Daily Links for the LA Angels including Morales officially headed for the disabled list, Pineiro leaves his start early with a shoulder injury, Scot Shields officially retires and much more…
The Story: Kendrys Morales is officially set to start the season on the disabled list.
The Monkey Says: This sucks, but it is for the best. I’m not so sure that this supposed toe injury is actually that big of a problem, or even something real, but there really is no sense in rushing Kendrys back. He is too important to the Angels for both this season and their overall future to have him play if he is anything less than 100%. This actually could be a blessing in disguise because it will give the Angels a chance to see if Mark Trumbo is actually for real. One thing we should ready ourselves for is Abreu sliding down to third in the order with Aybar likely batting second and Trumbo getting the Napoli treatment by being mired in the bottom-third of the order despite his raw power.
The Story: Joel Pineiro left his start on Sunday with an apparent shoulder injury.
The Monkey Says: Uh oh. Not good. There is still no concrete report back on the severity of the injury, but this is not something the Angels are ready to handle. Trevor Bell would normally be in line to start, but he has arm problems of his own. Matt Palmer would be next, but he has been lousy this spring and Hisanori Takahashi is less of an option with Scott Downs already on the DL. If this injury turns out to be serious, the Halos will seriously have to consider trading for another starting pitcher, which might be the only use they get out of Brandon Wood this year.
The Story: Scot Shields officially retires.
The Monkey Says: Good luck to Scot in the next stage of his life. Hopefully history will remember him properly as one of the best setup men of his generation (in my biased opinion).
The Monkey Says: None figure to have any real impact with the team any time soon. In fact, if Ortega doesn’t adjust well to pitching out of the pen, he could lose his 40-man roster spot.
The Monkey Says: Supposedly he felt better than his last outing and his velocity was back up (though still not impressive). Now more than ever, the Angels need Kazmir to right his ship as they can’t afford to have him dragging down the rotation if the Angels are going to be using up their scant starting pitching depth to replace Joel Pineiro potentially.
The Monkey Says: I kind of don’t get this. Wood is a bit redundant right now, yes, but with Morales out, Wood has a spot on the roster available for him. I’m certainly not against a trade of Callaspo, but I’m not sure I even know who the Angels are going to keep in the majors if they cut Callaspo or Wood lose. Morales would obviously take back the spot when he comes off the DL, so I guess that is part of the equation that must be considered as the spot Wood would be taking would only be available for a few weeks.
The Story: John Cafardo believes the Red Sox might be interested in Jeff Mathis or Bobby WIlson via trade.
The Monkey Says: These kind of rumors are going to be thrown out there over the next week or two, but I really don’t see the Angels breaking up their trio catchers right now. They seem perfectly content to give Conger a few more months in the minors while Mathis and Wilson duke it out for playing time in the majors. Maybe they’ll reconsider trading one of the two veterans away at mid-season, but moving one now seems fairly premature.
The Story: Mike Scioscia loves Peter Bourjos’ speed and envisions him batting leadoff someday.
The Monkey Says: Speed is great and all, but a great leadoff man it doesn’t necessarily make. Bourjos really doesn’t walk very much and swings and missed quite a bit, so he should stay in ninth until he fixes one or both of those problems.
The Story: Maicer Izturis is looking forward to the challenge of batting leadoff.
The Monkey Says: I think Izzy could be half decent in the role, I just wish I had more confidence in him being able to stay healthy enough to hit their everyday.
The Story: The Angels are getting back to their old model of offense in order to return to the post-season.
The Monkey Says: The approach seems a bit antiquated to some since it isn’t sabermetric-friendly, but it really is the best strategy for the Angels’ roster as it stands right now. They tried to force themselves into being a power and patience team last year despite not really having a roster suited for it last year and we all saw how it worked out. This team may not win the division, but at least they’ll have an identity.