The September 9th, 2014 edition of daily news for the Los Angeles Angels including Angels 2015 schedule released, Jairo Diaz added to roster and much more…
The Story: The 2015 schedule for the Angels has been released.
The Monkey Says: In a shocking development, they will once again play 162 games. The high points here are that they start the season in Seattle and then open at home against Kansas City. Their interleague opponents will be the NL West. The real kicker tough is that only six of their final 20 games are at home. They finish the season with four games in Texas.
The Story: The Angels added relief pitcher Jairo Diaz to the active roster.
The Monkey Says: He flew up the prospect ladder this year with his triple-digit fastball and much-improved offspeed pitches. He was wild in his appearance yesterday, but you can see the talent. He should be a factor in the bullpen at some point in 2015.
The Story: Ryan Wheeler was designated for assignment.
The Monkey Says: Wheeler only lasted a few weeks in the Angels organization. Despite being on the 40-man roster, he didn’t get a September call-up, so he obviously didn’t make much of an impression. He was DFA’d to make room for the aforementioned Diaz.
The Story: Michael Kohn elected free agency rather than staying in the Angels minor league system.
The Monkey Says: He was DFA’d last week. He’ll probably try and hook up with a big league team in the next few days to audition for 2015. In fact, he probably has something lined up already, otherwise he would have accepted the assignment and not given a way a chunk of his salary.
The Story: Joe Thatcher will be evaluated for activation today.
The Monkey Says: If he is cleared, he’ll be added to the roster. If not, he’ll throw a simulated game. Frankly, they should probably just activate him regardless. With how bad Texas is, there is a good chance that he’ll get an opportunity to throw a real inning in a meaningless situation at some point this series.
The Story: Mike Butcher should be off the hot seat after the strong pitching performance of his staff this year.
The Monkey Says: Yeah, the casual fan isn’t going to agree with that. They always need someone to blame and Butcher is the easiest target despite the success of guys like Richards and Shoemaker this year. Honestly, none of us really know who Butcher actually helped or didn’t help. It could be he was awful this year and guys succeeded despite him. It could be that he worked miracles with a lot of guys. Basically, stop lobbying for any coach to be fired… unless that coach is Mickey Hatcher.
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