The June 7th, 2013 edition of daily news for the Los Angeles Angels including explaining Williams returning to the bullpen, Mark Lowe released and much more…
The Story: Critiquing the decision to move Jerome Williams to the bullpen instead of Joe Blanton.
The Monkey Says: Yeah, I’m not at all happy about it, but it wasn’t like Williams was throwing up great numbers against strong offenses. He had his good outings against the White Sox, Mariners, Royals and Astros who are all amongst the worst offenses in baseball. The one good offense he face was Baltimore and they slammed him, though that was his first start of the season, so he may not have been stretched out enough to be effective. It is also worth noting that his ERA as a starter is 3.08 but his FIP is 3.83, so don’t read too much into that Felix comparison.
The Story: The Angels released Mark Lowe.
The Monkey Says: Well, you can’t blame the Angels for taking a chance on Lowe given the state of their bullpen at the time. But gambles are gambles for a reason. They mostly don’t work out.
The Story: The top five first round draft pick busts of the Angels.
The Monkey Says: The Wacha inclusion is moronic to include here. Bash them for forfeiting the pick, sure, but that doesn’t qualify as a bust. I don’t really think Etherton was all that big of a bust either. One guy who was a bust that didn’t get included was Danny Goodwin, who barely had a career despite being the first overall selection.
The Monkey Says: This is important to Angel fans since the Halos are very likely to use almost all their picks on college players. The one benefit overlooked here is that college picks that do work out tend to work out sooner. That is what the Halos need to get their system up to snuff faster. So while the success rate may not be all that much better, at least those that prove to be successes will reach the majors while the Angels are still in contention mode.
The Story: Scouting director Ric Wilson intimated that the Angels will target pitching in the draft.
The Monkey Says: He also made some comments that suggest the team will be making some noise internationally again soon, which, in my opinion, is a great way for the Angels to add high upside players to offset the “safer” selections they make in the North American amateur draft.
The Story: When Albert Pujols was better than Miguel Cabrera.
The Monkey Says: This is a well-timed post because some have been referring to Miggy as the best hitter of a generation recently, which seems like a stretch given that Pujols was better in his prim and isn’t old enough to be considered from a different generation. Maybe if Cabrera keeps hitting like he is now for a few more years, then maybe he has a claim, but right now it doesn’t seem all that close even with Albert’s decline.
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