The January 12th, 2012 edition of daily news for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim including Morales avoids arbitration, projecting Morales's recovery, the Angels donate a field to a local high school and much more...

The Story: Kendrys Morales has avoided arbitration with a one-year deal for $2.975 million.

The Monkey Says: That is the same amount he earned last season, which makes sense since, you know, he didn't play and thus did nothing for the team.  This is a bit surprising to me because Jeff Mathis would get raises in arbitration each year even though he did less than nothing for the team.

The Story: What can we expect from Kendrys Morales if/when he recovers?

The Monkey Says: I'm not sure I understand these comparisons since several of them don't even involve a leg injury much less the same kind of injury.  Robin Ventura seems the only actual real comparison in terms of they type and severity of injury.

Jerry Dipoto and the Angels just can't stop handing out big money contracts.  First it was Albert Pujols, then it was C.J. Wilson and now Howie Kendrick.  And who could blame him, handing out money is just so much fun!

Sure, the Angels have given out almost $400 million in contracts this winter, but why should the party stop now?  The free agent market has all but dried up, but there are plenty of in-house candidates for massive paydays.  The question is, who is most deserving of the next lucrative contract extension?

For $33.5 million, you can hit me in the face with as many pies as you want.

The January 11th, 2012 edition of daily news for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim including details of Kendrick's contract released, Angels likely done shopping, Morales running under his own power and much more...

The Story: The details of Howie Kendrick's new contract have been released.

The Monkey Says: I love how it took a few weeks for the details in Pujols' contract to get released, but it only took a few days for Kendrick's to get leaked.  Clearly, his contract isn't as complicated and he was even nice enough to take a lesser amount this season to help keep payroll down.  As such, it looks like the Halos are going to be able keep payroll right around $150 million, which is kind of surprising given how much they've done this off-season.

The Story: The Angels are likely done shopping, though they still want to add more bullpen help.

The Monkey Says: Dipoto is referring to significant additions and given that Ryan Madson just signed with the Reds, I think that is definitely going to be the case now.  I'm glad that he still realizes that the bullpen needs help, but he has been saying that since he got hired and still hasn't done very much about it.

Thanks to an ill-conceived vesting option, the Angels have the distinct, ummm... pleasure(?) of welcoming back Bobby Abreu for one more season.  Will Bobby be able to go out on a high note, or will he ride the bench into the sunset of his career?

2011 Stats: 502 AB, .253 AVG, .353 OBP, .365 SLG, 54 R, 8 HR, 60 RBI, 21 SB, 5 CS, 113 K

2012 ZiPS Projections: 480 AB, .246 AVG, .338 OBP, .385 SLG, 61 R, 12 HR, 64 RBI, 19 SB, 7 CS, 110 K

2012 Bill James Projections: 423 AB, .260 AVG, .364 OBP, .404 SLG, 61 R, 11 HR, 61 RBI, 15 SB, 6 CS, 97 K

2012 CAIRO Projections: 551 AB, .259 AVG, .342 OBP, .387 SLG, 78 R, 12 HR, 78 RBI, 23 SB, 7 CS, 121 K

2012 PECOTA Projections: 410 PA, .251 AVG, .342 OBP, .377 SLG, 48 R, 7 HR, 39 RBI, 14 SB, 5 CS, 80 K

2012 MWaH Projections*: 215 AB, .271 AVG, .378 OBP, .412 SLG, 36 R, 5 HR, 29 RBI, 10 SB, 2 CS, 42 K

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

The January 10th, 2012 edition of daily news for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim including Salmon gets just five Hall of Fame votes, Angels showing interest in Brad Lidge, assessing the value of Kendrick's extension and much more...

The Story: Tim Salmon got only five votes in the Hall of Fame voting.

The Monkey Says: You know my thoughts about this already, but others are mildly outraged that he got any votes at all.  However you feel about it, you won't have to feel that way again because Salmon is no longer on future Hall of Fame ballots since he did not get the necessary 5% of the votes.

The Story: The Angels have shown interest in former Phillies closer Brad Lidge.

The Monkey Says: Lidge isn't nearly the pitcher that he used to be having lost a lot of velocity, but he was still very effective last year since his killer slider is still very effective.  In fact, he throws the slider almost three-quarters of the time, which is kind of ridiculous.  He is a big health risk, but out of all the veteran free agent relief arms not named Ryan Madson, Lidge is probably the best available.  Don't expect any imminent signing here though.  Dipoto has kicked the tires on almost every single free agent reliever at some point, so this could easily be Jerry doing his normal due diligence or simply Lidge's agent trying to drum up a bidding war (as Lidge has widely been thought to want to sign in his native Colorado).

Later today, Major League Baseball will announce the 2012 class of entrants into the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown.  Barry Larkin's name almost defintely will be announced as being selected for enshrinement.  Jeff Bagwell, Jack Morris and Tim Raines all could as well, but probably won't.  One name that definitely won't be called is that of Angel great Tim Salmon.

As of this writing, 134 of the over 500 Hall of Fame ballots have been revealed, a grand total of one vote has been cast in favor of the Kingfish entering the Hall.  That is a damned shame.

No, it is not a shame that Salmon won't be getting the call for Cooperstown.  Even the most biased of Angels fans has to admit that while he might be the finest player in the history of the franchise, he just isn't Hall of Fame material.  Aside from a Rookie of the Year award and one Silver Slugger, Salmon has no big shiny hardware to show off to the voters.  He never led the league in any category ever.  His career OPS+ is good, but not great.  He finished his career with 299 homers, a number that in and of itself is disappointing because he couldn't even muster one more big blast to make his total a nice, round, spiffy 300.

The shame is that after a career of being under-appreciated outside of Anaheim, the greater baseball community is going to botch its one last opportunity to give Salmon that modicum of respect he deserves.

The January 9th, 2012 edition of daily news for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim including Kendrick signs four-year extension, Morales cleared for more activity, Jorge Cantu signed to minor-league deal and Kendrick and much more...

The Story: Howie Kendrick has avoided arbitration and agreed to a four-year, $33.5 million contract.

The Monkey Says: The money wasn't initially reported, but we have the figure now and it seems reasonable.  Keep in mind though that Howie was slated to get an estimated $5+ million in arbitration anyway in 2012, so it really is a three-year extension worth about $28 million.  Looking at it that way, I think it might be a slight overpay, but not enough to be worth crying about.  Just look at it this way, he is making less annually than the likes of Pedroia, Phillips, Uggla and Cano, so he isn't being paid like he is elite.  He is also making a bit more than less consistent guys who flashed All-Star potential, like Kelly Johnson and Aaron Hill.  Just over $9 million per year seems just about right.

The Story: Kendrys Morales has been cleared to begin running and increase baseball activity.

The Monkey Says: You may now breath a small sigh of relief.  Morales still has a way to go, but he looks to be slightly ahead of schedule compared to last season though.  The next big hurdle for him is getting clearance to run the bases, which is the step where got shutdown on back in 2011.