Another week, another edition of the Angels Player Power Rankings:

The September 12th, 2011 edition of daily news for the LA Angels including Angels could trade for David Wright this off-season, the Halos honored Derek Jeter over the weekend, Jered Weaver will start on short rest again before the season is out and much more...

The Story: Buster Olney believes the Mets could trade David Wright this off-season with the Angels foremost amongst potential landing spots.

The Monkey Says: It is pure conjecture, but it makes sense.  The Angels need to find a way to inject more production into the lineup and upgrading at third seems to be the easiest way for them to do that.  Trading for Wright is a bit complicated though because his 2013 option gets eliminated if he is dealt, making him a one-year rental in 2012 (unless some other agreement is worked out).  Plus, he is coming off a major back injury, which is never a good thing for a power hitter, even if he has performed well since returning to action.  All of this makes it incredibly difficult to gauge what Wright's real trade value would be going into the off-season, but I think the Angels starting with an offer of Tyler Chatwood and Jean Segura would at least put the Angels in the conversation.

The Story: The Angels honored Derek Jeter's 3000th hit over the weekend by presenting him with a portrait.

The Monkey Says: When word first leaked out the the Angels were going to honor Jeter, a lot of Angel fans protested the idea loudly.  The team decided to sort of split the difference and still honored him, but in a private ceremony.  I sitll don't see why they felt obligated to do this, but at least they didn't make it a public spectacle.

Oh, Petey.  You let us all down today.  The Angels were so very close to a fantastic sweep of the mighty Yankees but you had to go and drop the ball, literally.

Yankees 6, Angels 5

What really blows my mind about Bourjos' incredibly ill-timed error is why it even happened in the first place.  I'm sure the sun was a factor, but it was plain to see that Bourjos dropped the ball because he took his eye off it at the last second so he could try and get the throw in as soon as possible.  What was the big hurry?  The ball was hit to the warning track, so the runner at third was going to score easily even if he made the throw of his life.  Just brutal.

In his defense, if he makes the catch, the game is still tied and the blowpen probably would've gagged the game away in extras, but I guess we'll never know.

As hard as that loss was to swallow, it really isn't the end of the world.  Going into this series, I think we all would've been glad for the Angels to win two of three and that is still what they left with.  A sweep obviously would've been great, but this wasn't a series anyone was counting on the Angels actually making up ground on Texas.  However, the last two Angel losses have been laid squarely on the shoulders of the fielders.  With so little margin for error (pun not intended), the Angels just can't afford anymore losses like this.

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New York Yankees (87-57) @ Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (80-65)

Pitching Probables: NYY – Freddy Garcia (11-7, 3.50 ERA)  LAA – Ervin Santana (11-10, 3.18 ERA)

Game Info: 12:35 PM PT; TV - Fox Sports West; Radio - KLAA 830 AM

Considering that today is the 10th annniversary of 9-11, it seems in appropriate to spend any time analyzing a baseball game, especially since that game is against the New York Yankees.  Enjoy the day and the game as you see fit and condolences to any of you who had your life touched in anyway by the events that took place ten years ago today.

I have a confession to make. I have not always been the most faithful of Angels fans. All season I have been a bit skeptical about their chances to make the playoffs, let alone be a legit World Series contender. But after tonight I officially believe!! Tonight's win over the Yankees was a statement victory by a team hitting on all cylinders. The Halos put all their strengths out on display and have to be considered the team that nobody wants to see in the playoffs. Think about it, when the Angels win the West (no ifs anymore for me, no sir), they would face the Yanks. Do you think Girardi wants to go to war against Weaver and Haren after what we has seen the last two nights? Not to mention Santana in his new guise as dominant pitcher #3. That's right, mark it down. The Halos are on their way!!

Angels 6 Yankees O 

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New York Yankees (87-56) @ Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim  (79-65)

Pitching Probables: NYY CC Sabathia (19-7, 2.97 ERA)  LAA – Dan Haren (14-8, 3.20 ERA)

Game Info: 6:05 PM PT; TV - Fox Sports West; Radio - KLAA 830 AM

So I left the house yesterday morning and forget to set the DVR for last night's game so I missed out on Jered Weaver's apparent handcuffing of the Yankee line-up, so I am hoping to catch thte sequel tonight starring Dan Haren. Standing in for Bartolo Colon as the villian of our movie is another massive human being, CC Sabathia. Part two of this trilogy has a bigger, badder bad guy of course, since Sabathia is still in the Cy Young discussion. But our hero has all the supporting case he needs since it will feature the young starlet that is Mike Trout. Grab your popcorn and snowcaps and settle in for this thriller.

Merely a week ago Torii Hunter announced his "plans" on possibly retiring after the 2012 season. For once it's good to see a baseball player, let alone a Halo, want to end their career on their own terms. Nobody wants to see Torii Hunter play through a nosedive a-la Vladimir Guerrero, but it is possible he could have a few more seasons left in him? To Torii Hunter it's a possiblility, but could the numbers be there to back up a stretch of a couple more seasons? 

 

Could a return to Minnesota be in the cards for Torii Hunter?