The August 22nd, 2013 edition of daily news for the Los Angeles Angels including Vargas and Aybar come off waivers, Buckner recalled, Cowgill optioned and much more…
The Story: The waiver period expired on Jason Vargas and Erick Aybar and both players remained with the team.
The Monkey Says: As of this writing it is unclear whether or not they both passed through waivers or if either was pulled back. Further tweets from DiGiovanna intimated that Vargas is here to stay but that maybe Aybar's status was not fully decided yet. It is worth noting that if either had been claimed, the claiming team would 48 hours from the end of the waiver period to work something out.
The Monkey Says: This has nothing to do with the promised rotation changes. Buckner was an emergency promotion to have another arm available the day after the Angels taxed their bullpen in that extra inning affair. Cowgill will likely be back when rosters expand.
The Story: Howie Kendrick is unlikely to return from the DL until after this weekend.
The Monkey Says: He's been taking BP, but apparently is still not 100%, so the team is taking their time bringing him back.
The Story: Mike Scioscia complains that the Athletics never taught Grant Green to bunt.
The Monkey Says: They actually did, so that probably just means he isn't very good at it. More importantly, Scioscia shouldn't be upset about it because research shows that the sac bunt is actually a bad strategic play. So if you think about it, the A's did the Halos a favor.
The Story: Albert Pujols claims he will hit when healthy and that he has not lost bat speed.
The Monkey Says: The "if healthy" part is kind of the hard part though. Pujols has been an Angel for two seasons and struggled with injury in both, so it seems unlikely he will stay healthy. As an aside, I am impressed that Pujols is aware of what his bat speed is. The fact that he knows the exact numbers suggests to me that he had it checked because was worried he was slowing down.
The Story: Details on how badly the plantar fascitis actually affected Albert Pujols.
The Monkey Says: The concerning part here is that, for what I believe is the first time, Scioscia and Pujols admit the injury did affect his hitting, which they had denied all season long. The article also states that there is no guarantee that Pujols will be pain-free come next season which also runs counter to what the Angels have been saying.
The Story: Visualization of MLB teams' payrolls.
The Monkey Says: This is pretty damn cool, but clicking on the Angels and seeing all that orange on the Angels books the next several years is a bit distressing.
The Story: Is Albert Pujols' contract the worst in sports?
The Monkey Says: Yeah, it probably is but that was sort of a given when it was signed. The Angels weren't stupid, they knew what they were doing. It is my belief that Arte Moreno bit that bullet because he wanted to have a big star to not only show the baseball world that his Angels could be big-time players in free agency but, and this is probably the bigger part, also to have a megastar to trumpet when he went into negotiations for the big new TV deal that the Angels got shortly after inking Pujols.
The Story: C.J. Wilson is the one Angels siging that has actually worked out well.
The Monkey Says: It hasn't worked out great though. Let's not forget that C.J. was a mild disappointment after his first season, but his recent hot streak has made the deal look a lot better.
The Monkey Says: Like so many other "highlights," this one is a nice metaphor of how this Angels season has played out.
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