The September 15th, 2011 edition of daily news for the LA Angels including Rodney gripes about his role, the 2012 schedule is unveiled, Scioscia wants schedule reform and divisional realignment and much more…
The Story: Fernando Rodney is complaining about his role in the bullpen.
The Monkey Says: A general rule of thumb should be that if you can’t get anyone out or throw a strike, then you should probably shut up. The closest thing to a legitimate gripe that Fraudney has is him losing his closer job just a few days into the season, but even that is a thin argument because he never should have been the closer to start with. I’m sure he is very frustrated, but he is doing himself no favors with potential future employers by bitching about his role. Missing the strike zone by three feet probably doesn’t help either.
The Story: Check out the schedule for the Angels’ 2012 season.
The Monkey Says: I’m not going to bother with analyzing the schedule because I really don’t think it makes that big of a difference in the long run. The only issue I really care about is interleague match-ups since that is where the most glaring inequities can appear. Next year, the Halos draw the NL West which works out pretty well. The only real difference that the Angels have is that they get the Dodgers for sure while Texas avoids the Dodgers and faces the lowly Astros instead.
The Story: Mike Scioscia wants to see schedule reform and realignment.
The Monkey Says: I thought for sure this was going to be a “whiny old man” laundry list of complaints from Scioscia, but it turns out he is spot on. It is rather ridiculous that they have to play AL East teams in the final month of the season and having a fifth AL West team could help alleviate that. However, I still personally think that the league would be better off by scrapping the unbalanced schedule altogether as it makes the Wild Card races unfair comparisons in a lot of seasons.
The Story: Aramis Ramirez could be a great fit for the Angels this off-season.
The Monkey Says: The claim that the Angels aren’t desperate at third is accurate, but they are desperate for more offensive firepower and third base is one of the places they can most easily upgrade. I’d rather see the Halos land a left-handed power hitter, but that won’t be easy to find and fit into the Angels’ roster and payroll, so Ramirez would be a logical target.
The Story: Tyler Chatwood is excited at his recent addition of a cut fastball to his repertoire.
The Monkey Says: Adding a cutter seems to be the fallback plan for any pitcher who is struggling these days. It certainly couldn’t hurt with Chatwood since his normal fastball doesn’t seem to have enough movement on it. A cutter can also help him potentially be less vulnerable to lefties, so it certainly won’t hurt for him to have it in his arsenal.
The Monkey Says: What? Torii Hunter is a great guy? Why has nobody mentioned this before? I demand an investigation!
The Story: A look ahead at the Angels’ potential arbitration cases this off-season.
The Monkey Says: This finally seems to be a potentially drama-free arbitration season for the Angels, assuming they can find a happy medium with Howie Kendrick, who looks to be the only guy set up for a major raise. The other interesting case will, of course, be whether or not they finally non-tender Jeff Mathis. Everyone seems to be assuming they will, but I won’t believe it until I see it.
The Story: The Angels should move Haren and Santana up to work on short rest too.
The Monkey Says: I disagree. That move doesn’t seem that beneficial to me since it basically eliminates one Pineiro start but creates one additional Jerome Williams start, which would be on the last day of the season. For me, that doesn’t make up for having the top three Angel starters all being taxed the rest of the way. What I would rather see is the Angels stick with the plan of having Weaver start on short rest on Sunday and keep Haren and Santana on a normal schedule. But for Williams and, in particular, Pineiro, keep them on VERY short leashes and lift them as early as necessary to go to the pen.
The Story: Jerome Williams talks about how he is evolving as a pitcher.
The Monkey Says: Like I said, a cutter fixes everything.
The Story: Several Angels have surpassed or are about to set new career-highs.
The Monkey Says: How is it Aybar is approaching so many career-highs yet I feel like he is actually having a rough season?