The February 28th, 2013 edition of daily news for the Los Angeles Angels including Angels to have four-man closer competition, Hall tweaks his quad and much more…
The Monkey Says: A closer by committee where the pitcher is picked according to the best matchup instead of some predefined assigned role? I think I might cry tears of joy! Let's see if Scioscia actually follows through with this and at least let's Frieri and Downs or Burnett form a closer platoon while Madson is out, although Frieri is excellent against lefties too, so he is more than capable of holding down the job himself, but that would restrict him from pitching earlier in the game in higher leverage situations.
The Story: Bill Hall is day-to-day after tweaking his quadricep in Wednesday's game.
The Monkey Says: He may be a non-roster invite but he is off to a hot start and looking like a mortal lock to win a roster spot. That is unless this quad injury keeps him out too long, but that doesn't sound like it will be the case.
The Story: Chad Cordero has been promoted to major league camp.
The Monkey Says: I suspect that this is just an administrative move, but it is a sign that Cordero is impressing the Angels brass thus far.
The Story: The Angels will soon make Mike Trout the most underpaid player in the league.
The Monkey Says: Ah, yes, the pre-arbitration contract dance begins. I've always wanted to know exactly how those negotiations go seeing how the player has zero leverage. I will say though that while the idea of a contract extension for Trout is downplayed in the piece, I do think that this is the time when the groundwork for such a deal would be laid if it is ever going to happen. I'm guessing it won't though and the Angels will honor Trout by paying him about $850,000.
The Story: Kaleb Cowart is working on his left-handed swing in Spring Training.
The Monkey Says: If that starts to click for him, he could be on a faster track to the bigs then we expected. He definitely put on an impressive display yesterday that is sure to get some wheels turning in the player development department.
The Story: A Rangers blog for a local Dallas news station started a Hamilton Failure Watch.
The Monkey Says: Once again, Rangers fans and reporters keep it classy. Honestly, this is what the internet is for. I'm just surprised to see it emerge from an actual media outlet rather than a fan blog. That probably only serves to show just how bitter Texas fans are about how Hamilton's tenure with the Rangers ended. This ain't going away anytime soon.
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