Halo Headlines – 3/23/10

  • The Story: Hideki Matsui got his first game action in the field yesterday.   The Monkey Says: Naturally, Godzilla didn’t even have a single ball hit his way so he will no doubt get more opportunities to stand in left and pick dandelions like a bored tee-baller before Mike Scioscia finally realizes it is a bad idea for Matsui to even be fielding in the first place.
  • The Story: The Angels have cut their spring roster down to 37.   The Monkey Says: The Halos optioned Rafael Rodriguez to minor league camp to get down to 37 but still have a number of decisions to make before they can get down to the requisite 25-man active roster.
  • The Story: Torii Hunter is a big fan of Michael Ryan.   The Monkey Says: I have never known the Angels to allow themselves to be influenced by one particular player, but if someone as respected as Torii Hunter is vouching for Ryan, it might be too hard for them to ignore him since he is having such a stellar spring.
  • The Story: Torii Hunter is happy for Joe Mauer after Mauer got his massive extension with the Twins.   The Monkey Says: Professional sports, where $23 million per year is considered a hometown discount.  I would like to point out that I am happy for Mauer too, especially if he is willing to lend me a few of those millions.  I am totally good for it, I swear.
  • The Story: How much power does the Angel line-up really have?   The Monkey Says: The potential for being a top 10 team in homers is there (since they were 11th last year), but I just don’t know if they can really be a top 5 team since they have made no real line-up power upgrades other than Matsui for Guerrero, which may only prove to be worth a few additional home runs, and Brandon Wood over Chone Figgins.  Counting on that much internal improvement is just foolish with so much unknown about Matsui’s health and Wood’s playing time.
  • The Story: MLB Trade Rumors ranks the signing of Joel Pineiro as one of the ten best for 2010.   The Monkey Says: I’ve still got some real concerns over Pineiro’s ability to repeat his 2009 success while also switching to the American League,  so maybe we should hold off on the accolades for this signing until after the year.