Daily Links for the LA Angels including the Angels could have traded for Beltran instead, the 2002 Angels are part of a Hall of Fame fluke, a welcome celebration for the Inland Empire 66ers and much more…
The Story: The Angels supposedly turned down a deal for Carlos Beltran before trading for Vernon Wells.
The Monkey Says: If true, this kind of hurts. Beltran is owed over $18 million this coming season, but then he becomes a free agent, so the financial risk in such a deal is MUCH smaller than the Wells trade. Plus, there is a decent chance that Beltran will actually be a better player. That being said, the Angels have good reasons for turning it down, the foremost being the suspect health of Beltran. It remains to be seen if the Angels will be contenders, but they sure think they are and trading for a guy who hasn’t played very much the last two years isn’t a great way to assure contending status. The article also doesn’t mention who the Mets wanted in return. If it was something other than bad contracts, the value may just not have been there for the Halos. Frankly, I don’t know if I believe this fully as many reports earlier in the winter suggested the Mets were going to hold off on shopping Beltran because they believe he will show up healthy in spring training, thus increasing his value.
The Story: The 2002 Angels are part of a historic Hall of Fame fluke.
The Monkey Says: This is a pretty fascinating read. The 2002 Angels, 1997 Marlins and 2005 White Sox are the only three World Series winners that aren’t looking like they will have a Hall of Fame player on the roster or a Hall of Fame manager. This of course begs the question of whether or not Mike Scioscia will someday be elected to the Hall as a manager and I like the topic so much, I’m giving it a deeper look later today. As for the actual Angel players, I don’t really think any of them have a shot at the Hall of Fame, though Sam Miller believes K-Rod might at least have a shot at it.
The Monkey Says: The event is open to the public, so if anyone living in the San Bernadino area wants to attend, go right on ahead. Mike Scioscia, Tony Reagins and Abe Flores will all be on hand, so it might be worth driving down to San Berdu if only to give Reagins a piece of your mind.
The Story: Fixing what went wrong with the 2010 Angels.
The Monkey Says: It is interesting that the piece chose to focus on the Angels’ poor outfield defense and not mention their flailing offense at all. Don’t get me wrong, the outfield defense was a major problem and a big reason why I am such a pro-Bourjos guy, but the outfield defense won’t matter much if this lineup doesn’t figure out how to put runs on the board consistently.