Daily links for the LA Angels including Hunter won’t appeal four-game suspension, Skaggs goes to Arizona to complete the Haren trade, Thompson hits the disabled list and much more.
The Story: Torii Hunter has been suspended for four games for his outburst on Friday and will not appeal the suspension.
The Monkey Says: Hunter has already served two games of the suspension and elected not to file an appeal after seeing his antics replayed on TV. As I said before, this is probably better for Hunter who clearly has been very mentally stressed since the All-Star break and could use a four-game rest to recharge his batteries for the rest of the year.
The Story: Tyler Skaggs was officially traded to the Arizona Diamondbacks to complete the trade for Dan Haren.
The Monkey Says: Skaggs is probably the jewel of the trade package heading to Arizona, but a guy who is still a long way from reaching the majors, so it will be quite some time before we find out if he is someone they will regret trading away.
The Monkey Says: This injury is probably legit since the Halos could have just optioned Thompson to the minors. That is really too bad for Chopper because he was just starting to earn some trust from the coaching staff after years of bouncing between the majors and minors. For his sake, let’s hope this injury is just something minor and he can return to the active roster within 15 days or when roster’s expand in September.
The Monkey Says: The Angels have $92.5 million committed in salary and that could inflate to $110 million after arbitration cases are heard (per Cafardo’s projection). That would put the Angels close to maxing out their normal budget, but Arte Moreno isn’t going to let cost restrict him from landing a player (like Carl Crawford) that he believes will help them win the World Series. Plus, the Halos are sure to explore trade options to cut salary such as moving Juan Rivera, Howie Kendrick or, most likely, Mike Napoli.
The Story: What’s wrong with the Angels? A lack of dynamism.
The Monkey Says: I couldn’t agree more. This roster is a mismatched mess and it is far from the exciting, aggressive team that Scioscia has guided to success for the last several years.
The Story: The Dodgers have designated from Angel great Garret Anderson for assignment.
The Monkey Says: This will almost certainly be the last we ever see of Anderson, who nearly retired before this season anyway. I can’t say I was ever a big GA fan, but it is a real shame to see him go out this way.
The Story: Rookie reliever Michael Kohn is making a strong impression.
The Monkey Says: Kohn is still a work in progress, but he has settled down since his debut and should continue getting a decent look in increasingly pressure-packed situations as the season progresses.
The Story: The rise of Peter Bourjos isn’t just a glove story.
The Monkey Says: Very true, defense has always been Bourjos’ calling card, but he reached the bigs quicker than expected because of his rapid offensive growth at Salt Lake this year. If he is going to keep his job heading into 2011, he is going to have to prove that his newfound offensive output wasn’t just a fluke related to the hitter friendly PCL.
The Story: Mike Scioscia is still defending Hideki Matsui even though he keeps benching him.
The Monkey Says: Sosh is always going to defend his players, no matter what, but he is doing the right thing in cutting back Godzilla’s playing time since he obviously just isn’t the same player anymore.
The Story: The Single-A Rancho Cucamonga Quakes could be forced to move to Chico.
The Monkey Says: Actually, the Quakes would likely stay, but be taken over by the Padres who are looking to move their Triple-A team. In that case, the Angels would set up their Single-A team elsewhere with Chico being rumored as a location. That would be a shame because the Quakes are really the only local minor league club that Angel fans can go see if they want to get a sneak peak at their team’s top prospects.
The Story: The new film The Other Guys has a character named Gene Mauch.
The Monkey Says: Will Ferrell is the star of the film and an Angel fan, so it looks like he made this happen. I saw the movie, which is really funny, opening night and didn’t even notice the name drop until about two-thirds of the way through, but I certainly grinned when I did. Plus Derek Jeter gets shot in the movie, so this film clearly has a lot going for it.