The September 19th, 2011 edition of daily news for the LA Angels including Reynolds thinks Santana threw at him intentionally, Wells won’t opt out of his contract, Weaver losing velocity over the course of the season and much more…
The Story: The Orioles believe Ervin Santana intentionally hit him on Saturday.
The Monkey Says: I ranted about this in the game recap last night, so I will simply add one point here, that being that YOU ARE ON THE ORIOLES! You aren’t good enough or relevant enough for anyone to want to hit you on purpose. Dick.
The Story: Vernon Wells says he won’t opt out of his contract this off-season.
The Monkey Says: Not that anyone expected him to leave $60 million on the table out of some weird since of morality since he stinks now.
The Story: Jered Weaver has seen his velocity steadily diminish over the course of the season.
The Monkey Says: That is certainly concerning, but he still remains effective. What I wonder though is if he might have faced the same pattern in previous seasons. I don’t believe he has, but I can’t find monthly velocity myself right now. Either way, it will be interesting to monitor next season as there might be some kind of lasting effects of this heavy workload.
The Story: Mike Trout is sore after fouling a ball off his calf on Saturday.
The Monkey Says: With tough lefty Ricky Romero on the mound today, Trout should be in the lineup, but he might not be if this calf injury is still bothering him. It might not matter though as Romero has generally dominated the Halos every time he has faced them.
The Story: Torii Hunter helped dedicate a batting cage to Nick Adenhart at St. Frances Academy in Baltimore.
The Monkey Says: Does it strike anyone else as ironic to dedicate a batting cage to the memory of a pitcher?
The Story: The Angels reportedly scouted Japanese pitcher Tsuyoshi Wada.
The Monkey Says: The ANgels have been scouting a few Japanese pitchers this year, so it could be that they plan to try their hand in the Far East this off-season. It might also simply be them doing their due diligence.
The Story: Revisiting the Wells-Napoli trade.
The Monkey Says: What bothers me more and more about this deal is that the Angels actually had to give up any talent in the first place. I know that part of that was to reduce their salary obligations this year, but they easily could’ve found a taker for Napoli on some other team.
The Story: Mike Napoli is turning the tables on the AL West.
The Monkey Says: Napoli’s season continues to amaze me. I had assumed that he was just taking advantage of the friendly confines of Arlington, but his home-road splits are almost identical. The man is just a hitting machine. I know he never would’ve gotten a shot to play so much in Anaheim, but it drives me crazy that they gave him away. I still don’t know if Napoli can replicate this kind of success going forward, but either way, this is looking like one mistake Tony Reagins may never live down.