The August 5th, 2015 edition of Los Angeles Angels news including Wilson seeking second opinion, Dombrowski an option for Angels GM opening and much more…
The Story: C.J. Wilson is waiting on a “Hail Mary” second opinion before surgery.
The Monkey Says: Or is it a third opinion? My understanding is that C.J. already sought an outside opinion, so I would think an Angels doctor has already looked at him. For depth purposes, it would be nice to have C.J. available this season, but they also don’t really have a spot for him. Perhaps the best outcome would be for C.J. to be cleared as healthy enough to work out of the bullpen.
The Story: Dave Dombrowski has been let go by the Tigers and could be an option for the Angels.
The Monkey Says: This is all pure speculation, but Dombrowski was linked to the Halos right after Dipoto left. He has ties to Bill Stoneman, so there is a relationship there. The question is if Dombrowski would want to deal with an actively meddlesome owner and a powerful manager. If Arte Moreno is willing to own up to the organization’s problems in those areas and hand Dombrowski the keys to the franchise by naming him as team president, perhaps it could work. That actually might be the best thing to happen to the Halos since Dombrowski has the gravitas to immediately come in and take control. He even has a history of working with established managers, so it isn’t a crazy idea. It just means Moreno has to sign off on it, which he might just do in order to try and prove that he’s not as meddlesome as he is depicted.
The Story: Matt Joyce is nearing a return from a concussion.
The Monkey Says: Which means he is nearing getting DFA’d by the Angels.
The Story: David Freese believes he could be back in the lineup next week.
The Monkey Says: We’ll see if the team let’s him skip rehab. When he does come back, the Halos are going to be faced with a tough decision as far as finding a way to keep Conor Gillaspie, who is out of options but who has impressed enough in his short stint that the Angels would want to keep him.
The Story: A look at each team’s post-deadline prospect arsenal.
The Monkey Says: See, folks? That sad Angels entry in that table is exactly why the Angels had to settle for three small trades rather than one big one.
The Story: Did your team blow it at the trade deadline?
The Monkey Says: The Angels had a pretty obvious case to buy, so I guess they didn’t blow it. Hooray!
The Story: Scott Miller sees the Astros as the clear favorites in the AL West.
The Monkey Says: He isn’t wrong, but he is also a victim of recency bias. It was only a few weeks ago that the Angels were winning everything and the Astros were mired in a deep funk. Granted, the Astros greatly improved their roster, so there is good reason to give them extra credit now, but this race is still far from over. Everyone thought Oakland winning the AL West was fait accompli last season around the same time and they barely held on to a Wild Card spot.
The Story: A retooled swing has sparked Kaleb Cowart’s revival.
The Monkey Says: I remain one of the skeptics. I haven’t seen Cowart play since he was promoted, but last year his swing had gotten very slow, which could be corrected mechanically, I suppose, but he also had a tough time with pitch recognition. Narron applauds that skill in this piece, but that’s hard for me to buy as well since that is much more difficult to correct.
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