The November 12th, 2014 edition of daily news for the Los Angeles Angels including Scioscia finishes 2nd in AL MOY voting, Dipoto won’t pursue top free agents and much more…
The Story: Mike Scioscia finished second in the voting for AL Manager of the Year.
The Monkey Says: As expected. He really wasn’t even close. He also really never stood much of a chance because voters don’t like voting for high payroll teams.
The Story: Jerry Dipoto says he will not “surf” in the top end of the free agent market.
The Monkey Says: This flies in the face of the recent Jeff Passan speculation that the Angels are going to go after top pitchers and “definitely” pay the luxury tax. Dipoto doesn’t say anything about the tax though. Instead he once again talks about improving the back of the roster and (in a separate report) about acquiring another lefty reliever.
The Story: The Angels remain open to trading Howie Kendrick.
The Monkey Says: There had been some thought that the Conger deal negated the need to trade Kendrick, but this report suggests he is still being shopped. If anything, this is probably a leak from the Angels front office to make sure other GMs know that Howie is still very much on the market. It also notes that they aren’t just looking for pitching in exchange for Kendrick, but rather younger players.
The Story: Extension talks with Huston Street will have to wait until this spring.
The Monkey Says: I’d rather they wait until late-September. Extending a 31-year old reliever with a lengthy injury history isn’t exactly the smartest move. Let’s see him get through the season healthy first, then we can talk about him getting more guaranteed money.
The Story: There has been talks about Kaleb Cowart moving to the mound.
The Monkey Says: Candid admissions by Dipoto here. He confirms that the option has been discussed, but it sounds as if they will revisit the idea after the 2015 season since Cowart is still so young. I wouldn’t be hopeful of Cowart figuring it out at the plate, but he hasn’t pitched in so long that there really isn’t much hope of him being anything other than a relief prospect now, so taking one last Hail Mary on making his bat work is understandable.
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