The July 30th, 2012 edition of daily news for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim including Trout day-to-day with a knee contusion, the details of how the Greinke trade went down, Takahashi demoted and much more…
The Story: Mike Trout is day-to-day with a knee contusion.
The Monkey Says: Here comes a sentence I fear that I will have to write quite a bit over the next several years. Trout suffered the injury crashing into the outfield wall the other night. He is day-to-day right now, but it seems pretty likely that he will be back in the lineup tonight.
The Story: A look back at how the trade pursuit of Zack Greinke unfolded.
The Monkey Says: This is an example of how depth of a system doesn’t always help. Texas has more good prospects, but with Profar and Olt off limits, the Angels were a better fit since they had middle infield prospect that they were willing to part with.
The Story: The Angels demoted Hisanori Takahashi to clear a roster spot for Zack Greinke.
The Monkey Says: This is a very mild surprise. Taka has been the low-man on the totem pole for awhile, but he also hasn’t been awful. It is possible, probably even likely, that Takashi will be recalled when he is eligible to take the spot of Ervin Santana or Garrett Richards once the Angels figure out the long-term plan for the fifth starter spot.
The Story: Ervin Santana will draw the start today against Texas.
The Monkey Says: I hate this idea, but also understand that it is a necessary evil. The Angels think they fixed Santana’s problem, so they have to run him out there to see if their fix worked. They also might want to trade Ervin but the only way they are going to get back anything of value is if he shows some signs of hope tonight. Given that Takahashi was demoted and Garrett Richards was not, it seems likely that the Angels are keeping themselves prepared for Santana to implode again. Had Richards been demoted, he wouldn’t be eligible to be recalled for the next scheduled start of Santana or whoever the fifth starter is. Since he’s there, the Angels might want to just have Garrett start warming up right after Ervin throws his first pitch.
The Story: Erick Aybar was placed on the 15-day disabled list and Andrew Romine was recalled to take his spot.
The Monkey Says: Aybar still has no concrete timetable for when he will return, but it doesn’t sound like it will be as long as the rumored 4-6 weeks when he first suffered the injury. Romine will simply provide coverage at the infield positions until Aybar returns.
The Story: The Angels have shown trade interest in Mariners reliever Brandon League.
The Monkey Says: It is a novel idea, but I honestly don’t know where he would fit since Jepsen is pitching well and Walden will be back at some point. You can never have too many quality relievers, but if the Halos are going to spend on one more reliever, they should focus on a lefty.
The Story: The Angels prefer to trade Vernon Wells rather than keep him as a reserve.
The Monkey Says: The idea of a Wells-Kevin Correia swap isn’t the worst idea, but I don’t think it is a real thing. I have no doubt the Angels can rid themselves of Wells if they simply give him away for free, but I don’t think they are going to do that since he does at least provide some kind of depth and thus far isn’t making any waves about his reduced role.
The Story: Chris Iannetta was activated over the wekend with John Hester being demoted back to the minors.
The Monkey Says: In a lot of ways, getting Iannetta back is like adding a starting catcher at the trade deadline, but don’t be surprised if he shares time with Bobby Wilson for a week or so as he builds his endurance back up.
The Story: Can the Angels keep Greinke long-term?
The Monkey Says: The Cain contract that the article mentions seems like the perfect benchmark for where Greinke could land his contract. However, one important thing to note is that both Weaver and Wilson only got five-year deals, so it is possible the Angels will try and talk him into a deal of that length so as not to upset the precedent they set with their other two top pitchers.
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