The March 9th, 2012 edition of daily news for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim including Angels defeat the Indians 6-5, Hunter willing to take less money to stay in Anaheim, Conger still working on his throwing and much more…
The Story: The Angels returned to the win column with a 6-5 victory over the Indians.
The Monkey Says: Dan Haren and Hisanori Takahashi were both sharp while Rich Thompson and Matt Meyer both got roughed up. On the offensive side, it was Alexi Amarista having a big day.
The Story: Torii Hunter is willing to take less money to return to the Angels next season.
The Monkey Says: That’s great and all, but it probably won’t happen. We all know Mike Trout is poised to take over his spot in the outfield, making Hunter the odd man out. I suppose it is possible that if Vernon Wells ends up getting released this season then Trout could take over his spot, but it is also possible that the Halos would just use Trumbo in the outfield too.
The Story: Hank Conger is still working on his throwing in hopes of proving himself defensively.
The Monkey Says: Interestingly, Hank is only one of three Angels to appear in all four pre-season games thus far. Only twice has he actually played at catcher, but still, it appears that Mike Scioscia is going to take a long hard look as the back-up catcher.
The Story: The Angels bullpen could be the key to their success.
The Monkey Says: Key to success? No. That would be Pujols and maybe Morales too. What the bullpen could be is their Achilles heel. With the rotation the Halos have, they just need the relief corps to be decent, not great. However, if the bullpen turns back into the blowpen, they’ll be in trouble.
The Story: Vernon Wells is hoping for a new start this year.
The Monkey Says: He isn’t going to get it. Part of the reason he struggled last season is because the fans were riding him so hard, so he tried harder to hit homers. This year, the fans are only going to be more cruel and have even less patience for him. The only way he gets past that is if he goes all Bobby Rayburn in The Fan and just stops caring, which I don’t think is actually in Vernon’s DNA. Basically, he’s screwed.
The Monkey Says: Shoemaker isn’t going to win the spot. Nothing personal, he just isn’t. His stuff isn’t anything special, but he was very effective in Double-A last season. What Shoemaker can do is set himself up to be considered for a mid-season call up. It sounds like he is catching Scioscia’s eye so far, so that is definitely a good start, but mastering the high altitude of Salt Lake will be the true test.
The Story: The Angels placed 25th in Fangraphs third base positional power rankings.
The Monkey Says: That seems a bit low and I think it is largely because of the presumption that Mark Trumbo is the starter when it is really Alberto Callaspo. Whatever the case, I have a hard time believing the Trumbo-Callaspo-Izturis hot corner trio isn’t better than Juan Uribe or Danny Valencia.
The Story: LAAI’s Ricardo Marquez is going to the MLB Fan Cave!
The Monkey Says: Congrats, Ricky! It is going to be great to have an Angel fan representing. Please try not to get kicked.
The Story: Five “jokes” about the LA Angels, as written by a Ranger fan.
The Monkey Says: This is the worst thing you will read on the internet all day. Almost all of the jokes are based completely around just the last two years. My favorite is the one where he mocks the Angels for folding down the stretch even though he completely ignores the fact that the Rangers are a team that just lost a World Series despite twice being one strike away from clinching it.