The June 29th, 2012 edition of daily news for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim including more appreciation for Trout’s stellar catch, an actual Vernon Wells trade rumor, Kole Calhoun named to the Triple-A All-Star team and much more…
The Story: Breaking down the awesomeness of Mike Trout’s stellar catch against the Orioles.
The Monkey Says: My favorite part is still his reaction just because you can tell that he is even incredibly impressed with what he just did.
The Story: Buster Olney speculates that the Dodgers might be interested in trading for Vernon Wells.
The Monkey Says: See, this is the kind of thing that happens when you hire Mickey Hatcher for your front office. This also seems to be Olney just throwing crap up against the wall and hoping something sticks. I can’t imagine anyone trading for Wells even if the Angels eat most of the money. His mere name is radioactive at this point and the only reason any GM would trade for him would be if he was daring his owner to fire him. But wait… there’s more!
The Monkey Says: Morosi seems to have taken Olney’s speculation and ran with it, which is several different kinds of stupid since he also lumped in Cleveland as a potential destination if only because he wants to have some of his own crap on the wall along with Olney’s. “Hey, Mr. Wells, would you say yes to a totally fictional trade idea that some other reporter pulled out of his butt?” That’s a clown question, bro. Wells, to his credit, gave a diplomatic answer so as not to sound as if he is unhappy, but he would be delusional to believe he is going to get anything more than a bench player once he returns from the DL, so the idea of him invoking his no-trade clause so he can stay in Anaheim, ride the pine and get ridiculed by fans is decidedly far-fetched.
The Story: Kole Calhoun was named to the Triple-A Pacific Coast League All-Star team.
The Monkey Says: Assuming he doesn’t get traded, there is a high probability that Calhoun will have a bench job or more on the 2013 Angels. He has a limited ceiling, but he is a guy the front office and coaching staff all think pretty highly of.
The Story: Garrett Richards is likely headed back to the minors after the All-Star break.
The Monkey Says: But we knew this already. The Angel bullpen is so strong now, there is no sense in keeping him up as a reliever or converting Williams to the bullpen. This is a good problem to have though as they now know they can count on Richards should the rotation suffer another injury or if Ervin Santana goes sideways again or if Dan Haren doesn’t snap out of this funk soon.
The Story: Mike Trout would be the starting outfielder for Keith Law’s “real” All-Star team.
The Monkey Says: The roster is based on ZiPS projections for the rest of the season, so don’t start calling for the bias cat. Looking at the other names on that list, one realizes just how meteoric Trout’s rise to elite player status has been.
The Story: A look at what the Angels might need via the trade market in the next month.
The Monkey Says: I hate to say it, but this is an uncharacteristically off-base BPro piece. They call out shortstop as a potential need, but I highly doubt the Angels even look at that given Aybar’s contract and relative resurgence in recent weeks. They also suggest they might become big players for a starting pitcher, but that seems unlikely to happen unless there is something physically wrong with Dan Haren. Strangely, they totally overlook their growing need at catcher, where the Halos could be in dire need if Chris Iannetta’s recovery doesn’t start moving forward. Also, they make no mention of the Angels looking to add another lefty reliever, which most rumors suggest they are actively doing.
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