- The Story: Jon Heyman believes the Angels and Bobby Abreu are still far apart on a new contract. The Monkey Says: No cause for alarm, it is the middle of the playoffs and negotiations aren’t likely to pick up until the season ends.
- The Story: AngelsWin.com hands out their American League awards. The Monkey Says: To no surprise, Mike Scioscia gets Manager of the Year, which should also happen for real with little question. Kendry Morales finishing second in MVP voting is far less likely though given the East Coast bias and sentiment that Bobby Abreu was the Angels’ real MVP.
- The Story: There is plenty of praise to go around the Angel roster after their ALDS victory. The Monkey Says: So many guys stepped up in the Boston series that I lost count. Let’s hope it continues through the ALCS and beyond.
- The Story: This time it will be the Angels trying to prevent the opposition from breaking their jinx rather than the other way around. The Monkey Says: Talk about an ironic twist that the Angels spent the last week convincing everyone that the Red Sox don’t own them but now are hoping that the Yankees can be intimidated by the fact that the Angels historically own them.
- The Story: Why American should root for the Angels to beat the Yankees. The Monkey Says: I didn’t realize there was going to even be a question. The author of the article gives ten reasons, let me suggest an eleventh… the Angels aren’t the Yankees. That should be more than good enough.
- The Story: Vladimir Guerrero is only the tenth player in the post-season to deliver a two-out hit in the ninth inning while losing that won the game. The Monkey Says: One of the other 10 was Dave Henderson, so maybe Boston’s little motivational ploy worked… just not for the right team.
- The Story: Mike Scioscia is still mulling his rotation options for the ALCS. The Monkey Says: Because of the extra off day between Game 4 and Game 5, the Angels could potentially use a three-man rotation, but that would mean the presumed Game 1 starter would have to work on short rest in Game 4, but normal rest for Game 7. Sounds worth it to me though.
- The Story: The Angels will try and run their way past the Yankees. The Monkey Says: No surprise here. The Yankee defense is suspect and can be exploited by Scioscia’s aggressive baserunning strategy. The Twins tried to do the same thing though in the ALDS and failed miserably.