The July 11th, 2011 edition of daily news for the LA Angels including Weaver named the AL All-Star starter, Hunter and Abreu praise Derek Jeter, more Mike Trout links than I know what to do with and much more…
The Story: Jered Weaver has been named the starting pitcher for the American League All-Star team.
The Monkey Says: Weaver more than deserves the honor and arguably would have been named the starter anyway, even if half the AL pitchers didn’t drop out. Up next for Weaver is continuing his torrid season and earning himself the AL Cy Young (note to self: hire someone to break Justin Verlander’s arm).
The Story: Hunter and Abreu praise Derek Jeter after he got his 3,000th career hit.
The Monkey Says: Just in case you didn’t already have an assful of Jeter-stroking over the weekend.
The Monkey Says: This was obviously huge news on Friday morning and I couldn’t get to it until now. There was some critics who said the Halos shouldn’t have rushed him up, but given that it is CLEARLY a short-term promotion, I think it was a great way to let Trout get his feet wet. Also, don’t worry about Chatwood being demoted, he’ll be back, the team just didn’t want him to sit idle for nearly two weeks in between starts because of the break. Now, get ready for a deluge of Trout links.
The Story: The Angels made it clear that Peter Bourjos will remain the team’s starting centerfielder.
The Monkey Says: 100% the right statement to make as a pre-emptive strike against fans getting overwhelmed by Trout Fever. Trout will probably be much better than Bourjos someday, but today, Bourjos is the better player and has done more than enough to have a firm lock on a starting gig.
The Story: Mike Trout will have to force the issue if he wants to stay in the majors.
The Monkey Says: I actually don’t even think he can do enough to force the issue. Bourjos is locked in. Wells can’t be moved. The Halos won’t trade Hunter since he is the team leader. Abreu might be a candidate to be traded, but losing him hurts the team’s depth and would be a big in-season risk to take. Sorry, but Trout isn’t long for the pros… this season.
The Story: The promotion of Mike Trout shouldn’t have a major impact on his service time.
The Monkey Says: The long and short of it is that the clock has now begun ticking on Trout, but it hasn’t been accelerated either. If I understand it correctly, his service time starting now is no different than it would have been had he not been called up until the start of 2012, which is what we all expected.
The Story: What it means that Mike Trout has been promoted at such a young age.
The Monkey Says: Basically, it means he has a very good chance at being very, very good… which we already kinda knew.
The Story: Jordan Walden was named to the All-Star team to replace Mariano Rivera.
The Monkey Says: Old news, but still a surprise to me. Walden has been pretty good this year and is a dark horse for AL Rookie of the Year, but for some reason I never really considered him to be an All-Star.
The Story: Former Angels manager Dick Williams passed away at 82.
The Monkey Says: Condolences to his family.
The Story: Howie Kendrick will receive a bonus for making the All-Star team.
The Monkey Says: Why don’t I ever get $50,000 bonuses for being good at my job?