The November 29th, 2011 edition of daily news for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim including Angels talk Guthrie trade with Baltimore, have “serious” interest in Aramis Ramirez, show interest in Iannetta and much more…

The Story: The Angels have reportedly discussed a potential trade for Jeremy Guthrie with the Orioles recently.

The Monkey Says: As I said yesterday, any of this stuff is really just Dipoto doing homework to see who is available and what the potential price is.  Guthrie has seemingly been on the trade block in Baltimore for years, but they’ve never let him go.  If the O’s are serious about moving him this time, the Halos probably aren’t overly interested since they have a number of other options in free agency to pursue before they would get to a pitcher of his level.


The Story: The agent for Aramis Ramirez says the Angels are one of four or five teams with “serious” interest in his client.

The Monkey Says: Which is exactly what you expect an agent to say, especially when few other big payroll clubs have expressed an open interest in your client.  This one doesn’t even make much sense though since Jerry Dipoto said in no uncertain terms a few weeks ago that he was not going to pursue Ramirez.  This would seem to be a classic case of an agent claiming a team is interested in a guy for the sole purpose of driving up his price.  Move along, folks.  Nothing to see here other than an agent his is completely full of crap.


The Story: The Halos have also reportedly inquired about the Rockies’ Chris Iannetta.

The Monkey Says: Yet another catcher the Angels have checked in on.  I very much like the idea of Iannetta since he has power and patience, even if he will likely post a Mathis-like average.  Still, just chalk this rumor up to Dipoto turning over every stone to see what he can do to upgrade the team’s catcher situation.


The Story: The Angels supposedly have been connected to David Ortiz as a free agent target.

The Monkey Says: OK, not this is just getting stupid.  This post fails to cite where it was exactly that the Angels were “connected” to Ortiz.  That’s probably because THEY AREN’T.  Not that I am the end all, be all of Angels news, but I scour every outlet for news on them on a daily basis for these Halo Headlines and I have not seen one single outlet even suggest that the Angels ever expressed any interest in Ortiz.  Why in the world would the Halos want anything to do with Ortiz when they already have a giant logjam at the DH spot?  And seeing how the butthead who wrote the post still refers to the Angels as the Anaheim Angels, I don’t think she is to be trusted.


The Story: The Angel players get $10,862 each for finishing second in the AL West last season.

The Monkey Says: I never knew that non-playoff teams got any money from the playoff shares.  That seems really weird, you know, because they didn’t make the playoffs.  One would think that is a basic requirement for getting playoff shares.


The Story: Mark Trumbo could project to be the next Matt Williams or Jose Lopez.

The Monkey Says: Trumbo’s comparisons are all over the map now.  I think it is pretty safe to say that nobody really knows how he is going to turnout in the long run, which to me is all the more reason for the Angels to trade him.