While the Angels bullpen hasn't really been something to get worked up about (unless it's a rage you're building) this past offseason has given fans hope that the 'pen can return to at least a semi-decent form. Now, there is still the nagging question of what Dipoto plans on doing with the last open spot in the bullpen, we all know he has one more move left up his sleeve, but we don't know exactly what he plans to do. Is he going to bring in one more arm from outside the organization or does he plan on building it back up from the inside? There aren't very many options left on the free agency market, and the ones that are left are not that appealing, and I doubt Dipoto is going to make any moves towards a trade for a reliever unless Mike Rizzo somehow plants a sleeper agent in the Angels front office that convinces Jerry to go forward on a lopsided Bourjos trade to the Nats. The best plan of attack here would be to fix the 'pen from the inside, the only question that remains is with who?

 

Better question, would the risk/reward of another season of Jepsen really be worth all the money I spend on hats after tearing all my hair out?

Another week, another batch of real tweets from real Angel players that will either really make you laugh or really make you weep for our future. For real.

Apparently Mark Trumbo should have considered going to finishing school before making the leap to professional baseball:

Getting crushed lately with the always unsettling "you probably don't remember me" bomb. Searching for a quality comeback.

— Mark Trumbo (@Mtrumbo44) February 7, 2012

Personally, I would have gone with, "Oh, I remember you, alright.  And how DARE you show your face around here again!  I should have you brought up on charges!!!"

Trevor Bell is an outlaw:

Going to throw a football and frisbee on the beach. Come fine me!

— Trevor Bell (@TrevBe22) February 9, 2012

Everytime I start to regret moving out of California, I hear about stupid laws like this being passed.  While we are at it, I should point out that Washington state just made same-sex marriage legal... without years of litigation and court appeals.  Oh, and did I mention there are no state income taxes.  Muahahahahaha!!!!

C.J. Cron just says what we are all thinking:

Best part about football being over? Baseball season is right around the corner!

— C.J. Cron (@CCron24) February 6, 2012

I really like football, but baseball is better.  Kind of like how I really like pie, but cake is clearly better (don't believe the hype from the rising ranks of pie supporters).

And finally, our old clinically schizophrenic friend (allegedly) Chevy Clarke once again proves that tweets without context are a bad idea:

Watch me do this by myself

— Chevez Chevy Clarke (@OfficialChevy) February 7, 2012

That was it, no other explanation about what "this" is, which I believe is what he does as some sort of not so clever ploy to get people to engage him and find out what he is talking about.  However, it backfired horrible in this case because I am pretty sure everyone just assumed it had something to do with masturbation.

Like MWAH on Facebook

Follow MWAH on Twitter

The February 10th, 2012 edition of daily news for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim including Mike Trout remains on top of Law's top 100 prospects, Bobby Abreu considered prime trade bait, Peter Bourjos could develop into the leadoff role and much more...

The Story: Mike Trout remains the #1 prospect on Keith Law's top 100 prospect list.

The Monkey Says: Jean Segura, Garrett Richards and John Hellweg also made the list.  Segura's ranking fell, but Richards and Hellweg are both new to the list.  Hellweg seems to be fast riser around the prospect ranks, so he could fly up the rankings next year if he has a big season in 2012.

The Story: Baseball executives consider the Angels highly likely to make a trade during spring training, with Bobby Abreu most likely being moved.

The Monkey Says: I don't think the Halos are going to make any trades until they get a feel for the health status of Mark Trumbo and Kendrys Morales, so if they do anything, it will be late in spring training.  As for Abreu being the one who gets moved, I don't buy it.  I just don't see why anyone would trade anything for Abreu when guys like Raul Ibanez, Johnny Damon, Vlad Guerrero, Derrek Lee and Hideki Matsui are all still free agents.

Jered Weaver made headlines in 2011 for plenty of good reasons and a few not so good ones.  Now in 2012, Weaver will be charged with maintaining his now nationally known dominance, justifying his big contract extension and leading one of the best rotations in baseball.

2011 Stats: 18-8, 235.2 IP, 2.41 ERA, 182 H, 56 BB, 20 HR, 198 K

2012 ZiPS Projections: 16-8, 216.2 IP, 3.16 ERA, 188 H, 54 BB, 21 HR, 196 K

2012 Bill James Projections: 15-10, 224.0 IP, 3.17 ERA, 196 H, 55 BB, 23 HR, 197 K

2012 CAIRO Projections: 15-9, 215.1 IP, 3.03 ERA, 188 H, 56 BB, 21 HR, 189 K

2012 PECOTA Projections: 15-13, 231.0 IP, 3.11 ERA, 208 H, 61 BB, 23 HR, 203 K

2012 MWaH Projections*: 18-9, 220.0 IP, 3.22 ERA, 196 H, 52 BB, 24 HR, 184 K

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

The February 9th, 2012 edition of daily news for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim including Trumbo cleared for baseball activities, Keith Law ranks the Angel farm system 15th best, the Angels are heavily featured the 2012 MLB on FOX schedule and much more...

The Story: Mark Trumbo has been cleared for baseball activities.

The Monkey Says: This is obviously good news, but since it comes with the caveat that the crack in his foot still isn't fully healed, setting us up for a potential setback in a few weeks.  The most important thing here is that Mark can finally start practicing at third base.

The Story: Keith Law's annual organizational rankings have the Angels with the 15th best farm system.

The Monkey Says: Law ranked the Angels 6th last year, so this is a bit of a fall, but it really isn't that bad considering that the Halos graduated Trumbo, Walden, Conger and Amarista.  It will be hard for the Angels to rebound for 2013 though since they gave up so many high picks as compensation for their free agent signings and will likely have Mike Trout graduate from prospect status as well.

For all intents and purposes, the Angels off-season is over.  Amazingly, I have not once had to resort to one of these random thought pieces in order to content flowing throughout the winter.  Turns out that overhauling the front office and then signing the greatest player alive gives us bloggers a lot of material to work with.  Who knew?  Anyway, I've finally run out of full blown topics to discuss, so kindly allow me to fling some random Angels-related thoughts at you.

The February 8th, 2012 edition of daily news for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim including predicting what the Angel batting order might look like, another bad Bourjos trade idea, wondering how many at-bats Trumbo will get and much more...

The Story: A look at the many possible batting order combinations Mike Scioscia might try in 2012.

The Monkey Says: My preference would be to go Aybar-Kendrick-Pujols-Hunter-Morales-Wells-Callaspo-Iannetta-Bourjos with Aybar and Bourjos switching spots with a lefty on the mound.  Really though, Scioscia uses over 100+ lineups each season (not an exaggeration), so worrying about this is a big waste of time.

The Story: A suggestion of trading Peter Bourjos and Rich Thompson for Tyler Clippard and a prospect.

The Monkey Says: The Bad Bourjos Trade Idea is becoming daily feature, and that isn't a good thing.  This idea is at least a valiant effort but still doesn't do it for me because, as the writer said himself, "Trading a position player for a reliever is almost always a goofy idea."  Clippard is really good, but Bourjos is much better and I would think that the Nats would have to sweeten the pot a bit more than a guy like Solis to get the Angels to even think about it.