The June 12th, 2015 edition of Los Angeles Angels news including Angels considering moving fences in, Wilson-Ethier trade rumor unfounded and much more…
The Story: The Angels have explored the idea of moving in or lowering their fences.
The Monkey Says: This doesn’t seem to have legs which is good because it is a horrible idea. First off, moving in fences creates more homers but really doesn’t impact overall offense much. Second, the Angels’ identity is built around being in a pitcher’s park, so it would really disrupt the kind of pitchers they usually develop. Third, moving the walls won’t do anything to make the marine layer go away. So, in summary, this idea is stupid, dumb and absurd.
The Story: The idea of a C.J. Wilson-for-Andre Ethier swap is making the rounds in the baseball industry.
The Monkey Says: But Bill Shaikin claims no such talks have actually taken place between the teams. It is entirely possible that this is just a popular internet rumor that made its way into the collective consciousness despite it not being anything more than speculation.
The Story: Mike Morin will throw off a mound today.
The Monkey Says: Still no timetable, but this is progress.
The Story: The Angels feel they have a “close to balanced foundation” after the draft.
The Monkey Says: This draft reminds me of their 2012 draft in which they loaded up on college arms to try and create depth in that part of the farm. Only this time they targeted bats. They will probably not find much upside in this crop, but it at least gives them a few more guys worth even thinking about, which they didn’t really have after the trades of recent years.
The Story: The sudden fall of Matt Joyce.
The Monkey Says: This doesn’t offer any explanation because there is nothing to actually suggest that there is a real explanation perhaps outside of him screwing up his own approach. What I see is a guy who is swinging more and whiffing more, suggesting he is guessing too much, thus explaining the increased whiffs on offspeed pitches. Hopefully that is just a symptom of him being overeager to impress his new team and can be corrected.
The Story: Albert Pujols is moving up the list for other major milestones as well.
The Monkey Says: Browsing that list, I took a look at some other milestones and what I was shocked to see that Albert still has a ways to go to reach 3,000 hits. He’s at 2,576 right now, so he should get there some time in 2018, provided he can stay healthy.
The Story: Beyond the Boxscore rates Mike Trout’s contract as the sixth-best in baseball.
The Monkey Says: He’s owed a ton money, but he’s going to be more than worth it unless he falls off a cliff. I don’t mean the normal metaphorical “falls off a cliff,” I mean he’d literally have to fall off a literal cliff for his contract to not be the best.
The Story: Are the Angels set to make another big splash in the Cuban market?
The Monkey Says: They’ve been linked to Eddy Martinez, so there is some fire to go with that smoke, but they’ve been remarkably stingy in international signings outside of the Baldoquin deal, so I’m just not sold that they are going to spend big twice in the same period even if it makes sense for them to do so given the penalty situation they are in.
The Story: A minor league update on Victor Alcantara.
The Monkey Says: Confirmed. He still throws really hard and still doesn’t do much else.
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