Daily Links for the LA Angels including reactions to the Angels beating Weaver in arbitration, Reagins denies interest in Michael Young, Trout won’t debut in the majors until 2012 and much more…
The Story: The Angels won their arbitration case versus Jered Weaver.
The Monkey Says: The Angels save about $1.4 million this season as a result, but the long-term effects remain to be seen and are open wide to speculation (which I will share in the following links, but first my two cents). Many will anticipate this hearing hastening the departure of Weaver, a Scott Boras client, as the hearings sometimes feature teams painting very negative pictures of the player that sometimes leave said player feeling rather insulted. However, I don’t think the Angels are that stupid and, as you will soon see, there is a good chance they were able to make their case without saying anything about Jered’s mother wearing army boots. I also don’t think that this is going to do much to sway Weaver’s decision either way, after all, Scott Boras is his agent and we all know that most Boras clients end up going to the highest bidder, no matter what the player’s personal feelings about a team might be.
The Story: Weaver’s arbitration case boiled down to a comparison to Tim Lincecum.
The Monkey Says: This is just brilliant and totally nails why it was the Angels won the case and didn’t even offer to settle in the middle. Basically, if the Angels lost their case or caved and settled, they would have been at the mercy of Scott Boras who would been given license to ask for a long-term contract for Weaver that would have made him one of the top paid pitchers in baseball. Now, Boras’ case has been disproven in a courtroom, so he’ll have to scale back his demands (or at least he should have to, but this is Boras we are talking about). I’m not totally sure I agree with the assertion that this will lead to a long-term extension for Jered since Boras might wait it out another year and hope that Weaver posts stellar numbers again, which would make it more likely he’d prevail in arbitration next time out.
The Story: Putting Weaver’s arbitration loss in perspective.
The Monkey Says: This definitely paints a less rosy picture, but isn’t entirely full of doom and gloom. It does, however put into proper persepective why it might be a costly “win” for the Angels. I still think though that lowering the bar for where Weaver’s potential contract extension starts is worth the gamble of offending him personally.
The Monkey Says: Take this with a grain of salt because Reagins would almost never admit that he was engaged in trade talks with anyone. Still, it certainly doesn’t sound like they are frontrunners for Young’s services, which is just fine with me. The same goes for the Podsednik comments (though he never mentioned him specifically), since it just isn’t the Angels’ style to disclose their activities to the general public.
The Story: Mike Trout is “unlikely” to be called up to the majors this season.
The Monkey Says: This also comes from Reagins’ comments at the welcome celebration for the Inland Empire 66ers, but it deserves its own commentary. Obviously, this doesn’t totally close the door on a 2011 debut for Trout, especially if he blows up in Double-A Arkansas, but it is good to hear Reagins put the official kibosh on any speculation that Trout is going to be called up to save the day this season. As excited as I am for Trout’s arrival, this is a smart decision as they don’t want to rush him to the majors in any fashion that might stunt his growth.
The Story: Expect to see some of Jake Locker in the Angel minor league system if the NFL lockout comes to pass.
The Monkey Says: This is the same basic take, however it does reveal that Locker is contractually obligated to be in training camp and report for other baseball activities during breaks in his football schedule. This makes me wonder if the Angels didn’t somehow plant some language to make sure they get to see a lot of Locker should their be a lockout. I also happen to know that Locker’s draft stock is all over the map right now, which will only help the Angels.
The Story: AOL Fanhouse ranks the Angel farm system as the 8th best overall.
The Monkey Says: Yet another big leeap for the Halo farm system, but it is once again predicated on their low-level prospects, so Angel fans shouldn’t get overly excited as there is a lot of volatility in such young prospects.