The June 8th, 2012 edition of daily news for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim including Iannetta to begin a rehab stint this weekend, Trumbo unlikely to play third base again in the near future, Downs making a case for the All-Star team and much more…
The Story: Chris Iannetta is going to start a rehab stint with the Inland Empire 66ers this weekend.
The Monkey Says: That BP session must’ve gone well. If the Angels are true to form, Iannetta will likely play two or three games with the 66ers this weekend and then move to Salt Lake for a few games, putting him on schedule to be activated from the DL some time next weekend when they return home. When that happens, it will be interesting to see if the Halos keep Hank Conger on the roster as a reserve who could potentially share time with Iannetta or send him back down so he can keep refining his defensive skills. Hopefully it is the former, but that may only last so long because they will have to make another tougher decision whenever Bobby Wilson, who is out of options, recovers from his concussion.
The Monkey Says: I still think it is something worth trying, but as I said before the season, his slow recovery from a fractured foot gave him no time to learn the position. I wouldn’t be shocked if he makes a handful more starts at the hot corner this season, but the Angels are playing better right now and Trumbo is crushing the ball, so I don’t blame Scioscia for not wanting to mess around with that experiment at this point.
The Monkey Says: I think he has a real shot at it since he has picked up a few saves as the part-time closer, which is actually a stupid reason for him to get picked, then again, the All-Star Game is kind of stupid too. The point is Downs has been tremendous and deserves recognition no matter what his role in the bullpen is. I hope he gets in if only as a tip of the cap to a guy who has very quietly been one of the most effective relievers in all of baseball for the last five years. In fact, since he 2007, only 11 relievers in all of baseball have a higher fWAR over that time span than Downs. Almost all of them are what one would consider elite closers.
The Monkey Says: Good for them, but the real reason I link to this is because I know some of you out there want to flip threw the photo slideshow to see what the wife or girlfriend of your favorite Angel looks like.
The Story: The budding rivalry between Mike Trout and Bryce Harper.
The Monkey Says: Thanks to both of them breaking through at extremely young ages at the same time, they will be compared to each other forever. What stinks is that they are seldom ever going to play against each other… at least until Harper fulfills his destiny and signs with the Yankees in six years.