The December 4th, 2014 edition of daily news for the Los Angeles Angels including what we learned from the Josh Hamilton contract, Herrera comes back on minor league deal and much more…
The Story: What can we learn from the Josh Hamilton contract?
The Monkey Says: They say a players true price is what the top bidder is willing to pay, but that doesn’t make that the smart price. I think we already knew that, but the Hamilton contract helps prove it.
The Story: The Angels re-signed Yoslan Herrera to a minor league contract with a spring training invite.
The Monkey Says: This was not entirely unexpected and was mainly done to clear a 40-man roster spot.
The Story: The Angels expect to stay the course at the Winter Meetings.
The Monkey Says: Dipoto makes it clear not to expect anything big, but he also states that if any rotation help is going to be added, it is going to be at the top. Essentially, he won’t be adding a rotation arm unless that guy is a clear upgrade over their current top five. It also sounds as if he’s going to move quickly on adding infield depth while also pursuing a young lefty reliever.
The Story: Projecting all the non-tendered players.
The Monkey Says: All you Beckham honks might want to take a look at what he’s projected for and maybe reconsider whether or not you really want him taking over a starting job in the Angels infield.
The Story: The top 10 starting pitchers in MLB.
The Monkey Says: Garrett Richards gets an honorable mention, but does so on the strength of his likely unsustainable ability to avoid dingers.
The Story: Jonah Keri’s trade value column, part 1.
The Monkey Says: Again, Richards is an honorable mention. Apparently the value on pitchers with shredded knees isn’t what it used to be.
The Story: Rico Brogna talks about what he does in his role as the Angels Quality Control coach.
The Monkey Says: This is a great role for an organization to have. Brogna is basically the guy who matches up scouting reports with data and conveys it to the team. He’s basically part liason, part scout and part stat fact checker. So many players have no interest/tolerance for the advanced stats, so having a guy (especially a former player) who can basically translate for them seems incredibly useful.
The Story: The seven trades that shocked us.
The Monkey Says: We’re all still recuperating from the shock of the Wells trade. I still remember seeing that trade break on Twitter. It was first reported that Napoli got sent to Toronto and that the return was unknown. At no point in perusing the Jays roster to see who they might be getting did I think the Angels would be dumb enough to take back Vernon Wells. Boy, was I wrong.
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