The pitchers have already arrived in Tempe and, as of today, everyone else will have joined them.  Yessir, Spring Training Angels-style is in full effect now!

Now that the gang is all here, there is some business yet to be done.  Depth charts need to be sorted out.  Defensive positions need to be decided.  Roster spots need to be won.

We already looked at the Angel pitchers, so let's give the training camp task list treatment to all the newly arrived position players too.

The February 27th, 2012 edition of daily news for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim including Morales won't see game action until mid-March at the earliest, Mark Trumbo takes a grounder off the face, Aybar still hoping to work out a contract extension and much more...

The Story: Kendrys Morales won't appear in any exhibition games until mid-March at the earliest.

The Monkey Says: This is encouraging in that the team is at least starting to talk about a return date, but it does raise the question of how much action he is going to need to see in live games before Scioscia is going to be OK with him in a MLB lineup.  It does sound like they aren't really going to entertain the notion of Morales reporting to the minors for rehab work during the regular season though.  But let's not get ahead of ourselves.  Morales is still progressing in his running exercises, with the team scheduling him to start running with soft cuts this week.  This is close to the point where he suffered his setback last season.  Cross your fingers.

The Story: Mark Trumbo's first week at third base was a bit rough, including a grounder to the face.

The Monkey Says: It sounds like it was just a fluke bounce and not so much him being a bad fielder.  He was lucky not to break his nose.  What is worth paying attention to more here is the report of his errant throws.  I've seen other interviews with the coaching staff where it has been hinted that his arm accuracy might be a problem.

Another week, another batch of real tweets from real Angel players that will make you realize baseball players aren't always great mentors, or just make you hungry.

The Angels brought in LaTroy Hawkins to help mentor Jordan Walden.  Here is how the mentoring is going so far:

Working on @JWal51 to up His Twitter Game!! #halos #Angels2012

— LaTroy Hawkins (@Adidas219) February 21, 2012

I love Twitter, Hawk, but shouldn't we maybe be focusing on... I don't know, Walden working on his off-speed pitches rather than his tweeting skills?  And people wonder why the Halos just signed Jason Isringhausen.

If Hawkins wants to mentor someone, maybe he should focus on Michael Kohn as he seems to have too much spare time on his hands:

Is it bad that im watching Tin Cup for the second time today. #reRuns

— Michael Kohn (@MichaelKohn58) February 22, 2012

Way to put in the work, Kohn.  Clearly the best thing to do when fighting for a big league job is to watch movies on TV all day instead of working out.  I hear Salt Lake City is beautiful in April.

I'm not into all of C.J. Wilson's "Positive Mental Attitude" tweets, but I finally found one that I can believe in:

Say NO to drugs, Say YES to tacos.#pma

— C.J. Wilson (@str8edgeracer) February 20, 2012

Mmmm... tacos.  Seriously, I need some good tacos.  Turns out it isn't so easy to find quality Mexican food in Washington state.  Someone needs to hook a brother up.

I tried warning you earlier this week, yet nobody listened to me, including Mark Trumbo:

I would be embarrassed if my name was associated with Ghost Rider 2. What an epic fail of a movie. #worstever

— Mark Trumbo (@Mtrumbo44) February 22, 2012

See!  What did I tell you people?!?!  Ghost Rider blows.  Now, when some dumbass studio executive green lights a third Ghost Rider film, you have no one to blame but yourself if you flush $10 down the drain to go and see it.

And finally, Chevy Clarke takes a break from his regular stream of disjointed, non-sensical sayings to obsess about donuts:

Krispy Kreme doughnuts when the hot light is on >>>>>

— Chevy (@OfficialChevy) February 23, 2012

There might not be anyone on earth who loves Krispy Kreme more than me, but Chevy went nuts about them.  Seriously, go back to his timeline and find that tweet.  He proceeded then proceeded to tweet about nothing buy Krispy Kreme for the next seven hours.  For a little while there I thought that he might be getting paid to promote them, but then I realized that nobody would pay an anonymous minor leaguer who is about to wash out of Rookie ball to promote anything.  Then I realized he probably just realized that he might need a job if he doesn't show progress on the field this season, so he is actually trying to get in the company's good graces. 

Clever, Chevy.  Clever like a fox.

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For those of you who have been living under a rock for the past week, you may have missed the news on an Abreu-Burnett swap that was gracefully voided by A.J Burnett due to the Angels being in his no trade clause. What a bullet we dodged with that one, right? Burnett is an over-the-hill veteran, like Abreu, who has managed to pitch to Kazmirian levels of ineptitude the past two seasons. There's no reason the Angels would need, or even want a player like him on this squad. That kind of trade would only negatively affect this roster, wouldn't you think? On the surface it may seem that way, but if start to dig a little deeper you might see that it's possible this was a missed opportunity for the Halos. 

 

Then again, this is the guy who tried to go head to head against a clubhouse door 

The February 24th, 2012 edition of daily news for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim including Isringhausen likely to win a major bullpen role, introducing the Bullpen Pyramid/Trapezoid, Trumbo gets early positive reviews at third base and much more...

The Story: Mike Scioscia is speaking about Jason Isringhausen as if he is a lock to make the team and play a significant role.

The Monkey Says: And once again Scioscia's undying adherence to veterans rears its head.  It isn't that Izzy is bad, but he is also very old, very fragile and coming off a below average season.  Would it really kill Scioscia to make Isringhausen actually earn it.  This could work out though.  Isringhausen is reportedly down 25 pounds from last season and seem much more prepared than he was when he basically pitched for the Mets on a whim.

The Story: The Angels middle relief corps is now known as the Bullpen Pyramid or Trapezoid, depending on how the setup roles work out.

The Monkey Says: Personally, I prefer a bullpen rhombus, but I suppose a trapezoid will do.

From out of the league since 2007 to the surprise fifth starter for the Angels by the end of 2011, the last four years have been quite the adventure for Jerome Williams.  Now it is a whole new adventure for Williams as he looks to prove that he belongs in the big leagues for good.

2011 Stats: 4-0, 44.0 IP, 3.68 ERA, 45 H, 15 BB, 6 HR, 28 K

2012 ZiPS Projections: 5-7, 103.2 IP, 5.04 ERA, 121 H, 30 BB, 15 HR, 65 K

2012 Bill James Projections: 3-6, 88.0 IP, 5.11 ERA, 102 H, 25 BB, 13 HR, 54 K

2012 CAIRO Projections: 5-4, 80.1 IP, 4.73 ERA, 91 H, 26 BB, 11 HR, 48 K

2012 PECOTA Projections: 6-10, 114.0 IP, 4.96 ERA, 126 H, 43 BB, 15 HR, 68 K

2012 MWaH Projections*: 9-12 172.0 IP, 4.38 ERA, 180 H, 64 BB, 24 HR, 116 K

*The MWaH projections are simply my best guess based off my own personal opinion and research

The February 23rd, 2012 edition of daily news for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim including Angels sign Jason Isringhausen to a minor league deal, Albert Pujols not pleased with the El Hombre billboard campaign, Scioscia tries to downplay Abreu's trade request and much more...

The Story: The Angels signed reliever Jason Isringhausen to a minor league deal with an invite to spring training.

The Monkey Says: A nice move by Dipoto.  Isringhausen isn't much of a pitcher anymore, but he is a low risk signing and he might just be the experienced closer mentor that they need for Jordan Walden.  He has a decent shot at making the team, but it would most likely be as something of a middle inning right-handed specialist rather than someone who could challenge Hawkins for right-handed setup duty.

The Story: Albert Pujols is not a fan of the El Hombre billboards all over Southern California.

The Monkey Says: There, Cardinal fans.  Can you shut up about it now?  Whiners.