The April 16th, 2012 edition of daily news for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim including Angels shake up bullpen, progress made towards an extension for Erick Aybar, C.J. Wilson upset at the Rangers for “wasting his time” this off-season and much more…
The Monkey Says: That seems a bit harsh to whack Chopper like that, but he does have a history of melting down anytime he pitches in a pressure situation. Hopefully he clears waivers and heads to Salt Lake where he can build himself up for another shot. As insignificant as he was, the Halos best hope they can hold on to him because they have almost no relief depth in the minors now that Carpenter is part of the pen. Carpenter could be very useful though as he can get a lot of grounders and miss some bats even though he doesn’t have overpowering stuff. Other moves made were Brad Mills being activated and then sent down after one game to make room for Jerome Williams on the roster. Alexi Amarista was also sent to the minors to make room for Carpenter. Finally, I do believe that at some point in the near future we will see Bobby Cassevah get activated off his rehab assignment to try and bolster the bullpen, but that might only happen if David Carpenter struggles.
The Monkey Says: This is significant because Dipoto has been very non-committal about the Aybar extension up until now and generally plays everything close to the vest. Looks like this is going to happen. I’d have to guess that Aybar is looking at a very similar deal to the one Howie Kendrick signed earlier in the off-season.
The Monkey Says: This statement is going to be overblown because they are only going to focus on the part where he said they wasted his time, but it reads to me like he is just honestly recounting how negotiations went and not trying to insult them, though it surely will be taken that way by some. Of course, one could also argue he was wasting Texas’ time by even talking to them even though it was pretty evident that he wanted to sign with the Angels the second the off-season began.
The Monkey Says: That means no Mike Gonzalez, who had been a popular suggestion in recent days. JeDi makes the salient point though that while he may want to acquire a quality relief arm, it is so early in the season that few teams are really in a mode where they would be willing to deal away anyone of significance. Looks like they are going to have to handle this in-house for the next several weeks before the trade market starts to open up.
The Story: Scott Downs threw a brief side session to test his injured ankle and thinks he could be ready soon.
The Monkey Says: Don’t get too excited because Downs wants to make sure he doesn’t push himself to come back too soon and screw his ankle up again. On the bright side, he is going to avoid the DL.
The Story: A look at the many flaws that this Angel team might have.
The Monkey Says: This is a wonderful slam piece on the Angels, though I am sure he could (and probably should) write similar pieces on all the other perceived contenders in the Majors because they would probably read very similarly.
The Story: A scouting look at what David Carpenter can bring to the Angel bullpen.
The Monkey Says: Check the MWAH/LAAI prospect rankings and you will see similar comments about Carpenter, who ranked #16, largely because he has a limited ceiling. With the shameless self-promotion out of the way, it is pretty nice to see people sounding so bullish on Carpenter even though he has only pitched in 21 games above A-ball before he got promoted.
The Monkey Says: Two Goldstein pieces in a row, hope you all pay for BP and/or Insider. Anyway, Trout is obvious but it isn’t going to happen until the Halos pull the plug on Vernon Wells who seems to be doing just enough to keep his job for the next few weeks. As for Richards, he is killing it in AAA right now and even Goldstein, one of the biggest Richards doubters out there, is coming around on him. I don’t think the Angels should give up so easily on Jerome Williams yet, but it is going to be awfully hard to keep Richards in the minors if he pitches like a guy who could come in and be a quality starter right away.
The Story: Kendrys Morales is still trying to find a groove and get used to the daily grind of MLB play again.
The Monkey Says: Morales has gone cold since his hot start, which was bound to happen. It might behoove the Angels to rest him a bit more going forward, but really, he just needs to get used to seeing big league pitching still, so there was always going to be an adjustment period, though it might be best for him to move down a few slots in the order until he starts clicking again.
The Story: A comparative look at Vernon Wells’ new and old swing.
The Monkey Says: I’m not sure using spring training swing is the best comparison, but it does illustrate it well enough. There sure doesn’t seems to be much of a visible difference in swings, though I do believe I have noticed more of a load in his swing this year, but I might just be imagining things. One thing is for sure, his spray chart is still horrible as he is pulling almost everything. Wells has always been a pull hitter, but last year he went overboard, much to his detriment and he seems to be making the same mistake this season.
The Monkey Says: I feel like this article was written three months ago, but Rosenthal forgot to submit it and then came across it in his My Documents folder and was like “sweet!” As you can tell, I am really tired of reading stories like this. We get it, ten-year deals worth a quarter of a billion dollars aren’t a great idea.