The July 11th, 2013 edition of daily news for the Los Angeles Angels including Angels interested in Phil Hughes, Trout OK with no Home Run Derby and much more…
The Story: The Yankees are shopping Phil Hughes and the Angels might be interested.
The Monkey Says: That is pure speculation on the part of Heyman, but Hughes is a guy that has been connected to the Angels for years. A free agent after this season, Hughes would just be a rental and the Halos don't really have the kind of hitters the Yanks are said to be looking for, so there is likely nothing that will come from this. That being said, I would not be surprised to see the Angels kick the tires on Hughes who is better than his numbers suggest because he is an extreme flyball pitcher which is a miserable fit for Yankee Stadium. Having the Halos just sign him this off-season to replace Blanton or Hanson would be a great upside bet since the rest of his peripherals are solid and the Big A is tailored to his tendencies.
The Story: Mike Trout is OK with not participating in the Home Run Derby.
The Monkey Says: He doesn't seem all that enamored with the idea, so let's all quite complaining that he didn't get asked to take part in a contrived and boring event.
The Story: Erick Aybar credits Albert Pujols for calming his approach at the plate.
The Monkey Says: Pujols has now fixed Trout and Aybar this season which makes him the most successful Angels hitting coach of the 21st century. Now if only he could turn his powers on himself, we'd be all set.
The Story: Jason Vargas was cleared to resume throwing yesterday.
The Monkey Says: This is great news as it keeps him on track to be back with the team by the end of the month.
The Story: Several Angel players took part in Albert Pujols' charity golf event on Tuesday.
The Monkey Says: They joke about the round of golf potentially messing up some swings, but their success against Travis Wood the next day suggests that maybe they should have avoided that golf tournament.
The Story: Could Joe Blanton be the worst Angel pitcher ever?
The Monkey Says: Probably not. Lest we forget that Scott Kazmir had a 5.94 ERA and -1.1 fWAR in 2010 and there were still four other pitchers with worse single-season WARs in franchise history. Blanton does have a 5.40 ERA, but his WAR is on the positive side of the ledger at 0.3 wins.
The Story: Efren Navarro could be a suitable replacement for Albert Pujols if he has to go on the DL.
The Monkey Says: For some reason this has become a thing. I've said it before and I will say it again: NAVARRO IS NOT A PROSPECT. He cannot hit, at least not for a first baseman. He has very little power, but that is being masked somewhat by playing in the extreme hitters' environment of the PCL. He does have some contact skills and is a slick fielder, but that makes him a weak bench option at best. Stop it, people.
The Story: Draw the Angels' logo by hand from memory.
The Monkey Says: The person who just typed a capital "A" is my hero.
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