The August 4th, 2011 edition of daily news for the LA Angels including Kendrick frustrated with his benchings, Abreu wants to retire as an Angel, assessing Trumbo’s upside and much more…
The Story: Howie Kendrick appears to be getting frustrated with his increasing numbers of days off.
The Monkey Says: This has become a sore point with the fans too, but everyone needs to realize that Scioscia is just trying to cycle all his infielders into the lineup so none of them get rusty. The idea that Kendrick should be exempted from the rotation is a little out-dated. He did have a great start, but his OPS in June and July is just a tick over .700 and he hasn’t hit a homer since June 24th. He is also striking out quite a bit still, fanning in almost 24% of his July at-bats. So, I ask you, why is it he shouldn’t ever sit for Izturis or Callaspo who are basically performing right around the same level?
The Story: With his option now vested, Bobby Abreu would be happy to retire as an Angel.
The Monkey Says: Alas, he doesn’t mean after this season, so there goes any hopes of easily wiping his $9 million off the books. I hate to break it to Bobby, but odds are he isn’t going to retire as an Angel as they will surely look to move him this off-season.
The Story: Assessing Mark Trumbo’s upside.
The Monkey Says: We all tend to focus on his power and it certainly is impressive that he could hit 30+ homers in his rookie year, but when it comes to his upside, it is largely going to depend whether or not he ever learns to draw some walks. It seems like he will probably never hit for much of an average, and since seldom walks, he is going to have a lot of trouble maintaining an OBP over .300 which is tough to stomach from a regular. That being said, he has time to develop his eye more which might happen since he hasn’t proven to be the strikeout machine many though he would be. Not that I was one of those people. Shut up! No, I wasn’t! Why don’t you just leave me alone?!?!
The Story: Is Torii Hunter a Gold Glove right fielder?
The Monkey Says: Mike Scioscia says yes, I’m pretty sure the voters will categorically say no. He’s been fine in right field, but his metrics show that he is nothing special with just a 1.7 UZR in right. Also, using his outfield assists to try and demonstrate how good he is is actually a false argument since the reason he has so many assists is because opponents think he has a weak arm, so they aren’t afraid to run on him.
The Story: Who will be the next players inducted into the Angel Hall of Fame?
The Monkey Says: Salmon is obviously next, but I’m sure if Mike Scioscia were making the decisions, Jeff Mathis’ induction ceremony would be tomorrow night.
The Story: Prospect guru takes a look at top Angel pitching prospect Garrett Richards.
The Monkey Says: Much has been made of his big home/road splits in Double-A. I would hope the Angels promote him to Triple-A Salt Lake soon to get some kind of additional assessment on him before next season when there is a very real possibility that he could take over Joel Pineiro’s spot in the rotation, if he doesn’t do it this year, an option I will discuss later today.
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