The March 26th, 2013 edition of daily news for the Los Angeles Angels including Madson feeling good after another bullpen session, Trout vs. Harper and much more...

The Story: Ryan Madson is feeling good after another bullpen session on Monday.

The Monkey Says: Nice to hear, but he still isn't throwing 100% or throwing his changeup. In other words, he still has a long way to go

The Story: ESPN felt the need to run three articles pitting Mike Trout versus Bryce Harper, with the first coming from Jim Bowden.

The Monkey Says: The Bowden piece is as stupid as you'd expect. But I just don't get why we need to declare a winner in the present, past or future with these two. Why can't we all just enjoy them both being great, potentially generational talents without trying to constantly force this stupid narrative that they are somehow rivals?

Signed to beef up the Angels' beleaguered bullpen, Ryan Madson first must prove that he can get himself healthy enough after Tommy John surgery to play any kind of significant relief role for the Halos.

2012 Stats: DID NOT PLAY

2013 ZiPS Projections: 42.0 IP, 3-2, 3.21 ERA, 2.98 FIP, 38 H, 11 BB, 3 HR, 40 SO, 0.6 fWAR

2013 Bill James Projections: 66.0 IP, 4-3, 43 SV, 3.41 ERA, 3.05 FIP, 62 H, 17 BB, 5 HR, 62 SO

2013 CAIRO Projections: 42.1 IP, 3-2, 0 SV, 2.98 ERA, 2.94 FIP, 39 H, 12 BB, 3 HR, 41 SO

2013 MWAH Projections*: 55.0 IP, 3-4, 31 SV, 4.09 ERA, 3.87 FIP, 57 H, 21 BB, 6 HR, 52 SO

*The MWAH projections are simply my best guess based off my own personal opinion and research (my wOBA and FIP calculations are approximate)

Since this is my first post ever, I feel obligated to admit two things up front. First, I am obsessed with baseball statistics; so my posts will be more stats driven than most of you care about. Second, I love cheesy jokes, especially cheesy baseball jokes.

For those brave enough to continue, thanks. There are a lot of important questions I considered writing about. What will we get out of our pitching rotation? How good will the bullpen be? Who will hit second? And, as he had a second 15 minutes of fame in the World Baseball Classic, I even considered the question “who is Karim Garcia?” But all of these questions, in my opinion, are boring and over-discussed.

The starting rotation has its injury concerns, but outside of Tommy Hanson, they can all be counted on for 200 innings. The bullpen was so bad last year it’s nearly impossible for it to be any worse, especially with the exodus of Jason Isringhausen, LaTroy Hawkins, and Jordan Walden. As for who will hit second, it’s a debate that couldn’t be a bigger waste of time. Besides Pujols, every hitter in the Angels lineup would make a great second hitter. Go ahead, find an Angels hitter that isn’t an ideal candidate for the two hole. It’s like finding a reason that Jeffery Loria is a good owner, it’s not possible. Plug in any player and the Angels have a great second hitter. As for who Karim Garcia is, the odds of Pedro Martinez reading this blog aren’t the greatest, so I won’t waste my time answering that question. The real question no one seems to spend time answering is, “how good is Peter Bourjos in center field?” We have all been told many times that he is the better fielder than Mike Trout. We have been told that his superior defense, coupled with the decreased mileage on Trout’s legs, mandated the new look outfield of Trout in left field and Bourjos in center field. But how do we know? Where are the numbers that back up this statement up? The answer: right here.

Vernon Wells is gone but he won't be forgotten, though most of us probably want to. In the interest of fairness to a player who was universally maligned from almost the exact second he was acquired, let's take an exhaustive look at the highlights of his Angel career:

June 28th, 2011 against the Nationals - Vernon went 4-for-5 with a homer, a double, three runs scored and two RBIs.

June 13th, 2011 against the Mariners - Wells smacked two homers off of Jason Vargas, plating three runs.

What a whirlwind two weeks that was!

Farewell, Vernon Wells. We will always remember you, mostly for the wrong reasons. May your playing days continue for a long time even though your career died two years ago.

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The March 25th, 2013 edition of daily news for the Los Angeles Angels including Angel players betting on how much Hamilton gets booed in Texas, Hall and Mills released and much more...

The Story: The Angels have a clubhouse pool betting on whether or not Josh Hamilton will get booed when he returns to Texas.

The Monkey Says: Can I get in on this because I am willing to literally bet my house on him getting more boos than cheers. Texas fans have absolutely no love lost for Hamilton and were booing him before they even knew he was leaving the team.

The Story: The Angels released Bill Hall.

The Monkey Says: There was a story before this that the Angels might release him only to sign him to a minor league deal after that, but that has yet to materialize. The Halos liked Hall, but his injury cost him a job and he might have to prove healthy before the Angels revisit bringing him back into the organization

It finally happened. Jerry Dipoto granted the wish of many an Angel fan by making Vernon Wells disappear.

No, not like that. Instead, Dipoto found himself a sucker in the form of the New York Yankees who are so desperate for healthy players that they not only acquired Wells via trade but have supposedly agreed to pay $13 million of his remaining $42 million owed.

#yankees are to pay $13M of the $42M on wells deal thru 2014.

— Jon Heyman (@JonHeymanCBS) March 24, 2013

For what it is worth, Ken Rosenthal is saying it is only $10 million, but either way it is a bigger chunk of change than we could've hoped for which kind of makes me wonder if Tony Reagins was serving as a special advisor to the Yankees on this deal. In fact, that amount is so sizeable that it could actually free up enough payroll space for the Angels to go out and acquire some relief help right now or a biggish contract at the trade deadline. This all but assures that Kole Calhoun will remain on the roster to serve as the Angels' primary back-up outfielder, though it does mean that the Halos have pretty much no veteran presence on the bench, which may not sit well with Scioscia. But that is more than off-set by no longer having a perennial punchline on the roster, even if he did have that "veteran presence."

Well, done, Jerry. Well done.

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The March 22nd, 2013 edition of daily news for the Los Angeles Angels including 'dead arm' no longer troubling Weaver, wondering whether Trout or Harper have a higher ceiling and much more...

The Story: Jered Weaver threw nearly 90 pitches with an 89 MPH fastball in an intrasquad game yesterday.

The Monkey Says: His annual dead arm phase is now behind him and Weaver appears to be feeling quite good, which is a big relief for everyone.

The Story: Does Mike Trout or Bryce Harper have the higher ceiling?

The Monkey Says: I hate this comparison still, but given that Trout has already had a 10-WAR season, which is incredibly rare, I really don't see how he doesn't have a higher ceiling.