Daily Links for the LA Angels including Garret Anderson retires, Locker says he won’t play baseball, Morales’ rehab on hold because of the flu and much more…
The Story: Garret Anderson officially announced his retirement yesterday.
The Monkey Says: GA, humble as ever, admits that the decision was more made by the 30 MLB teams who had no interest in signing him. His Angel career ended a few years ago, but now that he is officially done with baseball, he will certainly go down in history as one of the best Angels of all time, no matter what your personal feelings about him are.
The Story: Anderson apologized to fans in his retirement press release.
The Monkey Says: That is just so rare to see. Anderson, often criticized for his lack of passion, was clearly aware of how he was perceived publicly and it certainly seemed to stick with him as he rode off into the sunset. I was definitely one of the fans that didn’t care for GA’s lackadaisical attitude, but seeing how such a perception affected Anderson, I think this is something worth exploring, which I will later today.
The Story: Jake Locker has no intention of playing baseball right now.
The Monkey Says: This isn’t a surprise, but Locker even states that he won’t play baseball in the event of a NFL lockout. That is an interesting tidbit because Tony Reagins has intimated that Locker’s contract has clauses that mandate he play some baseball during a lockout.
The Story: Kendry Morales is putting his rehab on hold due to the flu.
The Monkey Says: Normally, this wouldn’t be a big deal, but every day that Kendry misses costs him recovery time which means he will have to spend more time DHing or sitting games out when the regular season starts. Someone get that man some chicken soup, STAT!
The Story: Brandon Wood says he is confident, relaxed and more mature this year.
The Monkey Says: Wood is saying it, I just hope he believes it. I am probably Wood’s biggest critic, but I fully believe that 90% of his problems last season were mental, so if he can enter the season with a clear head and not pressure himself to perform, he might actually not suck this season, which would be nice.
The Story: Jered Weaver is focusing on developing his cut fastball and not worrying about strikeouts.
The Monkey Says: Weaver was trying to be diplomatic and not rag on last year’s poor outfield defense, but you can read between the lines and see he was pitching to generate whiffs more last season as a result. It would be great if Weaver can keep missing bats, but I like that he isn’t falling in love with being the reigning king of Ks. An improved cut fastball should also help mitigate his biggest weakness of being an extreme flyball pitcher.
The Story: Jason Bulger is fully healthy and ready to go this year.
The Monkey Says: I really hope that is true because Bulger can be a real weapon in middle relief, when healthy. If he shows any signs of recapturing his 2009 form, Bulger, who is out of options, should be able to lock up one of the final bullpen spots.
The Story: Peter Bourjos is working on his bunting skills in training camp.
The Monkey Says: That may seem inconsequential, but with his speed, Bourjos could use the bunt as a real weapon. The threat of a bunt from Bourjos will leave opposing third basemen in a bad position as they must decide whether or not to play in to protect against the bunt, or, since Bourjos also has good power, stay back so that he doesn’t rip a liner down the line for extra bases.