The April 23rd, 2013 edition of daily news for the Los Angeles Angels including Hamilton dropped down in the batting order, the time the Angels almost trade for Miguel Cabrera and much more…
The Story: Mike Scioscia moved Josh Hamilton to fifth in the lineup against southpaw Derek Holland last night.
The Monkey Says: Scioscia is always loath to drop a star in in the lineup so as not to feed the perception that something is wrong, but moving him down a slot seems like a nice compromise seeing how Hambone can barely make contact against a lefty this year. Plus, knowing that Ron Washington has no problem intentionally walking Pujols to get to Hamilton, it forces Texas to pitch to Pujols more. It will be interesting to see if Josh moves back to clean-up against righties today and tomorrow, but I suspect he will.
The Story: Revisiting the time the Angels almost traded for Miguel Cabrera.
The Monkey Says: Rumors vary that the deal fell apart because the Marlins wanted Kendrick or some say it was because of Wood. I tend to think that it had more to do with the money involved as Arte Moreno hadn't yet lost all semblance of fiscal responsibility at that point.
The Monkey Says: That plan is flawed. Lineup protection is kind of a myth as it is, but I think with where Hamilton is right now, nothing is going to matter. Pitchers know not to throw him fastballs and the threat of Pujols behind him probably won't make them rethink that plan.
The Story: Tommy Hanson has been placed on bereavement leave.
The Monkey Says: He will have to miss a minimum of three games, so the Angels will either have to spot start Jerome Williams or call up A.J. Schugel, who would be on five days rest but has been terrible in Triple-A thus far. Barry Enright might normally be a possibility, but he would have to work on short rest. Those are the only two other starting pitchers on the 40-man roster, so it seems likely Williams will be asked to fill in. In the mean time, David Carpenter will take Hanson's roster spot.
The Story: Erick Aybar is running again and hoping to be activated from the disabled list on Thursday.
The Monkey Says: The Angels could really use him back, even though Brendan Harris has acquitted himself nicely. What will be interesting to see if whether or not Aybar can unseat Peter Bourjos in the leadoff spot upon his return.
The Monkey Says: Which is what was always going to happen even though everyone panicked like it wasn't going to happen.
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