The August 3rd, 2012 edition of daily news for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim including Trout named AL Rookie of the Month and Player of the Month, Garrett Richards demoted again, Albert Pujols is all the way back (maybe) and much more…
The Story: Mike Trout was named the AL Rookie of the Month and AL Player of the Month for July.
The Monkey Says: He already has the ROY in the bag and the July Player of the Month award is a big mark in his favor for him being able to pull of the AL MVP this year as well. There is still a lot of baseball left, but it would probably behoove Mama and Papa Trout to clear some space on the mantle.
The Story: Garrett Richards was sent down to Triple-A and David Carpenter was called up to take his spot.
The Monkey Says: This was something of a necessity with the bullpen being overworked, but it also has some serious implications. For starters, this virtually guarantees that Dan Haren will make his next scheduled start, which is a great sign. It also indicates that the DEFCON level for Ervin Santana has been lowered since they aren’t keeping Richards around as a back-up plan. He can be called up again in 10 days, so now Ervin is also in line to get at least two more starts to get his act together.
The Story: Albert Pujols is back, but is he really all the way back?
The Monkey Says: The premise here is that Pujols has been one of the best hitters in the AL since mid-May, which is great news. However, the parade gets a healthy dose of precipitation because those numbers are great for mortals but only pretty good in comparison to the Pujols of yesteryear. This is painted as something of a major issue for the Angels because of how much Pujols is being paid, but if he is merely a top 10 hitter instead of the undisputed best hitter, that is really more of a “first world problem.”
The Story: Josh Hamilton and Albert Pujols have traded places since the start of the year.
The Monkey Says: The changes in production is obvious, but it is eery that Hamilton’s struggles have been just as inexplicable as Pujols’ early struggles. Now if only we could get the Angels and Rangers to trade places in the standings.
The Story: Big deadline deals for pitchers have usually not worked out for the Angels.
The Monkey Says: Here’s the thing, that goes the same for most teams who make deadline deals because one player can’t really make a massive difference in two months. This is why rentals are usually a bad idea.
The Story: The Angels are leaning on an eclectic mix of relievers for the time being.
The Monkey Says: Eclectic is really just a polite way of saying “really not very good at all.”
The Story: As of right now, Mike Trout has the highest OPS+ ever for a 20-year old by a significant margin.
The Monkey Says: And the streak of linking to a story about the stunning accomplishments of Trout continues.
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