The January 4th, 2013 edition of daily news for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim including the weirdest stat about the 2012 Angels, why the Angels won't be trading for Giancarlo Stanton and much more…
The Story: The weirdest stat of the Angels' 2012 season.
The Monkey Says: I totally understand how that came to pass, but it blew my mind anyway. I'm not sure how significant it is, but the fact that the Angels had so many switch-hitters that they pretty much rendered all left-hand specialist relievers useless against them is definitely a good thing.
The Story: Why the Angels, or any other team, won't be trading for Giancarlo Stanton.
The Monkey Says: I know this was tongue-in-cheek, but if the Angels were to trade for Stanton I'm 99.99% certain that Bourjos would be part of the package going the other way. That being said, the Halos don't have enough prospects to include with Bourjos to make such a deal happen. The best deal I can think of is Bourjos-Trumbo-Cowart-Maronde-Richards. That might actually be good enough to get the deal done, but it would also deprive the Angels of anything resembling a high quality prospect for the next two years.
The Story: Darin Erstad is already making a name for himself as a manager in the college ranks.
The Monkey Says: It will be interesting to see if Erstad gets a shot at the majors. He is a leader and hard-worker, but he also strikes me as a very "old school" guy, which could make him a poor fit for a lot of clubs if he proves to be inflexible when it comes to modern ways of thinking about the game.
The Story: Will John Hester or Hank Conger win the back-up catcher job?
The Monkey Says: It should be Conger and I believe that Dipoto even said it would be, though he didn't promise because he never speaks in absolutes. I'd love to see what Conger can do, but at the same time I worry a bit about Iannetta's durability and kind of wish the Angels had a more established back-up. Then again, I don't really see any obviously superior options on the free agent market either, so I guess Conger will do just fine.
The Story: Adam Kennedy looks to be retiring and opening a baseball development facility in Anaheim.
The Monkey Says: AK always drove me nuts during his days with the Halos, but none of that matters because he will always be a legend in Angels lore thanks to his three-homer game in the 2002 ALCS.
SITE NEWS: So, it turns out I went and knocked up my wife nine months ago. By the time most of you read this, she will have given birth to our second child. As such, there might be a lull in posting for a few weeks, but I will certainly do my best to keep the links updated and the prospect countdown should proceed unimpeded. Feature articles might be a little more scarce, though the little monkeys will be posting more during my semi-absence to fill the void. Hopefully you can all carry on without me as I enjoy my new son whilst getting very little sleep.
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