The April 27th, 2012 edition of daily news for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim including Scioscia not worried about Hunter’s criticsim, history shows the Angels have a good chance at bouncing back into contention, introducing the Emo Albert Pujols face and much more…
The Monkey Says: Scioscia obviously has to downplay this, but I really doubt there is an issue. Hunter was clearly just frustrated and ran his mouth more than he should have. It is probably no coincidence that there was a players-only meeting before yesterday’s game either, which I suspect was mainly aimed at trying to clear the air with all the frustration the Angel players must be going through in the wake of this brutal stretch.
The Story: From a historical standpoint, the Angels aren’t in as big of trouble as you might think.
The Monkey Says: This makes me feel a whole lot better. I’m totally not going to swallow this fistful of pills in my hand now, maybe just six or seven.
The Story: Introducing the Emo Albert Pujols face.
The Monkey Says: Please, just make it stop. I’m just going to go crawl in a dark hole somewhere. Give me a call when the Angels are over .500 again. And in case you are wondering about the player who was anonymously complaining about the “Scioscia stranglehold,” I’ll give you three guesses and the one’s that aren’t Bobby Abreu don’t count.
The Story: Maybe Mike Scioscia should just try lightening up?
The Monkey Says: Amazingly, somewhere in this pile of steaming Simers-dung, he actually makes a valid point, that Scioscia actually could stand to lighten up. This team looks like they are in the midst of the Bataan Death March.
The Story: Mark Trumbo might be the key to the Angels turnaround.
The Monkey Says: That’s not true at all. Trumbo needs to be playing almost everyday, there is no doubt about that, but the turnaround is only going to happen when Pujols starts playing like his old self and other underachievers, like… everyone else, start playing up their ability as well.
The Story: Could Mike Trout be the spark the Angels need?
The Monkey Says: Trout definitely has the ability to be the lineup catalyst they need, but now is not the time. I was on the fence about this up until recently, but Rob McMillin at the 6-4-2 blog made the great point that it is completely unfair to call up Trout and put him in the position where he has to be the team’s savior. If there is a good way to ruin a top-tier prospect, it is to saddle him with an unreal amount of pressure to perform at All-Star level right away. I do believe Trout could be up by the end of May, but it shouldn’t be until the team has righted the ship or at least started to.