The June 12th, 2012 edition of daily news for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim including Trout and Hunter share AL Player of the Week honors, Angels sign 11 of their draft picks, Bobby Wilson worried about concussions and much more...
The Story: Mike Trout and Torii Hunter were named co-AL Player of the Week.
The Monkey Says: Good for them, but couldn't they shown Mark Trumbo a little love too? If this doesn't convince Mike Scioscia that Torii Hunter should stick in the two-hole for awhile, I don't know what will. Or maybe it will convince him to petition Bud Selig to have the Rockies join the AL West next season instead of the Astros.
The Story: The Angels signed 11 of their draft picks, including four of their top five selections.
The Monkey Says: Their top pick R.J. Alvarez is signed, which is great news because he could be in the majors in a big hurry. Honestly, it would be a small upset if he isn't in the majors before the end of 2013. The top pick that has not signed yet is fourth-rounder Alex Yarbrough, but he is not believed to be a risk to not sign. Most importantly, none of the picks signed above slot value, so the Halos might have a tiny bit of wiggle room in the draft budget pool, though it was pretty small to begin with because of the goofy new rules.
The Story: Bobby Wilson is concerned about the preventing future concussions in baseball.
The Monkey Says: Turns out this is actually Wilson's fourth concussion, not his second and most believed. The good news is that he seems to be well on the road to recovery here. He will be using a new mask reportedly, but he does raise an important issue about MLB doing a more to enhance head protection for catchers, especially in light of all the brouhaha going on in the NFL over concussions.
The Story: Lingering forearm stiffness has pushed back the start of Chris Iannetta's rehab stint yet again.
The Monkey Says: First it was Friday, then it was Monday, now he will start his rehab in the middle of the week... hopefully. Looks like he isn't the fast healer we thought he was.
The Story: Jered Weaver threw off a mound and is on schedule to return to the rotation some time during the upcoming series against the Giants.
The Monkey Says: He once again reported no pain or discomfort, but this does put him a little behind the original 15-day estimate. Clearly the Angels are being very careful with their ace.
The Story: Bobby Abreu doesn't hold a grudge against the Angels for releasing him.
The Monkey Says: I appreciate Bobby being diplomatic here, but I don't believe it for a second since he was being such an ungrateful pain in the ass in the months leading up to his release.
The Story: The Angels are still nowhere to be found in the recent AL All-Star voting returns.
The Monkey Says: Pujols is the only name that shows up in the totals and he is in fifth-place at first base and not even close to fourth-place. Clearly the grassroots effort to vote in Trumbo and Trout is not working, to the surprise of absolutely no one.
The Story: Mike Trout should be an All-Star.
The Monkey Says: Well, duh, but it is up to Texas Rangers manager Ron Washington to make that happen since Trout will have to be selected to the team as no player has been voted in as a write-in since Steve Garvey in 1974.
The Story: Mike Trout is on pace to finish with one of the greatest season for a 20-year old ever.
The Monkey Says: I'm starting to think that this kid might be worth keeping around.
The Story: Per Mark Simon, here is a telling heat map of Mike Trout's hitting in June.
The Monkey Says: I am guessing teams are going to wise up and stop trying to pitch him inside so much pretty soon once they see that heat map for themselves.
The Story: A graphical look at Mark Trumbo's improved swing rate and how it is turning him into a superstar.
The Monkey Says: The great news is that this shouldn't be an anomaly as swing rate is known to stabilize very quickly, meaning this improvement is very real and likely sustainable. The league should be very afraid.
The Story: Albert Pujols is starting to look like his old self again.
The Monkey Says: Let's not throw around the word "old" so liberally with Pujols, ok? Yes, Albert is looking much better, but even his recent numbers are slightly shy of what he was doing in his prime days with the Cardinals. Those are still great numbers, but it does not bode well for Pujols remaining highly productive deep into his ten-year contract... not that anyone was really expecting him to do so.
The Story: Do the Angels or Dodgers own Souther California?
The Monkey Says: Slideshow, sorry, but I wanted to talk about this. The answer to the above questions is, unfortunately, the Dodgers, for now anyway. No matter how this series turns out, the Dodgers have a better record and are enjoying a big boost in attendance (nearly 2,500 per game) while the Halos are still suffering from their own mysterious decline in attendance (down nearly 3,400 per game). Yeah, I don't like it either, but let's see where we all stand at the end of the season, eh?
The Story: The Angels Wives are holding a fundraiser for MDA before Friday's game.
The Monkey Says: Attend and donate if you are so inclined.
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