- The Story: Kendry Morales is going to be switching to the uniform number of 8 next year. The Monkey Says: Great, now I have to cross out the Kendry Morales jersey I asked for from my Christmas list to Santa.
- The Story: The Angels added Peter Bourjos to their 40-man roster. The Monkey Says: Bourjos is one of the Angels’ better prospects, but don’t expect him to break into the bigs this year, this is just a move to protect Bourjos from the Rule V draft.
- The Story: The entire Angel coaching staff will be retained for next season. The Monkey Says: Is this even a story? Why would they fire anyone after such a good season? Especially when Sosh has never fired a single coach in his ten year tenure.
- The Story: Arte Moreno officially withdrew the Angels from the Matt Holliday sweepstakes but remains interested in Jason Bay. The Monkey Says: Take that, Scott Boras! Moreno is clearly still smarting from the Teixeira negotiations and isn’t going to let Boras use the Angels as leverage. Interestingly, Moreno basically says they team only has $13 million left to spend on payroll, so if Lackey or Figgins re-signs, that is pretty much all the Halos are going to do this year.
- The Story: Count out the Dodgers in the John Lackey free agent bidding. The Monkey Says: This will certainly help the Angels if they really even want Big John back, but there are still a number of big bidders left.
- The Story: The Angels are hoping to get Hank Conger up to snuff defensively in the AFL. The Monkey Says: Conger hasn’t exactly shown the big power that was expected from him when drafted, but the organization that it will come around soon. They are far more concerned with getting his defense major-league ready so that he is ready to join the big club in the next two years.
- The Story: Torii Hunter is going to have sports hernia surgery. The Monkey Says: Torii was considering it as of a few days ago, now it is official. He’ll be plenty ready in time for Spring Training.