Daily Links for the LA Angels including Scioscia has harsh words for Kazmir, Weaver officially gets the Opening Day nod, Moreno says the stadium needs renovations and much more…
The Monkey Says: Ouch. You’ll know why I said that when you see the comment in the article. This looks REALLY bad for Kaz. Scioscia will normally defend his players to death, but he pretty much through Scott under the bus here. Suffice it to say that the Halos are clearly only keeping Kazmir in the rotation due to a lack of alternatives, something I am sure they are working to remedy.
The Story: Scott Kazmir and the inevitable Oliver Perez comparisons.
The Monkey Says: That comparison makes since at first glance, but it really isn’t that good. Yes, they are both lefties who lost their stuff and have bad contracts, but Perez has always been all over the place. He basically has had a few good seasons interspersed in between years of being awful. Kazmir, however, has generally been good, with flashes of greatness, until 2009 (and even that year he was pretty good for stretches). That at least gives Kazmir A LOT more hope for a rebound than Perez, whose career is likely over.
The Story: Jered Weaver has been officially named the Opening Day starter.
The Monkey Says: That just confirms what everyone already knew. Congrats, Jered.
The Story: Arte Moreno says that Angels Stadium will soon need some renovations.
The Monkey Says: The stadium is 45 years old and was renovated 15 years ago, so he is talking strictly about structural maintenance. Don’t fret, he isn’t threatening to move and he specifically said he hasn’t begun to examine building a new stadium even though the team’s lease is up in 2016. This will be interesting to watch given the obviously strained relationship between the team and the City of Anaheim. An interesting wrinkle here is that Moreno also questioned the wisdom of having the Sacramento Kings move to Anaheim. Moreno clearly mentioned stadium renovations as a first salvo in getting the city to start thinking about paying for those upgrades and you’d think it would be smart to support the team’s desire for an NBA team (especially since the city will pay big bucks to lure the team to the OC, making it an easier sell when he comes asking for money for stadium fixes).
The Story: Joel Pineiro will start the season on the disabled list.
The Monkey Says: No surprise here as this was expected, though there had been talk of Joel maybe convincing the team otherwise if a recent workout went well. This isn’t a big concern though, he is still on track to debut on April 8th, the Angels’ home opener.
The Story: ESPN’s David Schoenfield names his AL West All-Star Team and includes ZERO Angels.
The Monkey Says: That he couldn’t even find one way to get an Angel on the roster is a bit of a joke. I know Morales is hurt, but I’m still not sure he shouldn’t have been picked over Daric Barton. Even injured if Kendrys comes back at 75% of his former self, I’m not sure he still isn’t better than Barton. The obvious one I dislike is Jack Cust over Bobby Abreu (and Hideki Matsui, for that matter) at DH. Cust just isn’t that good and is pretty much just a platoon player. Abreu and Matsui at least have a track record of being able to hit lefties. However, he is right to place King Felix over Jered Weaver.
The Story: The Royals returned Rule V draft choice Robert Fish to the Angels.
The Monkey Says: A former 6th rounder, Fish will try and make his name as a reliever this season, but he seems like a bit of a longshot to be an impact player.
The Story: Erick Aybar is feeling healthy and confident again.
The Monkey Says: Let’s hope that translates to good things on the field. I actually don’t care about Aybar’s offense all that much, I’d much rather see him focus on becoming a top-notch defender again than trying to work his way back into the competition for leadoff hitter.
The Story: Angels Fan Fest made a strong return despite the rain.
The Monkey Says: The event has been scaled down from years past, but hopefully the good turnout will prompt the team to bring it back bigger and better next year.
The Story: The New York Times profiles Mike Scioscia.
The Monkey Says: This is a rather nice piece on Sosh, but I’m especially impressed because I didn’t know that the New York media was even aware that there are pro baseball teams on the West Coast.
The Story: Mike Scioscia will miss Sparky Anderson.
The Monkey Says: Sosh used to confer with Sparky as they lived near each other in Thousand Oaks. That’s weird. I grew up in Thousand Oaks and not once did Scioscia ever seek out my counsel. I could’ve sword I was listed in the phone book. Oh, well.
The Story: A look back at Bobby Grich’s case for the Hall of Fame.
The Monkey Says: Grich had some great years and should at least get some consideration, but he doesn’t stand a chance. I like the writer’s notion about relying more on anecdotal evidence about how a player was perceived back in his day rather than the increasing focus on stats, but stats are here to stay and Bobby’s resume just doesn’t hold up.