The January 27th, 2012 edition of daily news for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim including Morales’ recovery gets a boost after an impressive workout, Jorge Cantu a big “what if” for the Angels, how other big ticket Angel additions fared in their first seasons and much more…
The Story: Peter Bourjos witnesses an ‘impressive’ batting display from Kendrys Morales.
The Monkey Says: This is a major development for several reasons. First off, up until this report, you probably had a better chance of finding someone who had witnessed a shark fighting an eagle than finding someone who had actually witnessed Kendrys Morales working out. Most importantly though the report states that Morales was taking swings from both sides of the plate, which is supposedly the first time he has done that since he suffered his injury. I’ve been very much in the camp of not believing in the Morales comeback until he actually proves it in a regular season game, but this is reason for hope that even I can’t deny.
The Story: Jorge Cantu has big “what if” potential for the Angels.
The Monkey Says: Sorry, but I disagree. Cantu is not good. He had two good seasons and that is it. He has just one season with a fWAR above 1.5 and three that were below zero. That being said, he should be better than he was in his terrible stint in San Diego last year. That should give him a shot of winning a bench spot with the Halos, but if he gets more than 150 at-bats for the Angels this season, they are in deep trouble.
The Story: A look at how other big Angel acquisitions fared in their first season in Anaheim.
The Monkey Says: We all know the Mo Vaughn precedent, but the general trend with these acquisitions is that when it works for the Angels it really works. When it doesn’t, it goes really bad. Barring a freak injury, I can’t imagine that Pujols’ season will be anything great.
The Story: A look at #4 Angels prospect John Hellweg.
The Monkey Says: Hellweg is a lottery ticket and will be exciting to watch this year. It will be very interesting to see where he lands in other national prospect lists though since he is really only just establishing himself as a top performer.
The Story: The Los Angeles Angels of Pawnee.
The Monkey Says: Literally that best meme ever.