The October 10th, 2011 edition of daily news for the LA Angels including Abe Flores fired, Lyle Spencer blames the fans for Mathis’ inability to hit, previewing 2012 prospect sleepers and much more…
The Story: The Angels have fired director of player development Abe Flores.
The Monkey Says: The heads continue to roll. Flores had been director of player development since his predecessor Tony Reagins was promoted to GM. I know that Gary DiSarcina and Tory Hernandez continue to be mentioned as potential candidates, but that looks less and less likely as the team continues to divest themselves of the other remaining members of the front office.
The Monkey Says: I’m going to take the high road and simply say that I hope Spencer gets a chance to prove his case this off-season if/when the Angels non-tender Jeff Mathis.
The Story: Ten sleeper prospects for the Angels in 2012.
The Monkey Says: A few of these guys actually have a shot at breaking camp with Angels this spring, but it would be a longshot, especially since the prospect pecking order could see a modest shake up once the new front office structure gets installed.
The Story: Abe Flores was offered a scouting position by the Angels after he was let go as farm director.
The Monkey Says: Flores basically confirms that he was moved aside to make way for the new GM to pick his own staff, but there must not be any hard feelings if they were willing to keep him on board in a lesser position. For the record, it doesn’t sound like Flores has turned the offer down yet.
The Story: The Angels are suing a small Australian maternity clothing shop for trademark infringement.
The Monkey Says: This is bizarre. I don’t even know why they think they have a trademark worth protecting in Australia. I actually lived in Brisbane for several months back in 2002 and literally NOBODY knew what the hell my Angels hat was supposed to be.
The Story: An R.I.P. for the Angels’ 2011 season.
The Monkey Says: This post puts forward an interesting theory that maybe the Angels just need to “tread water” in 2012 so that they can load up for a more substantial run in 2013 and beyond. The fans wouldn’t like it very much, but ir wouldn’t shock me if a new GM opted for that route. They will have lots of key free agents after the 2012 season, like Howie Kendrick, Torii Hunter and Erick Aybar, but it might be the best way for a new general manager to come in, evaluate the team in 2012 and then move in earnest after the season to put together the roster that he prefers.