The December 5th, 2011 edition of daily news for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim including reactions to the Mathis trade, Angels pursuing closer Ryan Madson, make an offer to C.J. Wilson and much more…
The Story: Lyle Spencer tries his best to hold back the tears while describing the Angels trade of Jeff Mathis.
The Monkey Says: Even in Mathis’ exit, Spencer was still trying to sell him as a quality player but nobody is buying. In fact, it was one thing for him to bicker on Twitter with fans, but he actually mixed it up with ESPN’s Keith Law as well. By all means, head to Spencer’s Twitter feed to see all the fun. Hopefully he can finally put this all to rest now and won’t just jump on some other struggling Angel to back unconditionally.
The Monkey Says: Really he just is poking fun at that the fact that any trade AA makes is generally revered as a stroke of genius. Hard to see how this could be seen as one. Mathis does have some use as a back-up catcher, so he will get some utility out of him, but seeing how Brad Mills was actually considered one of the Jays’ top 10 prospects as recently as before the 2010 season, it feels to me like he is giving up more than he had to, especially for a guy who was likely to be non-tendered otherwise.
The Story: Why Brad Mills should be your new favorite Angel.
The Monkey Says: That is more information on Mills than you probably ever cared to know.
The Story: What Angels will women swoon over now that Jeff Mathis is gone?
The Monkey Says: For what its worth, my wife had the hots for Jason Bulger for some reason. Anytime she even tried to mention that Mathis might have been cute, she was put on a five-minute timeout.
The Story: Jay Leno (but not really Jay Leno) tells Jeff Mathis jokes.
The Monkey Says: Sam Miller is really going to miss Jeff Mathis. I think all of us bloggers will, if only because he was such an easy target. At least we still have Vernon Wells.
The Story: The Angels are believed to have strong interest in Ryan Madson.
The Monkey Says: I like Madson and could get behind him as a signing, especially since he is a guy who would probably be happy as a closer or setup man. Of course, I also hate overpaying relievers, so what the Halos are offering him very much influences my opinion of such a move.
The Story: The Angels have reportedly made an offer to C.J. Wilson.
The Monkey Says: We don’t know how big the offer is, but it is good to know they’ve made one. They courted him heavily this off-season, but this is the first we have heard of them actually putting an offer in. Wilson figures to sign in the next 72 hours.
The Story:MLB rules that Mike Trout will be eligible for Rookie of the Year this season.
The Monkey Says: It was thought that Trout could be ineligible due to some bizarre technicality, but MLB seems to have realized that would be bad PR and will let Trout be eligible. The question whether or not the Angels will give him a chance to win it this year.
The Story: The best breakdown of the pluses and minuses of the Angels signing Aramis Ramirez.
The Monkey Says: Saxon nailed it. Ramirez scares me and as much as I have tried to talk myself into him at various points, there just seems to be too many red flags here.
The Story: The Angels have expressed interest in reliever Luis Ayala.
The Monkey Says: Ayala is not much more than depth, but the Angels have kicked the tires on almost every right-handed reliever with a pulse this off-season, so it shouldn’t be a surprise that they have included Ayala in their search.
The Story: Kendrys Morales is reportedly jogging again.
The Monkey Says: Morales news has been hard to come by, and I even had to dig it out of some unrelated post. I don’t know where on the schedule jobbing is for Kendrys, but at least he is doing actual exercise.
The Story: Jerry Dipoto supposedly wants to make a “big splash” at the Winter Meetings.
The Monkey Says: I really hope that the “big splash” reference is a joke at the Angels’ expense and not an actual quote from Dipoto.
The Story: The Angels are taking a new approach at the Winter Meetings.
The Monkey Says: The Halos seem to be bringing almost everyone in the front office, which sounds unsual to me, but I could be wrong. What I do know is that Reagins had actually been late to the meetings in years past, so Dipoto being on time already sounds like a change for the better.
The Story: Don’t sleep on the Angels in 2012.
The Monkey Says: If you think about it, even if the Angels do nothing else this off-season, they should be better since they now have Iannetta over Mathis. Also, Vernon Wells can’t possibly be any worse and if he is, they have Trout to call upon.
The Story: A look at Chris Iannetta’s batting hot zones at home and away.
The Monkey Says: That looks pretty bad, but I don’t know what else to infer from that. It seems odd that he doesn’t hit balls down the middle that well on the road. This is over three years though, so it does look rather damning.