- The Story: Kendry Morales finished fifth in AL MVP voting. The Monkey Says: An impressive showing for K-Mo who certainly had the stats but had to battle the notion that he wasn’t necessarily the MVP of the Angels even. Also, Chone Figgins finished tied for 10th in the voting and Bobby Abreu was tied for 12th.
- The Story: Stat guru Bill James predicts that Kendry Morales is most likely to come back to earth next season. The Monkey Says: Not to argue with the mighty Bill James, but nobody exactly thought Morales would have an MVP-caliber season in 2009.
- The Story: Torii Hunter blogs about his successful sports hernia surgery. The Monkey Says: The injury now supposedly won’t even bother Hunter again and he should be more than ready for Spring Training.
- The Story: The Angels are more interested in trading with the Tigers to acquire Curtis Granderson than Edwin Jackson. The Monkey Says: Well, duh. The Angels need a fifth starter, but Jackson vastly overachieved last year and will be just as expensive as Granderson who is a much better fit for the Angel line-up. Detroit is denying either player is on the trading block, but given how well the Angels match up with Detroit’s trade needs, it would be a minor upset if a trade isn’t worked out.
- The Story: Prospect guru John Sickels has released his preliminary top 20 list of the Angel farm system. The Monkey Says: Mike Trout checks in at #1, Hank Conger is #2 and Trevor Reckling is #3. Judging by this list, the Angels are starting to get some prospect depth back but still have very little star potential in the system.
- The Story: FutureAngels.com has their own top Angel prospect list. The Monkey Says: On this top 10 list, Trevor Reckling is #1 with Garrett Richards and Will Smith coming in at #2 and #3, respectively.-
- The Story: A quick look at who the Angels might risk losing in the upcoming Rule V draft. The Monkey Says: The Angels got hosed last year when the left Darren O’Day unprotected only to watch him become a lights out set-up man for the rival Rangers. This year though it only really looks like the Halos are risking losing players that were once highly-regarded but haven’t panned out yet.
- The Story: The Angels have resumed talks with Toronto to acquire Roy Halladay. The Monkey Says: These trade talks will take a long time to come to fruition since so many teams are in on Halladay. Expect any trade for Doc to start with a package of Joe Saunders, Brandon Wood and Peter Bourjos with a fourth and possibly fifth prospect being added in. Those final prospects will almost certainly be what the deal hinges on. Last time the fourth player was Erick Aybar and the deal fell apart. The Angels will likely try and replace Aybar with a player like Trevor Reckling, Sean O’Sullivan or Jordan Walden.