The March 20th, 2012 edition of daily news for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim including Napoli upset with C.J. Wilson over phone number prank, Kendrys Morales exited his minor league rehab stint early with shin soreness, Bobby Abreu intends to play three more years and much more…
The Monkey Says: Throw a little gasoline on the rivalry fire. Napoli lashed out pretty severely here, claiming that he and Wilson aren’t close and haven’t talked at all since the 2011 season ended. Considering that, Wilson is catching a fair amount of flack, probably a little too much so. My sense here is that this is not a malicious act by C.J., but rather another failed attempt at being funny in the public spotlight, much like his lame “b-boy” Funny or Die video from a few weeks ago. What is truly funny is that MLB recently announced its new social media policy and divulging Napoli’s personal contact information may very well have violated that.
The Story: Kendrys Morales exited his minor league rehab stint early with shin soreness.
The Monkey Says: Kendrys says he will be good to go for his planned return to major league games today, but it is possible that he could be given the day off instead if he is still dealing with the soreness. This kind of thing is probably going to continue to happen to Morales over the next few weeks or even months as his lower body gets used to all this physical activity once again.
The Story: Bobby Abreu intends to play three more years, including this season.
The Monkey Says: If he had any less self-awareness, he’d be a Will Ferrell character. With the way he finished last season and is now continuing to play this spring, Bobby isn’t even assured of still being a major leaguer by the end of this season. Even if he does perform decently, he is going to have a hard time when he hits the open market this winter. Just ask Vlad Guerrero, Magglio Ordonez and Johnny Damon how much demand there is for their services.
The Story: The Angels are still not close on an extension for Erick Aybar.
The Monkey Says: Multiple sources have reported that a little bit of progress is being made, but it obviously isn’t much since those same sources also confirm that the two sides are pretty far apart. It really doesn’t seem like this thing is going to get done.
The Story: Outfield prospect Jeremy Moore looks to be headed for major hip surgery.
The Monkey Says: Moore entered the spring as a candidate for a bench job with the big league club, but now he is going to be out three-to-five months. This could be a killer for Moore’s career because he is still very raw and has a lot of learning to do. If he misses the entire season, he is going to have a hard time catching up enough to challenge for a job in the majors in 2013.
The Monkey Says: Oh, the gamesmanship! If only major league teams had scouts and video cameras they could use to get an accurate scouting report on a pitcher.
The Story: Starting rotation candidate Eric Hurley has been through a lot.
The Monkey Says: This guy is an orthopedic surgeon’s dream come true with all the injuries he has suffered in the last few years. You have to admire his determination, but he is not going to win the fifth starter job. The best he can hope for is impressing the organization while pitching in Salt Lake and earning a mid-season call-up.
The Story: Comparing all the rotation in the American League.
The Monkey Says: The first table of WARP totals is great. It really shows just how devastating the top four Angel starters can be. Seeing how much it drops off after that really does make me pine for the idea of the Halos to bring in a more established fifth starter. But the more I think about it, the more I realize that I am just being greedy.
The Story: A look at the potential trade market for Alberto Callaspo.
The Monkey Says: Don’t expect this to go away, especially with the rash of injuries to infielders on other teams of late. I can’t imagine that the Halos are eager to part with Callaspo yet since Mark Trumbo still is very much a work in progress at the hot corner and Maicer Izturis is doing his Mr. Glass thing again. If they do decide to move Callaspo, reports out of Oakland continue to suggest that the A’s have a hard-on for Beto, so it shouldn’t take too much effort to find landing spot for him.