The November 12th, 2012 edition of daily news for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim including Dodgers in pursuit of Hunter, Trout win Internet Baseball Awards AL MVP, Bogar and Hampon join minor league coaching staff and much more…
The Story: The Dodgers are the latest team said to be in pursuit of Torii Hunter.
The Monkey Says: I can't see that happening because it would require the Dodgers to trade Andre Ethier, who they recently signed to a bloated contract extension. They'd have to move Ethier before Torii would even consider signing there and my guess is Hunter will have already been scooped up before the Dodgers find a taker for Ethier (if they ever do). While we are talking about the Dodgers, consider it a blessing that they won the bidding for Korean pitcher Hyun-Jin Ryu, which could very well take them out of the bidding for Zack Greinke.
The Story: Mike Trout won the AL MVP voting in Baseball Prospectus' Internet Baseball Awards.
The Monkey Says: Good for him, I hope he enjoys it because he isn't going to win the "real" AL MVP award that is announced later this week.
The Story: Tim Bogar will manage the Double-A Arkansas Travelers with Mike Hampton as his pitching coach.
The Monkey Says: Bogar got some heat as a managerial candidate recently in Houston after serving on the Red Sox coaching staff for the last few years. He is clearly a rising star in the future manger ranks and I can't help but wonder if Bogar is taking this job, when I'm guessing he could've gotten a major league job elsewhere, because Dipoto thinks quite highly of him and might have bigger future plans for him. I have no insider information, but if Mike Scioscia ends up getting fired during or after this season, I wouldn't be surprised if Bogar has top billing on the short list of guys to replace Sosh.
The Story: Jim Bowden suggests the Angels trade Peter Bourjos and C.J. Cron for Jacoby Ellsbury.
The Monkey Says: This trade idea is sponsored by NOPE.com. Not only is Ellsbury wildly inconsistent to the point that Bourjos might actually be a better player in 2013, but he is also a free agent after this coming season and his agent is Scott Boras. So, sure, why not have the Angels fork over the two best trade assets for one year's worth of a guy that they probably won't re-sign. Can't imagine why Bowden hasn't gotten any consideration for GM openings in recent years.
The Story: Nationals GM Mike Rizzo had some glowing remarks about Zack Greinke.
The Monkey Says: Which we all probably are reading too much into, but it now sounds as if Rizzo is at least considering make a dark horse bid for Greinke. They don't seem like they have that kind of money, but if they do pull it off, their rotation will be downright frightening.
The Story: The Angels signed minor league journeyman reliever Mitch Stetter to a minor league contract.
The Monkey Says: He will be 32 come Opening Day and has about one season's worth of experience in the majors. If he earns a spot on the Opening Day roster, something went horribly wrong with Jerry Dipoto's off-season plan to rebuild the bullpen. No offense, Mitch.
The Monkey Says: He's said as much in earlier interviews, but this is the first time he has done so in relation to a specific name. Frankly, we shouldn't be surprised by this considering that he cheaped out on signing the likes of Luis Ayala last off-season.
The Monkey Says: Someone by this man a beer… or brewery. He deserves it.
The Monkey Says: So it is really Jason Bay that is responsible for the Angels trading for Vernon Wells, eh? Does anyone know Bay's address? I'd like to send him a mailbomb strongly worded letter.
The Monkey Says: Maybe he's just being humble, but it doesn't exactly inspire me with confidence when a pitcher admits that even he doesn't understand how hitters aren't teeing off on his changeup.
The Story: The top 8 moments of Maicer Izturis' Angel career.
The Monkey Says: Nice to see the underappreciated Maicer get a little love on his way out the door and not getting lost in the shuffle with the other higher profile players ending their Angel career this off-season.
The Story: A look at some potential free agent in the Asian market that could help the Angels.
The Monkey Says: The idea of Fujikawa is growing on me, but I can't see the logic in signing a Japanese middle infielder seeing how no previous players of that type have ever made the leap to MLB and even come close to meeting expectations.
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