The July 21st, 2014 edition of daily news for the Los Angeles Angels including Huston Street trade reactions and much more…
The Story: Jerry Dipoto is done making trades, but still has “feelers” out just in case of injury.
The Monkey Says: I’d still prefer another starting pitcher be added, but I don’t think that is even possible anymore given what they sent to San Diego in the Street trade.
The Story: Joe Smith has no problem with ceding the closer role to Huston Street.
The Monkey Says: Not that he has a choice. Either way, at least he is saying the right thing.
The Story: The Padres came out ahead in the Huston Street deal.
The Monkey Says: Law was the first I’ve seen the zeroed in on the inclusion of Jose Rondon as being the straw that broke the camel’s back to make this an overpay for the Halos. He also is spot on that the Angels definitely overpaid for a “proven closer,” something that Jerry Dipoto seemed to be too smart to do when first hired but clearly changed his way of thinking.
The Story: A look at all the prospects involved in the Angels-Padres trade.
The Monkey Says: Sickels thinks it is a relatively fair trade, but I link to this more because it gives a little insight into what the Halos received in Trevor Gott.
The Story: Analyzing the Angels-Padres trade.
The Monkey Says: The salient point in this one is a point I’ve seldom seen mentioned elsewhere which is that Huston Street has a really hard time staying healthy. That shouldn’t be overlooked at all here.
The Story: Beyond the Boxscore breaks down the Huston Street deal.
The Monkey Says: They rate this more evenly, but are sure to call out Street’s unsustainable LOB% and rightly mention that the Angel’s bigger need was probably rotation depth and not adding to a bullpen that had greatly improved from within in the last several weeks.
The Story: The Angels’ bullpen woes may finally be over.
The Monkey Says: This is the last one I’ll post, but, I have to say, there was really a lot of great analysis done on this deal. The point that caught my eye in this one is how Street is basically platoon neutral, something the Angels bullpen lacked in a right-handed reliever ever since they dumped Frieri. Now, they do have a closer fit for all situations whereas Smith was vulnerable to lefties. With Smith in a setup role now, he can be used in a more flexible fashion to hide him from the worst of the left-on-right match-ups.
The Story: The Angels signed 35 of their 40 draft picks.
The Monkey Says: With Sean Newcomb signing the morning of the deadline, they avoided any significant draft class losses as they signed all their picks in the first 18 rounds.
The Story: Sean Newcomb’s workload will be limited in his first year.
The Monkey Says: This is the whole reason he waited to sign, to make sure that he wasn’t overworked. There was never a question of if he would sign.
The Story: Ian Stewart was designated for assignment.
The Monkey Says: They had to make room on the roster for Huston Street and Stewart was no longer in their plans. It will be curious to see if he remains in the organization.
The Story: C.J. Cron was demoted to Triple-A.
The Monkey Says: This was a genuine surprise. Cron had been scuffling the last few weeks, so this gives him a chance to work things out, but the general assumption is that he will be recalled very soon. That being said, I can’t help but wonder if this might be a sign that the Angels could pursue a trade to fill the DH position.
The Story: Garrett Richards maintains that Jered Weaver is the staff ace.
The Monkey Says: Not that it matters on the field, but I imagine it matters in Weaver’s head, so it is good that Richards is saying the right thing even though he has clearly outpitched Jered this season.
The Story: Mike Trout tops the Fangraphs trade value rankings.
The Monkey Says: That extension of his at least made it a question, but it was still plenty team-friendly to keep him atop the rankings.
The Story: Mike Trout is receptive to having the “torch” passed to him from Derek Jeter.
The Monkey Says: A torch. A baton. A mantle. A title. Jeter appears set to have so many things to pass over to Trout that he is going to need to rent out a POD to store it all.
The Story: Mike Trout is the best hitter in baseball when hitting balls back up the middle.
The Monkey Says: I imagine that is largely because Trout is still learning to pull the ball. Just wait until that day comes.
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