The April 2nd, 2012 edition of daily news for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim including Abreu trade died over money, Jason Isringhausen was given a spot in the Angel bullpen, Kendrys Morales will not be limited on the basepaths and much more…
The Monkey Says: Dipoto: How about $1 million? Antonetti: No. Dipoto: $100,000 maybe? Antonetti: Not a chance. Dipoto: OK, fine, $500? Antonetti: I’m about to hang up on you. Dipoto: Alright, final offer $1? Antonetti: Hmm… can’t do it. Dipoto: I completely understand.
The Story: Jason Isringhausen was added to the 40-man roster, assuring him of a spot in the Angel bullpen.
The Monkey Says: Izzy got all his mechanics figured out just in time to win the roster spot. He was going to retire if the Angels had opted to release him instead.
The Story: The Angels will not limit Kendrys Morales on the basepaths.
The Monkey Says: Ebel nailed the reason for this saying that he is probably more likely to get Kendrys hurt if he has to treat him differently than the other runners. Also, Kendrys is insanely slow, so I don’t think he will have too many tough decisions on the basepaths anyway.
The Monkey Says: Jepsen is back, but we don’t know for how long. The Angels have not yet made it clear whether or not they will still carry seven relievers once they add a fifth starter to the rotation.
The Monkey Says: Garrett Richards has been optioned to Triple-A, but that is just housekeeping. However, I’m not buying this. Williams is out of options and the Angels are not going to waive him until they give him a chance to pitch in the majors again since he really didn’t do anything to cost him his job other than getting hurt. Richards had a strong spring, but dumping Williams isn’t worth it at this point.
The Story: Mike Trout has been optioned to Triple-A.
The Monkey Says: This is the best thing to happen to Salt Lake City since… I can’t think of anything to say here that isn’t going to offend Mormons. Moving on.
The Story: Bobby Abreu’s situation is no different than yours because pretty much all of our jobs suck.
The Monkey Says: Wonderful points all. I, however, reject them all because I crossed the point of no return on Abreu a long time ago.
The Story: A look back at Albert Pujols’ beginnings in the Dominican Republic.
The Monkey Says: Wait… Pujols began as a shortstop? Trade Aybar now and move Albert to short! All our problems are solved.
The Story: Nick Cafardo ranks Mike Scioscia as the third-best manager in baseball.
The Monkey Says: I wasn’t sure about Scioscia for all these years, but now that Cafardo has signed off on Sosh, I think we might want to keep him around.
The Monkey Says: That sounds backwards, but it isn’t. Wilson may have a lot of other interests, but he is a guy who pursues knowledge in all areas, especially baseball.
The Monkey Says: He’s not going to get it. His agent has been talking to the front office for weeks and even months now but they never got close. He’s going to hit the open market and someone else is going to overpay him.
The Story: Kevin Goldstein previews the AL West prospects.
The Monkey Says: He believes fans are too excited about Garrett Richards, but he has ranked Richards lower than any other prospect outlet by a good bit. His assumption that his inability to wrest control of the fifth starter spot is some sort of red flag seems flimsy to me since it seems, to me at least, like he would clearly win the job if not for Williams being out of options.