The February 16th, 2012 edition of daily news for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim including 19 Angels spring training games will be televised on Fox Sports West and Prime Ticket, FOX to nationally televise the Halos eight times, Angels prospect rankings from averaging all available prospect lists and much more…
The Story: Nineteen Angels spring training games will be televised on Fox Sports West and Prime Ticket.
The Monkey Says: That’s the most ever, I believe. What I am sure of is that my DVR is going to fill up pretty quickly March.
The Story: The Angels will be televised on the FOX Saturday baseball schedule eight times.
The Monkey Says: That’s one less than the maximum allowed, which frees them up to be televised when they face the Rangers in what could be a key divisional match-up during the final month of the season.
The Story: The top 20 Angels prospects based on the compiled rankings from all internet sources.
The Monkey Says: I really hope that the averaged rankings were heavily weighted towards the real experts because I feel weird having my prospect rankings included with the likes of Keith Law and Kevin Goldstein.
The Monkey Says: Williams, Thompson and Wilson are the only ones even near the roster bubble, but it seems unlikely that any of them will be forced off the roster, barring Hank Conger unexpectedly beating out Wilson for the back-up catcher job.
The Monkey Says: That’s interesting, a potential bummer but also probably an aberration based on other random circumstances. Still, given the overall overhaul of the Angels batting order, I don’t see any way they can end up scoring fewer runs in 2012 than they did in 2011.
The Story: What to expect from the top Angels prospects in 2012.
The Monkey Says: The only one I grossly disagree with is Trevor Reckling. I know everyone had high hopes for him once upon a time, but I think he is going to move to Triple-A and slam up against his ceiling once again. He’s a great kid and all, but I think it is pretty telling that any team could’ve rolled the dice on a former top 100 prospect in the Rule V draft this winter and not one team took that chance.
The Story: How will the new Angels help in 2012?
The Monkey Says: Consider this: Pujols is functionally replacing Bobby Abreu, Wilson is replacing Pineiro, Hawkins is replacing Rodney and Iannetta is replacing Mathis. Those are all guaranteed upgrades so long as there aren’t any major injuries. And all it cost was over one-third of a billion dollars.
A NOTE FROM THE MONKEY: Just a reminder, we are looking to expand the MWAH writing staff. Check this out if you are even remotely interested or know somebody who might be.