Daily Links for the LA Angels including Erstad named the head coach at Nebraska, Trout could be called up now and avoid being a Super Two, Ric Wilson discusses preparation for his first draft and much more…
The Monkey Says: My boy is all growns up. Erstad, my favorite player ever and a Nebraska alum (one of these points is pertinent to the conversation, one is not, I’ll let you decide), always seemed destined to manage at some level and it is really impressive that he was able to ascend to the top job with the Cornhuskers so quickly.
The Story: The Angels could call up Mike Trout now without risking him reaching Super Two status.
The Monkey Says: That is actually a pretty big deal, because if he qualified as a “Super Two” he could hit free agency a year early. It is kind of an academic point though as it seems unlikely that the Halos will call up Trout anytime soon, if at all, in 2011.
The Story: New Angel scouting director Ric Wilson preps for his first draft.
The Monkey Says: This will be a big draft for the Angels as Wilson is already under pressure to perform since he is replacing the well-regarded Eddie Bane. As for strategy, it sounds as if he will be similar to Bane, but wants to be more “physical” which is kind of a weird statement. It doesn’t sound like he is talking about athleticism and might be talking about focusing on power hitters, but we won’t really know what he means or if he is even being straight with the media until after the draft unfolds.
The Monkey Says: If you don’t read this whole article, you are no longer welcome at this blog. This really is tremendous work here and sheds a great deal of light on whether or not Scioscia is correct in the way he goes about deploying his catchers based on game-calling ability.
The Story: Revisiting the 2010 top 10 Angel prospects.
The Monkey Says: A few interesting nuggets here are that Fabio Martinez Mesa is having shoulder problems (boo), Jean Segura is actually doing better than we think (yay), Randal Grichuk can’t stay healthy (boo) and Trevor Reckling looks to be on his way back to being a quality prospect (yay).