The January 19th, 2012 edition of daily news for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim including Angels will be prominently featured on ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball, Angels announce non-roster invites, Dipoto says extension talks with Aybar are still ongoing and much more…
The Story: The Angels are prominently featured on ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball schedule.
The Monkey Says: Out of the ten games announced thus far, the Angels play in two of them. One against the Yankees, another against the Rangers. Both are road games. Undoubtedly, ESPN will televise the high-profile Angels as much as they can. It is almost like this was part of Arte Moreno’s plan.
The Story: The Angels invited 20 non-roster players to spring training.
The Monkey Says: No real surprises on the list. Just the typical crew of prospects and recently signed veteran retreads like Cantu and Langerhans. If there is anyone to get excited about, it is catcher Jett Bandy. I have no idea who he is, but his name is fantastic. I feel like he should be a 1950’s private eye or a cast member on Gossip Girl.
The Story: The Angels are still exploring a contract extension with Erick Aybar.
The Monkey Says: The Dipoto quote here sounds a lot more optimistic than I anticipated, so maybe an extension really is plausible, but I still very much doubt it happens.
The Story: Former Angels shortstop Orlando Cabrera has announced his retirement.
The Monkey Says: The Wizard of OC had a pretty nice career and was generally well-liked wherever he went, especially Anaheim. He will be missed.
The Story: The Angels announced their 2012 schedule of promotional giveaways.
The Monkey Says: Everyone and their mother will want the Pujols bobblehead. However, I will punch anyone in the face that I catch wearing an Angels cowboy hat in a game against the Texas Rangers.
The Story: The case for Alberto Callaspo as the full-time third baseman.
The Monkey Says: I don’t think anyone has a real problem with Callaspo as starting third baseman for this year. The problem is that he isn’t somebody that you are going to be happy with long-term, especially when he starts costing more and more money. In fact, no matter what he does this season, there is a good chance he will be traded or non-tendered simply because of the raise he is going to get via arbitration making him no longer a cost effective stopgap at third.
The Story: Ranking the best rotations in baseball, with the Angels as #2.
The Monkey Says: I actually think the Angels could end up being the best over the Phillies since Vance Worley is a bit of an unknown as is their fifth spot.
The Story: A prospect profile of Luis Jimenez.
The Monkey Says: This is a very well articulated point on why Lucho might struggle to find a role in Anaheim. He could be a fine player, but as of right now he doesn’t fit how the Angels want to build their roster. Then again, they don’t really have many other options, so they might just cram him in there next season anyway.
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