The May 13th, 2013 edition of daily news for the Los Angeles Angels including Madson nearing a return, Umpires disciplined for pitching change fiasco and much more…
The Story: Ryan Madson will begin his rehab assignment at High-A Inland Empire today.
The Monkey Says: The speculation is that he will need one or two appearances before being activated. One can only assume that he'll be handled with kid gloves upon his activation, but at least our long national nightmare is coming to a close with Madson on track to finally join the Angels this week.
The Monkey Says: The rest of the crew was fined. They offer no explanation for how the crew screwed this up, but at least they acknowledged that they did. What is really interesting is that the suspension was announced as it was previously believed that all umpire discipline measures were supposed to remain confidential. I guess MLB just couldn't do that in the face of such a fundamental rule being broken.
The Story: Tommy Hanson is going to miss another start.
The Monkey Says: It almost seems callous to be talking about this because clearly Tommy and his family are having a very rough time here. Barry Enright is set to make the start in Hanson's place again, which is really just a reminder of how much it sucks to not have any farm system depth.
The Story: The Angels added Robert Coello to the active roster and optioned Scott Cousins.
The Monkey Says: Coello is a journeyman who misses bats and the strike zone. He actually started out in the Angel organization back in 2007 but washed out. He had all of 12 innings of MLB experience before he made his season debut last night. He is around to soak up innings until Madson gets activated.
The Story: T.J. Simers finally took a run at Josh Hamilton.
The Monkey Says: Simers pulls out the "these guys don't care" card. Otherwise this is just the typical Hamilton mantra of late about how he is just trying to stay calm and ignore critics, but Simers does his best to twist it because he is a troll and that is what he does.
The Story: T.J. Simers calls out Arte Moreno for not talking to the media now that the Angels are losing.
The Monkey Says: As funny as it is to Simers that Moreno can't be found when the Angels are losing, it is just as funny to me that Simers can seldom ever be found around the Halos when they are winning.
The Monkey Says: It shall forever remain a mystery (not really, it was his back, everyone knows it was his back).
The Monkey Says: That's right, Hamilton thought he wasn't swinging enough before. Go ahead and let that statement sink in.
The Monkey Says: If only Trout could return the favor for Albert.
The Story: An anonymous Angel executive doubts the Halos would consider firing Mike Scioscia mid-season.
The Monkey Says: That is the closest thing anyone in management has come to saying Scioscia's job is safe, but it is also the first time in a long time I can think of an anonymous Angel executive feeding that kind of juicy info to the press. Methinks that was pretty deliberate.
The Story: A look at Josh Hamilton and his belief in the power of prayer.
The Monkey Says: I've written about this before. It is what it is. Whatever he thinks he needs to get by and produce is fine. I don't care that is his path when it doesn't work either. No matter what, I just can't identify with him.
The Story: Ozzie Guillen would be a good managerial fit for the Angels.
The Monkey Says: No, he wouldn't at all. He is a self-admitted alcoholic and a total maniac. I get the thought that a new energy is needed, but Guillen's energy the wrong kind.
The Story: The Angel relievers are being worked heavily so far this season.
The Monkey Says: The killer part of that is that they have been used a lot and not been very good. With that kind of abuse they are only more likely to break down later in the season. So, yeah, it probably isn't going to get better.
The Story: The Angels aren't the only team to have major acquisitions go wrong on them this season.
The Monkey Says: I know that was supposed to help, but it didn't.
The Story: Kevin Jepsen and Jered Weaver took steps forward in their rehab.
The Monkey Says: I am becoming more and more convinced that the Angels are worried about something in Weaver's pitching arm and aren't telling us. He is already beyond the original six-week maximum recovery timeframe and only just adding a changeup to his routine. This is very disconcerting.
The Story: The trademark Angel baserunning has gone missing.
The Monkey Says: The thing about aggression is that when you are pressing, aggression turns into stupidity. The Angels have been very stupid this year.
The Story: The Angels and Lakers have something in common.
The Monkey Says: No they don't. The Lakers made the playoffs.
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