The November 12th, 2013 edition of daily news for the Los Angeles Angels including Angels pursuing Eric Chavez, Shuck finish 5th in AL ROY voting and much more…
The Story: The Angels are one of several teams that are pursuing Eric Chavez.
The Monkey Says: Chavez can't really field the position anymore, but as part of a platoon with a quality glove like Luis Jimenez makes a lot of sense. The odds are against the Angels here though as the Yankees want Chavez and he has a good history with them. Then again, it could just be a highest bidder situation as Chavez is nearing the end of the road.
The Story: J.B. Shuck finished 5th in American League Rookie of the Year voting.
The Monkey Says: Shuck got one second place vote from Joe Haakenson, who has authored two different books on the Angels, and a third place vote from OC Register pandering hack Jeff Miller. Clearly the process is working great and the writers are voting objectively and strictly on merit.
The Story: One of 17 GMs polled by Jerry Crasnick believes that David Price will end up as an Angel.
The Monkey Says: That should not be taken as a sign of hope. I always question whether GMs answer these polls with ulterior motives in mind though.
The Story: The Angels signed left-handed pitcher Wade LeBlanc to a minor league contract.
The Monkey Says: LeBlanc is just depth and not particularly good depth. He has a very good changeup, but he only throws 86 MPH and is largely living off of a flukey good year in 2012. He's very hittable, gives up a lot of homers and actually has been much worse against left-handed batters in his major league career, so converting him to relief may not even be a great option. Hopefully the Angels never have to use him.
The Story: A Red Sox executive said of Mark Trumbo "that on base is scary for us."
The Monkey Says: This could be a planted story since it is via Gammons, who is a Red Sox mouthpiece, to dispel rumors of Boston being interested in Trumbo, but it rings pretty true that a sabermetric-friendly club like Boston would not have much real interest in Trumbo and his career .299 OBP.
The Story: Arte Moreno might not be willing to exceed the luxury-tax threshold out of a sense of pride.
The Monkey Says: I asked the question of Alden myself and I have to say that is not the answer I expected. Pride factoring into that decision seems pretty strange. It should be noted though that the Halos actually did pay luxury tax in 2004 as they just barely went over the line and were charged $927,059. He swallowed his pride once, maybe he can do it again if it means getting Trout locked into an extension. As I said last week, the Angels have an incentive to sign him to an extension that covers this final pre-arbitration year so that his long-term tax number will come in $4 million (roughly) cheaper.
The Monkey Says: To no surprise, the internet views things differently than the BBWAA. I'll let you figure out who you should trust more.
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