The July 22nd, 2011 edition of daily news for the LA Angels including Fernando Rodney activated from the DL, the Halos scout Japanese sensation Yu Darvish, Adrian Beltre owns Dan Haren and much more…
The Story: The Angels have activated Fernando Rodney from the DL and optioned Trevor Bell back to Salt Lake.
The Monkey Says: The fact that getting Fraudney back is actually something that I am mildly excited about should tell you just how pitiful that other right-handed middle relievers have been for the Angels this season.
The Story: Japanese pitcher Yu Darvish was scouted by the Angels recently.
The Monkey Says: A few years ago, Darvish was seen as an emerging star out of Japan, but he decided to stay in there rather than come to MLB. In those years his stock has dropped a little bit, but I would guess almost every single team will scout him at some point since it sounds like he could finally make the jump in the next year or two
The Story: Adrian Beltre owns Dan Haren.
The Monkey Says: This isn’t really a news story, but it is astonishing to see just how hard Beltre has managed to hit a top flight pitcher like Haren so well over so many at-bats.
The Monkey Says: Catcher defense is very hard to quantify, but BtB has made the best attempt at it, so these carry a fair amount of weight. To save you some scrolling, Mathis comes in at #84 out of 94 catchers. If he finishes the year like this, it will mark the third straight season (and I believe BtB has only produced these for three seasons) that Mathis has rated well below average. One thing to consider though is that the ratings don’t factor in anything like game-calling or handling pitches, though many argue those facets of the game have little to no impact. Also, since I know you are wondering, Hank Conger trails Mathis at 90th and Bobby Wilson checks in at 62nd. But if you really want to swallow your tongue, look at #16 and you will see a familiar name that rhymes with Bike Bapoli.
The Story: Elvis Andrus admires the way Erick Aybar plays.
The Monkey Says: What? No! This is supposed to be a rivalry. I will have none of this ridiculous mutual admiration and respect nonsense.
The Story: Juicy Angel trade rumors that never came true.
The Monkey Says: Oh, all those times we could have traded Brandon Wood, it just makes me so sad.