The May 20th, 2013 edition of daily news for the Los Angeles Angels including Burnett on the verge of returning, Nelson claimed, Weaver progressing and much more…
The Story: Sean Burnett could be activated as soon as Tuesday.
The Monkey Says: The sooner the better as the bullpen seems like it is on the verge of just completely imploding.
The Story: The Angels claimed infielder Chris Nelson on waivers and Luis Jimenez was optioned to Triple-A.
The Monkey Says: Nelson isn't any good, but he can play multiple positions and is a better option to have sitting on the bench gathering rust than Luis Jimenez who could benefit from getting some regular playing time. Scott Cousins was DFA'd to make room on the 40-man roster for Nelson.
The Story: Jered Weaver had an encouraging 60-pitch throwing session on Friday.
The Monkey Says: It sounds like he could go out on a rehab assignment this week, which should have him back by the end of the month even if he has to make two rehab starts.
The Story: Ryan Madson and Kole Calhoun have both joined the Triple-A Salt Lake Bees.
The Monkey Says: This is the next step in Madson's rehab that could also have him back within a week if everything goes well. As for Calhoun, he's likely in Salt Lake to stay. By the time he shakes the rust off, Peter Bourjos should be close enough to returning to make it not worthwhile to have Calhoun take over in left in the majors where J.B. Shuck is doing just barely well enough.
The Story: Barry Enright was outrighted to Salt Lake and Bill Hall was released.
The Monkey Says: Let's hope we never see Enright again. Unfortunately for Hall, he just never got going after his spring injury. At one point he seemed like a lock to have the bench role that Brendan Harris currently occupies and now he isn't even worth keeping around in an organization in desperate need of depth.
The Story: Josh Hamilton's past cocaine abuse is not to blame for his allergy issues.
The Monkey Says: Oh, good, I was so worrie- WHAT?! You mean that's a thing? Who was even asking about that?
The Story: A reminder that pitching phenom Matt Harvey was once drafted by the Angels.
The Monkey Says: That's a shame, but it was also a risk the team knew they were taking when they drafted him. This kind of thing used to happen regularly before the new draft system was installed, so I wouldn't blame anyone too much.
The Story: How the bases loaded walk to Jeff Keppinger was the 2013 Angels in a nutshell.
The Monkey Says: I think we all felt that way when it happened because even as poorly as the Angels have played, they have really found some outlandish and unusual ways to lose games.
The Story: Ryan Brasier got stuck with the job of milking a cow during the annual Dairy Night contest.
The Monkey Says: And he won! Yay! It turns out that an Angel reliever is actually good at something, which is a nice change.
The Monkey Says: For the record, Miller Lite at the Big A is less than $9.
The Story: Jerome Williams threw the wildest pitch of the last week.
The Monkey Says: I'm glad that he banged Iannetta for the lousy job he did trying to block the pitch too. The more I watch Iannetta, the more I wonder how it is Scioscia can be happy with his defense behind the dish.
The Story: How each MLB splits up TV money.
The Monkey Says: This is important. As you can see in the charts, the Angels take home nearly $120 million per year from their local deal and the national contract, even after revenue sharing. For now, that is the most out of any team. More importantly, it goes to show how much money Moreno really has to spend and why the potential for their big contracts going bad isn't as crippling as one might think.
The Monkey Says: It could be either, but that $120 million in annual revenue I just mentioned should help avoid a dark age. They still need to spend it wisely though, otherwise they'll just be a new version of the Mets or Cubs who for years just spent and spent and lost and lost.
The Story: There has been a recent proliferation of great players wearing the #27.
The Monkey Says: Trout! Kemp! Stanton! Gomez! Berkman! Zimmerman! Peralta! Peralta? Oh, well, I guess they can't all be winners.
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