Halo Headlines: Madson may be done for the season, Vargas out 4-6 weeks, Hamilton and Bourjos injured

The June 24th, 2013 edition of daily news for the Los Angeles Angels including Madson may be done for the season, Vargas out 4-6 weeks, Hamilton and Bourjos injured and much more…

The Story: Mike Scioscia admits it is possible that Ryan Madson may not pitch at all in 2013.

The Monkey Says: What disaster this Madson signing turned out to be. It is just a shame for the guy that his season and career are in such a state, but it is more of an indictment on Dipoto that he hung much of the improvement of this terrible bullpen on a guy coming off injury without also acquiring a fallback plan.

The Story: The current prognosis for Jason Vargas is that he will miss four-to-six weeks due to the blood clot in his left arm pit.

The Monkey Says: He will get a second opinion today though, but if he only misses a month or so, that is actually about as good as he could hope for in this kind of situation as blood clots in the shoulder area have ended careers before. Whatever the case, it is pretty safe to assume that Vargas will not be on the trading block at the deadline due to this medical red flag.

The Story: Josh Hamilton missed the Pittsburgh series after getting a cortisone shot for a wrist injury.

The Monkey Says: Scioscia was careful to avoid saying that this injury was behind his hitting woes. If so, that is kind of a shame because having an explanation behind Hamilton being terrible would make us all feel a lot better about the four-plus years left on his contract.

The Story: Peter Bourjos left yesterday's game after hurting his thumb sliding into second base.

The Monkey Says: No word on the severity yet, though he is expected to see a specialist this week. If he hits the DL, let's hope the team calls up Kole Calhoun to take his place rather than rely on a combination of J.B. Shuck and Brad Hawpe. Shuck held his own last time, but Calhoun deserves a shot and the Halos really need to find out what the kid is capable of.

The Story: The Angels signed their top pick in the draft, Hunter Green, to a slot value contract.

The Monkey Says: That is great news both that they signed the high schooler but that they didn't have to go over slot to do it. They also signed seventh-rounder Garrett Nuss over the weekend, so they have just three draft choices remaining that haven't signed.

The Story: Howie Kendrick isn't going to mess with his approach even though the team wants him to pull the ball more.

The Monkey Says: He finally breaks through and they want him to change? Are we sure Mickey Hatcher isn't still the hitting coach?

The Story: Mike Trout is on pace to have one of the greatest 21-year old seasons of all time.

The Monkey Says: I'm pretty sure that whatever age he is, he is a good bet to have one of the best seasons ever.

The Story: Arte Moreno talks about all of the Angels' struggles.

The Monkey Says: Most importantly, he once again said he would not even discuss personnel changes until after the off-season.

The Story: The Angels replaced the chain link fences on the outfield wall with plexiglass.

The Monkey Says: If you think they didn't do that specifically to save Trout, especially after what Bryce Harper did to himself at Dodger Stadium around the time the Halos made the change, you're crazy.

The Story: Is Jered Weaver a potential Hall of Famer?

The Monkey Says: Nope and I didn't even really need to think about it all that much. He never won a Cy Young and he doesn't have a long history of being a big strikeout guy. Plus it looks like he is headed into a significant decline, so he won't get a chance to pad his stats. Maybe had he held his peak for another two or three years, but if he keeps pitching like he is now, or worse, I doubt he even gets enough votes to make it to a second ballot.

The Story: Mike Trout narrowly trails Adam Jones for the most All-Star votes in the AL outfield.

The Monkey Says: Ask me how much I care. Go ahead, I dare you.

The Story: Felix Hernandez wore a commemorative patch for Dr. Lewis Yocum during his start at the Big A last week.

The Monkey Says: I am not at all spiritual, but I like to think Dr. Lew intervened there to help the Angels pull off that comeback win against King Felix. Now if only we could get all opposing pitchers to wear the patch, the Angels would be set.

The Story: It is time to trade Mark Trumbo.

The Monkey Says: NOPE. Not even a little bit. If anything they should re-sign him. Believe it or not, the thing this offense is lacking the most is power. Yes, they need to re-stock the farm system, but they also need to contend next year and that won't happen if they have only the rotting corpses of Albert Pujols and Josh Hamilton providing the power behind Mike Trout.