The July 29th, 2013 edition of daily news for the Los Angeles Angels including Aybar and Kendrick on the trade block, De La Rosa saves an injured bird and much more…
The Story: The Angels are said to be shopping Erick Aybar and Howie Kendrick along with Scott Downs.
The Monkey Says: They are said to be looking to land a controllable starting pitcher in return. One would have to think they will only be trading one of Aybar and Kendrick. They should find no shortage of interest in either player. The post also states that the team is not focusing on moving Trumbo or Bourjos, but doesn't rule it out either.
The Story: Dane De La Rosa saved an injured pigeon during a game this weekend in Oakland.
The Monkey Says: No, that doesn't mean we get to start calling him the Birdman. I'd like to think we can be a little more orignal than that.
The Story: Jerome Williams will make his next scheduled start.
The Monkey Says: He has been terrible, but the Angels don't really have many other options. Williams is likely to remain in the rotation until Jason Vargas returns from the DL.
The Story: Jason Vargas feels '100 percent' after his latest bullpen session.
The Monkey Says: He could have a rehab start as soon as Sunday. If that goes well, the Angels will probably rush him back to the big league roster so that they can showcase him for a waiver period trade in August, assuming they wouldn't rather keep him.
The Monkey Says: With as much money as those guys make, I feel like they should've just chartered a helicopter. Sure, it would have been a gross show of wealth and privilege, but Kobe has done it, so I think that means anyone can do it.
The Monkey Says: The Braves had him ditch the pause out of fear of the strain it was putting on his shoulder. Apparently Hanson and/or the Angels decided that he keeps getting hurt anyway, he might as well be more effective until his shoulder finally crumbles into dust.
The Story: Josh Hamilton reached a mediated settlement in a t-shirt trademark dispute.
The Monkey Says: Play Hard, Pray Harder, but Next Time Check the Trademark Registry first.
The Story: The Angels are sellers with nothing to sell.
The Monkey Says: They actually have quite a bit to sell, but thanks for playing, Jim Bowden. Trumbo and Bourjos probably aren't going anywhere, but they also aren't untouchable. Aybar and Kendrick are also very attractive pieces and the Halos can figure out how to replace them later. Scott Downs isn't a throwaway piece and Jason Vargas would be a solid trade chip if the Angels want to move him. Maybe this is why you aren't an employed GM anymore.
The Story: Kaleb Cowart slid down to 86th in MLB's top 100 prospect rankings.
The Monkey Says: He's had a rough season, but he is still very young and has plenty of time to work on the flaws in his game.
The Story: Mark Trumbo has changed his step timing and swing to break out of his long slump.
The Monkey Says: It seems to be working, but even Trumbo admits he is sacrificing power for contact. That seems like a good trade off to me, because he has so much raw power that giving up even 15% still leaves him with a ton of power.
The Story: The Angels have the highest ratio of solo homers in the majors.
The Monkey Says: Part of that is probably just randomness, the other part is likely that most of their homers come from Trout, Pujols, Hamilton and Trumbo. Trout is often hitting with nobody on base in front of him and with the middle of the lineup struggling as a whole, Pujols, Hamilton and Trumbo haven't been on base much for earch other when they hit homers. I really wouldn't worry about this very much.
The Story: The biggest comebacks in the WIld Card era.
The Monkey Says: The Angels seem ready to mail it in, but in case you were wondering, they'd have to pull off the second-biggest comeback of the era. That isn't happening.
The Monkey Says: It blows my mind that more players don't look at that kind of research to see if they have fallen into bad habits. For example, does Albert Pujols know he is swinging so much more than he did during his prime in St. Louis? Does Mark Trumbo know he has such a high whiff rate on balls up in the zone? Does Joe Blanton know that everything he does is terrible? This information is all readily available and then some within front offices. Players shouldn't have to read about it on the internet.
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
