The August 13th, 2015 edition of Los Angeles Angels news including Dipoto joins Red Sox, Wilson delaying surgery decision and much more…
The Story: Jerry Dipoto has taken an interim position with the Red Sox.
The Monkey Says: This is a very interesting development. It was obvious that Dipoto would land on his feet, but some think that this might be a preliminary step towards Dipoto maybe displacing Ben Cherington. The only reason this job is an “interim” one is because the Red Sox are supposedly allowing him to continue pursuing other GM jobs. Jerry has been mentioned as a possibility in Milwaukee already.
The Story: The Angels are waiting on C.J. Wilson to make a decision about having surgery.
The Monkey Says: They have made it clear that the choice is on him now. He got his second opinion on Tuesday, so he just needs to pick the course of action. It is very weird that he is thinking about it still given that the second opinion supposedly showed the same things as the first opinion and that C.J. was committed to surgery then. It makes me wonder if the reports of the players thinking he’s being soft is influencing him here.
The Story: David Freese likely won’t go on his rehab assignment until next week.
The Monkey Says: He’s still struggling with his throwing, but he can swing just fine. He’s making progress with gripping the ball, it just isn’t as fast as the Angels hoped.
The Story: Collin Cowgill began his rehab assignment last night.
The Monkey Says: He won’t be rejoining the Angels anytime soon unless someone gets injured. Considering Shane Victorino’s track record, that is a real possibility.
The Story: The MVP race between Mike Trout and Josh Donaldson is heating up.
The Monkey Says: No, it really isn’t. Trout is slumping a bit right now, but he still has a solid cushion in all the WAR measures over Donaldson. The only thing that might actually cost Trout the MVP is if the Angels miss out on even a Wild Card spot and the Jays make the playoffs, especially as the AL East winner. Crap. That’s totally going to happen isn’t it? They should just put Donaldson’s name on the trophy now.
The Story: Albert Pujols got snippy in regards to questions about his hitting with RISP.
The Monkey Says: He probably shouldn’t think about it too much since Pujols hasn’t been that terrible with RISP at a 93 wRC+. That’s not good, but there is nothing to suggest that his RISP approach is fundamentally broken.
The Story: Ranking the potential landing spots for Chase Utley.
The Monkey Says: The Angels are rated 4th. The Angels wouldn’t be able to fit Utley on the roster without putting Featherston on the DL with a phantom injury, which would leave the Angels without a back-up shortstop. I’m not opposed to platooning Johnny Giavotella, but Im also not sold that Utley is better on offense or defense right now. If the price of Utley is free, sure, get him. Otherwise, don’t be fooled by the brand name allure because Utley has a giant fork sticking out of his back now.
The Story: Johnny Giavotella continues to establish themselves.
The Monkey Says: The thing about Johnny is that there is no in-between opinion on him. A big chunk of fans love him. A big chunk of fans think he’s terrible. Few are willing to admit that while Giavotella deserves to be in the majors, he probably isn’t good enough to start on a contender. His defense isn’t very good and his batting average is his only offensive asset. He is eminently upgradeable, thus the interest in Utley.
The Story: Mike Trout and Nelson Cruz are leading the 2015 home run surge.
The Monkey Says: Yeah, I’m not sold that this is a resurgence in power so much as a dead cat bounce.
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