Daily links for the LA Angels including Romine called up, injured infielders are working out again, Kazmir to spend the off-season working with Butcher and much more.
The Story: The Angels called up infielder Andrew Romine.
The Monkey Says: Of course, we all knew that already since the kid got some starts over the weekend. Don’t get too excited though because he really doesn’t have much upside and might never have been called up if not for the sudden rash of injuries to the Halo infielders.
The Story: The Angels’ injured infielders are getting back to work.
The Monkey Says: Alberto Callaspo, Maicer Izturis and Erick Aybar are all participating in workouts again, but there is little reason to believe any of them will come back before the season is over.
The Story: Scott Kazmir to spend the off-season working out with Mike Butcher in Arizona.
The Monkey Says: Well, it is worth a shot, I guess. We were all lead to believe that Butcher had some sort of magic touch with Kazmir before this season, but that obviously didn’t work. At least Kazmir is taking his struggles seriously and doing what he can to try and salvage his career.
The Story: Jered Weaver and Torii Hunter were honored by their teammates.
The Monkey Says: Weaver was the obvious choice to get pitcher of the year and Hunter was an even more obvious choice for team MVP. At least the players can do something right.
The Story: Mike Napoli’s trade value.
The Monkey Says: Even though some (Mark Saxon) have suggested that Napoli has spoiled his trade value this season, it seems to me that when push comes to shove, many a team will be interested in any catcher that can hit for as much power as Naps has. He may not bring back a massive package, but the Angels are bound to get some pretty good value for him on the trade market this off-season (which I am convinced they will, in order to free up salary and a roster spot for Hank Conger).
The Story: Mike Scioscia endorses Ron Gardenhire for Manager of the Year.
The Monkey Says: Good for Sosh, mostly because he didn’t throw his weight behind division rival Ron Washington.
The Story: The Angels are making plans for this winter.
The Monkey Says: The front office actually recently wrapped up their organizational meetings this last week which is likely where many of the decisions on which players will be playing winter ball and where this off-season came from. No doubt some free agency plans were discussed as well, but we will have to wait and see what those might be.
The Story: Bobby Abreu could be lost in the outfield shuffle.
The Monkey Says: Bobby moving to DH in 2011 seems to be the conventional wisdom, but I’m not 100% sold that Sosh won’t give him a shot at staying in the outfield if the Angels strike out on Carl Crawford in free agency. That is just the way that Scioscia rolls when it comes to his veterans.
The Story: The judge has issued a partial verdict in the Nick Adenhart case.
The Monkey Says: The judge merely found Gallo guilty of driving with a suspended license. The three murder charges are being deliberated over by the jury right now. If you pray, now would be a good time to send some the way of Adenhart and the other victims, because if the jury doesn’t bite on the murder charges, Gallo can’t be found guilty of lesser crimes and would pretty much skate on the entire incident.