Daily Links for the LA Angels including details of the second Morales surgery, examining if the Angels are blocking Mike Trout, Kazmir’s second rehab outing goes horribly and much more…
The Story: Details of Kendrys Morales’ second surgery.
The Monkey Says: There actually aren’t a whole lot of details, unfortunately. What does concern me though is the term “bone graft.” I’m no doctor, but that doesn’t sound good.
The Story: Are the Angels blocking Mike Trout?
The Monkey Says: This topic is something of an elephant in the room, but I don’t think there is a need to be so alarmist about it. The part of this I especially detest is the notion that the team is “allowing” Abreu’s option to vest. Yes, it could be avoided and we can all agree that it would be best if the option didn’t vest, but who exactly are the Angels supposed to give Bobby’s at-bats to? It isn’t like they are overrun with offensive depth right now. Giving him a vesting option in the first place, now that it is something worth complaining about. What I think will eventually happen for the Halos to clear a spot for Trout is to find a team to dump Abreu on next season or, maybe even dump Torii Hunter via trade instead. I really don’t see trading Peter Bourjos as an option the Angels would seriously consider even though it would be the easiest way to make room for Trout.
The Story: Scott Kazmir’s second rehab outing for Salt Lake started well but finished in horrific fashion.
The Monkey Says: Kaz apparently was decent in the first two innings, but the wheels came off entirely in the third when he allowed all 10 runs in the third inning, getting only one out before he got yanked. I suppose the team will continue running him out there until his 30-day rehab allowance expires, but I don’t see how he could possibly improve from these two awful outing to the point that he would the Angels would allow him back on the big league roster. In fact, I wouldn’t be shocked if they just cut him loose now.
The Story: A not so friendly open letter to Tony Reagins.
The Monkey Says: Ouch. You know a GM is in trouble when non-partisan site starts shredding you like that (unless Rich Lederer is an Angel fan and I just don’t know it). I’ve defended Reagins a lot in the past, but it is getting pretty hard to do now. What I will say though is that I don’t think there is any chance that he gets fired after this season even if the masses are calling for him to be canned. Given that he was allowed to fire Eddie Bane this off-season, I have to think that means he has Moreno’s confidence, or at least enough to carry him through 2012.
The Story: Vernon Wells is running again and hoping to play in the Angels’ next homestand.
The Monkey Says: Hopefully Wells will be 100% healthy and have used the time off to clear his head so that he can finally be the offensive player the Halos thought they acquired… or at least provide a little more offense than Alexi Amarista and Reggie Willits have been producing.
The Story: The only thing on the Angels’ “wish list” is internal improvement.
The Monkey Says: Wells performing would be huge and probably the only real way the Halos can improve offensively, but I do think Neyer missed out on the fact that the Angels really could use a nother reliable bullpen arm.
The Story: Torii Hunter and Peter Bourjos are trying to get in sync in the outfield.
The Monkey Says: Hunter finally acknowledges what we all suspected, that Bourjos defers to him because of his veteran status. We all saw this on full display in the Minnesota series, but it has been an issue all year long and one can only hope these two finally figured it out.
The Story: The Angels won a scoring review from their May 14th game against Texas.
The Monkey Says: The change gives Aybar an error and saves Dan Haren’s ERA a little bit. I kind of figure that is the least the Halos could do given the horrible run support he’s gotten this year.
The Story: It appears that a lack of power is killing the Angel offense.
The Monkey Says: I didn’t need sabermetrics to tell you that. What I will say is that their not awful wOBA does at least provide some hope that this offense could come around and be less of a liability.
The Story: Torii Hunter… a leader that the Twins kind of wish they still had.
The Monkey Says: This is a Twin-centric piece talking about their lack of leadership since Torii left. Umm, no offense to Torii, but if the Twins want to take him and his contract back right now, I’m pretty sure they could get him.