The July 8th, 2013 edition of daily news for the Los Angeles Angels including Trout an All-Star, Weaver names his son after Adenhart and much more…
The Story: Mike Trout will be a starting outfielder for the American League in the All-Star Game.
The Monkey Says: He will also be the only Angel representative. Howie Kendrick is the only other Halo deserving of consideration but he got squeezed out by the deep field of second basemen this year. In fact, he didn't even merit "Final Vote" inclusion. He'll need an injury to Cano, Kipnis or Zobrist to make the team, and even then he still might not get picked. Oh, well.
The Monkey Says: Not gonna lie. It got a little dusty in Monkey Manor when I first read that news.
The Story: Howie Kendrick is the top 2B All-Star snub in the AL.
The Monkey Says: I'm sure that will make him feel better about missing out on the honor.
The Story: Mike Scioscia does not want Mike Trout participating in the Home Run Derby.
The Monkey Says: He needs to be asked and nobody has been asked yet, so this is a preemptive strike by Scioscia. I don't know if I believe in the myth of the Derby screwing guys up, but I think taking caution with the best player in baseball is prudent.
The Story: Jerry Dipoto says not to expect any "high-profile" moves.
The Monkey Says: That's what he said before he signed Hamilton, so, yeah. Dipoto is never to be believed, but this does make some sense, mostly because the Angels don't have the assets required to make such a move. If he does make a move, I hope he does something to upgrade the bench over Brendan Harris and Brad Hawpe. And additional bullpen help never hurts either. Obviously a rotation upgrade is the biggest need, but those are the kind of moves this team just can't afford.
The Story: Mike Scioscia has no intention of moving MIke Trout down to third in the order.
The Monkey Says: Nor should he. Mike Trout is quite literally the perfect two-hole hitter. Moving him to third in the order would hurt his value and really screw up the rest of the lineup since there are no high OBP guys to take over the two-hole from Trout.
The Story: The Angels are making a concerted effort to reduce the number of double plays they hit into.
The Monkey Says: Not that they explain how, but at least they are acknowledging the problem finally.
The Monkey Says: The Angels don't need a fifth starter for two more weeks, so Hanson has time to get ready. He has been wildly inconsistent this year, but him coming back healthy beats having to start MIchael Roth or Billy Buckner. In a worst case scenario, he gets to make two starts to show the team what he can do and whether or not he needs to be replaced via trade.
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