Daily Links for the LA Angels including Angel frustrations boiling over, Kazmir has another wild outing in minor league rehab, Pirates rumored to have interest in trading for an Angel catcher and much more…
The Story: Mike Scioscia’s frustrations boiled over after Wednesday’s loss.
The Monkey Says: None of the quotes are actually all that eye-catching, but supposedly you “had to be there” to get the true sense of ire in Scioscia’s voice. The question is what is he going to do about it besides spouting more cliche-riddled rhetoric?
The Story: Scioscia addresses the Angel offensive frustrations once again.
The Monkey Says: New quotes, but made a day later and dripping with the same ire. It sounds as if Sosh is planning on doubling down on baserunning and situational hitting, which is being made in response to the team’s lack of power, but the problem with this strategy is that their situational hitting blows goats right now. In fact, one could argue that this has been the offensive philosophy all season long, so I really don’t see how anything is going to change outside of a few extra stolen base attempts.
The Story: Scott Kazmir has another wild outing in his Triple-A rehab.
The Monkey Says: Doesn’t sound like a disastrous start, but it definitely wasn’t a good one either. Once again, he couldn’t spot his fastball and it sounds like the 92 MPH he was supposedly throwing in his last outing has disappeared. The article says his changeup looks good, but there is still no mention of his slider, so it really doesn’t sound like Kaz is anywhere close to being a major league level pitcher again.
The Story: The Pirates are the latest team linked to trade rumors for the Angels’ excess catchers.
The Monkey Says: The Bucs aren’t really a playoff team, so I imagine they’d be looking for someone with upside and a few years of team control left, which makes me think Bobby Wilson could pique their interest.
The Monkey Says: Wow, maybe I am just out of the loop here, but I had no idea that Lodge’s kid was draft worthy or that Grich is sticking it to Lodge’s ex. Scandalous!
The Story: Jordan Walden credits a fixed arm slot for his better control of late.
The Monkey Says: That sounds awesome. I just hope we actually get to see Walden in a save situation some time before the end of the month.
The Story: The Angels’ Triple-A roster lacks productive hitters that aren’t just minor league journeymen.
The Monkey Says: In other words, don’t expect any offensive help not named Trout to be coming up from the minors to help save the Halos.