Halo Headlines: Blanton trying to figure out struggles, the pain of watching Pujols run

The April 18th, 2013 edition of daily news for the Los Angeles Angels including Blanton trying to figure out struggles, the pain of watching Pujols run and much more…

The Story: Joe Blanton held a meeting with the Angels' coaches in an effort to try and figure out his early season struggles.

The Monkey Says: Well, it couldn't hurt. Unfortunately, one very much has to consider the possibility here that Joe Blanton just isn't very good.

The Story: Albert Pujols is now painfully slow due to his foot injuries.

The Monkey Says: I knew he was moving slowly right now, but I had no idea that he was running so slow that it made Bengie Molina look fast.

The Story: Kevin Jepsen is out indefinitely with a strained lat.

The Monkey Says: It is worse than it sounds because the recovery timeframe for such an injury is pretty broad. The Angels have to be happy there is no structural damage to his shoulder, but they now need to plan to be without Jepsen for several weeks.

The Story: Scott Cousins has cleared waivers and will remain in Triple-A Salt Lake.

The Monkey Says: Crisis averted.

The Story: Perspective on what Michael Roth is capable of now that he has arrived so quickly in the majors.

The Monkey Says: He may not be the righty power arm the Angels need in middle relief, but he'll do for now. I am slowly falling in love with the idea of him becoming a multi-inning reliever for the Angels.

The Story: How much blame does Arte Moreno deserve for the Angels struggles?

The Monkey Says: How much blame does anyone deserve right now when we are only 15 games into the season. I realize this is frustrating, but do we really need to resort to finger pointing this early?

The Story: Last night's Twins-Angels game was rained out and rescheduling it is going to be tough.

The Monkey Says: The weather is worse today, so they won't be playing it until much later in the season. The problem is the Angels never return to Minnesota this season, so they'll have to find a mutual off-day for both teams.  The most likely of which will be September 9th, which would be pretty rough on the Halos to lose an off day that close to the end of the season.