The January 11th, 2012 edition of daily news for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim including details of Kendrick’s contract released, Angels likely done shopping, Morales running under his own power and much more…
The Story: The details of Howie Kendrick’s new contract have been released.
The Monkey Says: I love how it took a few weeks for the details in Pujols’ contract to get released, but it only took a few days for Kendrick’s to get leaked. Clearly, his contract isn’t as complicated and he was even nice enough to take a lesser amount this season to help keep payroll down. As such, it looks like the Halos are going to be able keep payroll right around $150 million, which is kind of surprising given how much they’ve done this off-season.
The Story: The Angels are likely done shopping, though they still want to add more bullpen help.
The Monkey Says: Dipoto is referring to significant additions and given that Ryan Madson just signed with the Reds, I think that is definitely going to be the case now. I’m glad that he still realizes that the bullpen needs help, but he has been saying that since he got hired and still hasn’t done very much about it.
The Story: Kendrys Morales is now running under his own power.
The Monkey Says: I think this was reported earlier, but it is making the rounds again, so I am posting again (maybe) just to make sure. What is important to note is that the Angels are adamantly refusing to put a timetable on any of his recovery. I wouldn’t read too much into though other than the Halos have clearly learned their lesson when it comes to expecting anything out of Morales.
The Story: Signing an extension with the Angels was all about loyalty (and warm weather) for Howie Kendrick.
The Monkey Says: This quote says it all, “The fan base, the city, the weather, it’s all great. There’s other teams that win, too, but we win in 70 degree weather.”
The Story: Is Erick Aybar up next for a contract extension?
The Monkey Says: Dipoto is playing coy about the status of such a deal, but that just seems to be standard operating procedure. It is nice to see that Howie is in his ear about trying to convince him to stay long-term though. I think a four-year, $28 million deal sounds about right for Aybar, but I don’t know if he has a bigger figure in mind.
The Story: The Angels have never fared well in Hall of Fame voting.
The Monkey Says: I don’t know when anyone is ever going to go in as an Angel. Vladimir Guerrero is the best bet as he should get in, but I think it is 50/50 whether he goes in as an Angel or an Expo. After that, I think K-Rod should at least survive the 5% cut off and has a reasonable chance of actually making it in, but a lot of that depends on how voters feel about reliever and the save stat by the time he becomes HoF eligible.