- The Story: The Angels may be in talks with the Cubs over Derrek Lee. The Monkey Says: Lee is having a tough year, but normally is very good and a smart fit for the Angels if they can live with his strikeouts. It would be a one year rental though, so I don’t know if the Angels would really be willing to pay the price to pry him loose.
- The Story: Juan Rivera left last night’s game with a leg injury. The Monkey Says: There is no update on his status right now, but he hurt his leg in the first inning and didn’t come out until the fourth inning, so it shouldn’t be anything too serious. Then again, you can’t blame the Angels for being a little skittish about leg injuries nowadays.
- The Story: Bobby Abreu hit his 500th career double last night. The Monkey Says: Amazingly, Abreu is now just the fourth player in MLB history not total 500 doubles, 250 homers and 350 stolen bases. The other three players are Craig Biggio, Barry Bonds and Rickey Henderson. That’s some pretty good company for Abreu to keep and a real shining star on his Hall of Fame application.
- The Story: Brian Stokes is healthier and working on his mechanics in his minor league assignment. The Monkey Says: Stokes is going to have to show some real positive signs in the minors, otherwise the Angels won’t be able to justify calling him back up, especially with Francisco Rodriguez pitching well. When Stokes runs out of rehab time, the Halos will pretty much have to choose between Stokes and Shields and Shields clearly wins out due to seniority.
- The Story: The Angels can forget about Mike Lowell. The Monkey Says: A Boston columnist believes it is unlikely that the Red Sox would be willing to help out the Angels, which is a very reasonable assumption. However, Boston is in third place (and barely) in the AL East right now, so by the time the trade deadline rolls around, they may not be worried about helping out another contender since they may not be one themselves.
- The Story: Mike Napoli is showing his worth in the face of injuries. The Monkey Says: From the sound of Scioscia in that brief post, Napoli is clearly the frontrunner to take over at first base but probably won’t do so until Jeff Mathis gets healthy.
- The Story: Mike Scioscia says table-setting is the Angels’ number one problem. The Monkey Says: Well, duh. It will be interesting to see what other lineup changes Scioscia makes to fix that problem. Having Izturis hitting first or second is a great start, but finding someone else to pair with him is going to continue being a challenge.
- The Story: The Angel bullpen is finally hitting its stride. The Monkey Says: Francisco Rodriguez has helped, but lets not get crazy now. He has only made a few appearances and hasn’t pitched much in close games, so he could blow up too.
- The Story: MLB Finalists for the “All-Stars Among Us” can now be voted on. The Monkey Says: MLB is just sponsoring the award, but the nominees are people active each team’s community.
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