The January 15th, 2013 edition of daily news for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim including Angels announce spring training invitees, Trout catches 550-pound fish and much more…
The Story: The Angels released their full list of non-roster invitees for training camp.
The Monkey Says: Most of them were already known, none of them are very exciting. Luis Rodriguez and Brendan Harris are probably the only two with a shot at winning a roster spot, but neither is very likely.
The Story: Mike Trout caught a 550-pound grouper on a recent family fishing trip.
The Monkey Says: When will this fish-on-fish crime end? Will they never learn?
The Story: Jim Bowden believes the Angels' signing of Joe Blanton is a move that will backfire.
The Monkey Says: He is primarily concerned with why they felt they had to give him a two-year deal. Somehow he finds that contract more concerning than the nine-figure, five-year deal given to the injury-prone, recovering addict with a rapidly declining contact rate.
The Monkey Says: That's a good point. When he blows his first save in Anaheim, he'll feel like he died and went to heaven after receiving only a small smattering of boos.
The Story: Scott Spiezio is only just now working on transitioning to life after baseball.
The Monkey Says: Considering all the struggles he has gone through since he last played in the majors, it is great to see that he is putting is life back together again.
The Story: Who will bat second for the Angels this season?
The Monkey Says: I covered this awhile ago, but my bet is Scioscia will tab Aybar, however I think I would prefer Callaspo or perhaps a situation where Bourjos bats second against lefties and Aybar or Callaspo against righties. The shame of it though is Kendrick should be the perfect fit but he has failed miserably in that slot for some reason whenever given a chance.
The Story: What will Trout and Harper do for encores in 2013?
The Monkey Says: What will it take for people to stop linking these two when they really have very little in common and have never faced each other on the field?
The Story: The Angels have the top ranked middle-of-the-order in baseball according to the Sporting News.
The Monkey Says: On paper at least. It really assumes a lot of Mark Trumbo and a lesser amount from Josh Hamilton, which is why I am actually leaning towards the Tigers as having a better 3-4-5, not that it actually matters who is best.
The Story: Albert Pujols ranks as the third best first baseman heading into 2013.
The Monkey Says: It is amazing to think he ranks that low, but it is even more amazing to think that I actually kind of agree.
The Story: Keith Johnson and his staff will return for the 2013 season for the Triple-A Salt Lake Bees.
The Monkey Says: I'm not sure why, but my understanding is Salt Lake fans are not a big fan of Johnson, so I'm sure this isn't going to be received warmly.
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