The November 28th, 2011 edition of daily news for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim including Klentak, Olney considers Angels’ catcher one of the top needs in baseball, 2012 ZiPS projections for the Halos and much more…
The Story: The Angels hired Matt Klentak as an assistant general manager.
The Monkey Says: This is great news because Klentak is an Ivy League kid (from Dartmouth, which is no Cornell, but it still works) who will be relied upon for his business acumen when it comes to handling arbitration and salary negotiations, something the new Dipoto front office needed. My only concern is that this is a guy who is leaving the Orioles, a franchise that wasn’t exactly renowned for making smart, savvy contract deals, though it is hard to blame Klentak for too much of that.
The Monkey Says: I call BS. Yes, Jeff Mathis is TERRIBLE and dealing away Napoli couldn’t have worked out worse, but the Angels aren’t in a dire position at catcher. With Hank Conger and Bobby Wilson around, the two of them can at least hold down the fort and possibly even work out to be league average as a tandem. Getting a surefire upgrade would be great, but it isn’t like they have zero internal options. Just because they had Napoli and let him get away doesn’t mean they need to get that kind of production out of their catchers, they just need to get that position to the point that it isn’t massive liability like it has been when Mathis is the primary starter. It is definitely a need, but one of the top needs in baseball? I doubt it, but it is easy fodder for a columnist to pick away at.
The Story: The 2012 ZiPS projections have been released for the LA Angels.
The Monkey Says: These projections aren’t as rosy as they Bill James projections from last week but still interesting. For one, this system doesn’t have Trumbo learning how to take a pitch, nor does it have Peter Bourjos making any offensive progress. However, it does have Mike Trout performing as one of the best Angel hitters, which is good for him, but not so great for the Angels. This system also doesn’t seem to think too highly of Jerome Williams, so it is even more ammunition for the idea of the Angels bringing in a reliable veteran starting pitcher so that Williams can compete for the fifth spot rather than automatically have one locked up before camp even opens.
The Monkey Says: I always knew I like Morosi. Yep, trade Trumbo, hold on to all the pitching, I’ve been saying it since the season ended and will keep saying it even if the Angels don’t sign Wilson.
The Story: A satirical look at how the Angels’ dinner with C.J. Wilson might have gone.
The Monkey Says: I was going to attempt something similar, but I had a feeling Ricardo was going to take a crack at it and probably do a much better job than I could. I was totally right.
The Story: Mike Scioscia gave a pep talk to the Boston College men’s basketball team last week.
The Monkey Says: It must not have worked because the Eagles lost their very next game, though it was improvement over them getting beaten by 36 like they did the game before.