The April 6th, 2012 edition of daily news for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim including Torii Hunter tweets about interesting encounter with the police, Trumbo to get Opening Day start at third base, Angels announce minor league rosters and much more…
The Story: Torii Hunter had an encounter with the police at his own home and tweeted about it.
The Monkey Says: According to Hunter, the security alarm went off at his home and the police showed up with their guns unholstered, but not pointed at him. He had to produce his ID to prove it was his home. Obviously, this is a touchy subject because it might appear that Hunter was treated with suspicion since he was a black man in a nice home, but on the other hand, one would hope that the police wouldn’t just take a potential intruder at his word that he is the homeowner.
The Story: Mike Scioscia intends to start Mark Trumbo at third base on Opening Day.
The Monkey Says: With a lefty pitching for the Royals and extreme flyball pitcher Jered Weaver starting for the Angels, it makes a world of sense for Trumbo to get the start, so this may not be the vote of confidence that some might view it as.
The Story: The Angels have announced their minor league rosters.
The Monkey Says: I’m only linking to the Bees roster because it is the most interesting as it is kind of a loaded roster for the first time in years. Kole Calhoun will join Mike Trout in the outfield, which is an aggressive promotion for him, but also a good indicator that the organization thinks highly of him. Jorge Cantu and Ryan Langerhans will also join the Bees, but that decision was not made until this file was produced.
The Story: Jerome Williams went five strong innings in his rehab start.
The Monkey Says: There continues to be no good reason for him to not get first crack at the fifth starter spot.
The Story: Albert Pujols had the third-highest selling jersey of 2011.
The Monkey Says: Not all of those were Angel jersey, obviously, but I bet a large percentage of them since they sold like hotcakes once they went on sale in Anaheim.
The Story: Peter Bourjos is forcing himself to take more pitches this season.
The Monkey Says: Uh oh, I don’t like the sound of that. Hopefully he keeps it as more of a spring experiment and not a permanent thing. I’m all for him being more disciplined, but not if it doesn’t come naturally. When you force it, you have the disaster season that Erick Aybar had in 2010.
The Story: Fangraphs ranks the Angels 4th in their organizational rankings.
The Monkey Says: Their worst score was in the front office, but that could change drastically in either direction by this time next year. We just don’t know enough about what Dipoto and company can really do. The Pujols signing was obviously huge, but it is also an aberration. How he follows that move up and how he rebuilds the farm system will make a big difference in the Angel management’s reputation.
The Story: The OC Register is going to have a 70-reporter “news mob” for Angels Opening Day.
The Monkey Says: This is a great show of enthusiasm from the OCR, but it definitely seems like overkill. No doubt some new and interesting takes will be generated by the reports less accustomed to covering the Angels, but there is also going to undoubtedly be some real crap in there too (and not just because it means we are guaranteed at least on Jeff Miller piece, ugh). I, for one, am against this idea because now I am going to have to come through all those articles for the next edition of Halo Headlines. I always vote against anything that creates more work for me.
The Story: Win dinner with Tim Salmon in the Diamond Club.
The Monkey Says: What a cheap way to get Facebook likes. The MWAH Facebook page needs more likes too, but all I can do is offer dinner with my dog, which is more exciting than it sounds, but still not nearly as fun as dinner with Tim Salmon.
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