.jpg&w=244&h=193&zc=1 "Mike Trout and the sophomore slump that wasn't")
Halo Headlines: Wilson to have elbow surgery, what could have been had Trout been promoted earlier, the disappointment that is the Angels season
The October 3rd, 2012 edition of daily news for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim including Wilson to have elbow surgery, what could have been had Trout been promoted earlier, the disappointment that is the Angels season and much more...
The Story: C.J. Wilson will undergo elbow surgery to remove bone spurs from his pitching elbow.
The Monkey Says: The good news here is that we now have an explanation for his second half struggles. It may not fully explain his issues, but the fact that he admits to altering his motion and prep certainly suggests it is a major factor. The bad news is that even though he will be 100% by spring training, the Angels now have to worry about his supposedly "young arm" holding up over the rest of his expensive contract.
The Story: Did the Angels cost themselves a playoff spot by not having Trout on the Opening Day roster?
The Monkey Says: First off, Trout missed most of spring training with a stomach virus that caused him to lose 15 pounds and he had a bad shoulder at the time. They probably still should've had him on the roster or promoted him sooner, but it is at least a slightly mitigating factor. Whether or not he would've made a difference also remains to be seen as it was the miserable work of the bullpen that was the biggest problem during that dismal month of April, though it may not have been as damaging had Trout been igniting the offense at the top of the order. One or two more wins might've been all the Halos needed to be the ones clinching a Wild Card (or even division title) this weekend instead of Oakland.
The Story: The basic cookie-cutter, "how can the Angels be such big disappointments?" article.
The Monkey Says: No surprise that it was written by Jeff Miller and about two dozen other hack columnists across the land. America loves nothing mroe than kicking a team while they are down. Enjoy, America.
The Story: The post-mortem of the 2012 Angels season.
The Monkey Says: I wrote this, so forgive the self-promotion, but I think it is more accurate than the other similar articles out there because almost nobody talks about the Angels' Bullpen of Perpetual Sorrow damning this team to its fate. It is just so much more fun for people to poke fun at name brand starters like C.J. Wilson not performing up to expectations.
The Story: A look back at the missed opportunities for the 2012 Halos.
The Monkey Says: If you can't stomach that part, skip to the second half and read the list of bright spots.
The Story: Jerry Dipoto announced the entire Angels coaching staff will return for 2013.
The Monkey Says: I look forward to another season of fans on Twitter demanding Mike Butcher be fired.
The Story: Albert Pujols is only the fifth player to have three seasons of 50+ doubles.
The Monkey Says: He is also the only person to hit 50+ doubles and 30+ homers in the same season three different times. Yeah, maybe he is still pretty good.
The Story: Mike Trout is ESPN's Defensive Player of the Year.
The Monkey Says: I totally agree, but only because I have no reliable way of determining just how good Yadier Molina was behind the plate this season. I certainly won't argue if someone wants to say Yadi is better.
The Story: What went wrong for the Angels this season?
The Monkey Says: I link to this only for the final point that sometimes you just have to tip your hat to other good teams. I mean, who could've expected the O's and A's to win so many games. The competition in the AL was so fierce. There could be as many as seven teams with 88 or more wins, which is just bonkers.
The Story: Cardinals fans are very excited that Albert Pujols will not be in the playoffs.
The Monkey Says: Stay classy, Cards fans.
The Story: What would Dan Haren get on the open market?
The Monkey Says: Two years, $14 million seems kind of low to me in this paper thin free agent market. However, I am hoping that the Angels are really only declining Haren's option so that they can sign him to a deal like such as that one. Without doing the research, I would give a quick estimate of maybe a two-year, $18.5 million deal to bring him back (which is really $22 million when you factor in his $3.5 million buyout).
The Monkey Says: No matter the calculation, Trout leads by such a huge amount that it overcomes any margin of error the WAR formulas might have. Not that any BBWAA writer over 50 cares about that.
The Story: Kaleb Cowart was named to the Midwest League top prospect list.
The Monkey Says: The first of the many accolades you can expect to see Cowart get this winter.
The Story: A call to fire team president John Carpino.
The Monkey Says: I don't know what Carpino ever did to Rev, but I hope I never do anything similar because that dude can carry a grudge. Being removed the geographic home of the Angels, I don't really care about KLAA, so maybe it has become a joke of a radio station. Maybe Carpino should get canned, but maybe we should all just join the 21st century and realize that terrestrial radio is a dying medium. There is so much quality content online with podcasts that you should never have to get stuck listening to dumbass national radio personalities.
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The basic problem with KLAA is that it has yet to find a direction. Roger Lodge is their signature local personality and he is a mediocre broadcaster at best. When the Angels are not in season, the station half assed their Anaheim Ducks coverage. The Angels pregame drive time is handled by Travis Rodgers, who after working for Jim Rome for a chunck of time, has all of Rome's speech patterns and comes off as Rome-lite. I actually thought affiliating with ESPN for the afternoon was a good idea since you get Scott Van Pelt rather than the garbage the other big stations throw out there (looking at you Loose Cannons). I agree with Garrett that old style radio is probably on the way out, with the exception of live sports, but the Angels could still make it an interesting station by finding some fresh voices and adopting a more podcast style of broadcasting rather than the one hit and move on approach of the other LA Stations.
Or we could all just listen to the Monkey with a Halo Podcast over and over again. That might be a better use of our time.
Why would anyone think April would have been any better with a debilitated Mike Trout? Or even a healthy one? His mere presence wasn't enough to prevent a worse, in that it was even longer, slide in July/August while he was at or near the top of his game. No, it was theoretically the right thing to do with a kid who had struggled in his previous call-up. His progress is little short of amazing. More like Mickey Mantle than the Ed Kranepool performance I feared from a player so young and rushed. Good for him!
