?
The Monkey Says: Yes, I mean, he isn’t the Easter Bunny. I’ve seen him with my own eyes. Wait… are you trying to tell me it was really just a guy in a Kaleb Cowart suit?!?!! But seriously, folks, Cowart is going to be starting the season off in High-A Inland Empire in an apparent attempt to rebuild his confidence. This is a pretty desperate measure, so if it goes south early on, we might finally see the Halos admit defeat and convert Cowart into a pitcher while he is still young enough to fulfill some promise.
The Story: A look at Drew Rucinski’s mechanics and repertoire.
The Monkey Says: Drew Rucinski: everyone’s new obsession.
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