The March 27th, 2012 edition of daily news for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim including Jerome Williams returns to action, Kendrys Morales is on track to make the Opening Day roster, Angels might have no other choice than to release Abreu and much more…
The Story: Jerome Williams returned to action with a sharp outing in a Triple-A game.
The Monkey Says: Don’t let the story fool you, Williams will be the fifth starter. He is out of options and the Angels aren’t going to let him go without giving him another run in the majors first. At worst, he’ll start the season on the DL and miss the first scheduled turn for the fifth starter, but that seems unlikely now that he is already pitching again. As I mentioned yesterday, they could always just plan ahead and have Williams go 75 pitches in his regular season debut with a longman ready to go thanks to them carrying an extra reliever.
The Story: Kendrys Morales is on track to make the Opening Day roster assuming he suffers no setbacks.
The Monkey Says: I think we all pretty much assumed this would be the case, but this was the first mention I’ve seen of the Angels possibly keeping him in extended spring training. He’d have to suffer some kind of setback for that to happen since he is performing well right now and looking for comfortable on the basepaths.
The Story: The Angels might have no other choice than to release Bobby Abreu.
The Monkey Says: Nothing new here other than the suggestion that the Yankees might still have interest in Abreu. I just want to keep linking to stories about Abreu being a delusional jackass until he starts acting properly or gets run out of town on a rail.
The Monkey Says: It doesn’t look like Cassevah is going to have enough time to get ready for the season, which could wind up forcing him down into the minors for a lot longer than just a rehab stint. As for Kohn, that just sucks. He has had another strong spring and had a shot at breaking camp with the big league club, but that seems unlikely now.
The Story: Andrew Romine was sent down to the minors.
The Monkey Says: As expected, the final bench spot is coming down to Alexi Amarista, Ryan Langerhans and Jorge Cantu. I do believe that the order I just listed them in is the probable depth chart for that spot right now too. Amarista has positional flexibility and great speed to make him a capable pinch-runner. Langerhans hasn’t hit much, but he draws walks, which we know Dipoto likes. His best tool though is his fielding, but the Angels don’t have any call for a defensive replacement in the outfiled this year. As for Cantu, he’s been fine this spring, but he is highly redundant with Trumbo, Morales and Abreu all on the roster. If he is going to make the team, it is only going to be because Bobby Abreu got traded or released.
The Story: Is batting leadoff in Peter Bourjos’ future?
The Monkey Says: Scioscia has tried it before, but that doesn’t mean he should have a future at leadoff. I love Speedy Petey, but his profile is not that of a legit leadoff hitter. He has never demonstrated good control of the strike zone and swings and misses more than he should. Those are difficult abilities to develop, though it isn’t impossible as we saw with Chone Figgins. However, the bigger issue is that Mike Trout profiles as an elite leadoff hitter and the spot should probably be kept open for him as opposed to trying to shoehorn Bourjos into the role.
The Story: Mickey Hatcher thinks Vernon Wells is back “big time.”
The Monkey Says: I’ll just go ahead and leave all the obvious jokes to you all. Have at it.
The Story: Angel Stadium will begin selling craft beer this season.
The Monkey Says: It will sell for $9.50 per pint. So much for Arte Moreno keeping beer prices under control.
The Story: Dan Haren doesn’t mind not getting noticed for all the how good he really is.
The Monkey Says: Huh, imagine that. A veteran Angel player putting the team over his own personal ambition and recognition. Bobby Abreu could take some notes.
The Story: Even Chris Iannetta doesn’t know what he will do offensively this season.
The Monkey Says: Nor does Mike Scioscia, who seems to be treating him as a work in progress. This could get ugly fast.
The Story: A graphic look at the Angels window to win.
The Monkey Says: 2016 seems pretty good for the roster as currently constituted. However, they are really going to have to get serious about restocking the farm system if they want to keep the window open beyond that because Albert Pujols’ contract is going to start scaling up around that time.
The Story: Five under-the-radar Angel prospects worth monitoring.
The Monkey Says: I’m a big fan of Baker and Witherspoon, but I am very much in the camp that Reckling is a lost cause.
The Story: Is Roy Oswalt a fit for the Angels?
The Monkey Says: As a fifth starter, a lot of pitchers are fits, so Oswalt definitely qualifies. My one issue with this whole rumor is that Oswalt would sign right now. He has said he isn’t going to play until June, so there is zero reason for him to sign with anyone right now. He’ll have much more leverage in June, not to mention be in better position to hook up with a sure fire contender. As for the Angels (or any other team for that matter), there is no point in signing him until they absolutely know that they are going to need him.