The August 31st, 2011 edition of daily news for the LA Angels including Trout and Conger, Walden says he is exhausted by this long season, Dick Enberg and Jose Mota nominated for the Ford Frick Award and much more...

The Story: Mike Trout and Hank Conger will play in the Arizona Fall League this year, with Bryce Harper joining them on the same team.

The Monkey Says: This is kind of odd.  The AFL is typically just a showcase for up and coming prospects, so I'm not sure why Trout and Conger are headed there even though they are already in the bigs.  I guess it could be so the Angel organization can control Conger as he works on his defense, but Trout, I don't really understand that one.  Nonetheless, it will be cool to see Trout on the same team as Bryce Harper (insert joke about how that will be the case in 2020 on the Red Sox here).  Also representing the Angels in the AFL will be their new top prospect Jean Segura and quality pitching prospects David Carpenter, Chris Scholl, Andrew Taylor and Daniel Tillman.

The Story: Jordan Walden claims he is exhausted by the long season.

The Monkey Says: You don't often hear about relievers complaining about workloads, but Walden makes a valid point.  This is only his second season as a reliever, so he is still learning how to manage himself and he also isn't all that far removed from dealing with major arm problems.  This is all the more reason for the Angels to try and trade for another reliable bullpen arm today, before the deadline to make deals closes.  They won't, but they should.

Did everyone get their invitation to the Mike Trout Coming Out Party?  In case you somehow missed it, Mike Trout made a little bit of history my becoming the youngest player in Angels history to hit multiple home runs in one game.  I think it is safe to say that this is the day that Mike Trout's star was born.

Angels 13, Mariners 6

By way of two Vlad-esque golf shot homers, Mike Trout announced his presence in the big leagues with authority.  He may have already hit three home runs in his brief career, but for someone his age to hit two homers in one game in a cavernous ballpark like Safeco, that is something awfully hard to chalk up to sheer luck.  We had all heard about Trout's vast potential, but to see it manifest itself like this so early still comes as a surprise.  Players at his age, even the ones that went on to be legends, almost NEVER perform well, but it looks like Trout is well on his way to bucking that trend.  What makes it even more impressive is that his power was supposed to be his one trait that was going to take more time to develop.

Somewhere in here I should probably issue some sort of small sample size warning, but that is more of a cover my ass statement.  The more we see of Trout, the more and more it is obvious that the sky really is the limit when it comes to assessing hsi potential.  The only question remaining with him now is... wait for it... you know it is coming... here it is........... will Scioscia keep playing him?  Come on, you didn't really think I wasn't going to rain on the parade a little bit did you?

Trout has been unstoppable since being recalled, so he deserves playing time, but with Wells and Abreu starting to produce Scioscia can't risk benching either of them since he doesn't want to sabotage his veterans who are FINALLY starting to get going.  Granted, it is a good kind of problem to have, but it is still a problem and one which I think doesn't have any answers that are going to make many people happy.

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Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim   (72-62) @ Seattle Mariners (57-76)

Pitching Probables: LAA – Jerome Williams (1-0, 4.82 ERA)  SEA – Anthony Vasquez (1-0, 8.44 ERA)

Game Info: 7:10 PM PT; TV - Fox Sports West; Radio - KLAA 830 AM

It wasn't so long ago that the Angels were a great road team and a poor team.  Back on June 26th, the day before the Angels started a long, successful homestand, they stood a 15-20 at home and 24-20 on the road, the fourth best AL road record at the time.  My, how times have changed.

Since then, they've seen their home record jump all the way to a sparkling 38-28, but their road magic seems to have abandoned them.  After losing nine of their last fourteen road games, including three consecutive series losses, the Angels have now fallen to 34-34 on the road, meaning they could be a losing team away from home if they choke away tonight's game.

What gives?  How could this be?  How did this virtually unchanged Angel roster go from road warriors to road woe-rriors?

I sat down to write a nice little preview about some of the youngsters that the Angels might be planning on calling up this September to bolster their roster as they try and keep their slowly fading playoff hopes alive.  This is a piece I typically enjoy writing because it is like getting to unwrap a shiny brand new toy.  This year?  Not so much.

Why is that exactly?  Because Mike Scioscia hates young people.  That's the best that I can figure.  Tony Reagins can call up the entire farm system if he wants to come Thursday, but it won't make a lick of difference since Mike Scioscia has shown a total disregard for any of the youngsters he has under his command.

I don't care if Mike Trout might be the greatest player this team has ever seen, I'm not going to play him until he turns 34!

I was too preoccupied with worrying about Joel Pineiro blowing his start to even think about how potent at blowing games our bullpen is. It didn't cross my mind that the blowpen could ruin the Angels chances at winning the game until Takahashi's unfortunate face appeared on the tv screen, warming up his arm for another shot at blowing another game. I know the Angels loved their signing of Fernando Rodney two years ago; they loved it so much they had to go out and sign a left handed version of him this past offseason. Little did they know what we, the fans, knew about these two pitchers before they got signed to this team.

They suck.

Angels 3 Mariners 5 

The August 30th, 2011 edition of daily news for the LA Angels including Weaver's contract extension details are revealed, Scioscia doesn't regret the way he handled his starters in Texas, Vernon Wells is finally helping to spark the Angel offense and much more...

The Story: The contract details of Jered Weaver's extension are revealed.

The Monkey Says: Weaver will average $17 million on his deal, but he will only make $14 million next and then $16 million in 2013 and 2014 before getting a raise to $18 million and $20 million in the last two years of the deal.  This is actually pretty important because the Angels' budget is obviously stretched for the next few years, so saving an extra $3 million next year should give them a little extra wiggle room to make some additions this off-season.

The Story: Mike Scioscia doesn't regret the way he handled his starters, particularly Weaver, during the Texas series.

The Monkey Says: Nor should he, Santana did just fine and Weaver was good enough before the fateful seventh inning.  The problem continues to be the Angel bullpen and how little Scioscia trusts it, justifiably.

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Los Angeles Angels Anaheim (72-61) @ Seattle Mariners (56-76)

Pitching Probables: LAA – Joel Pineiro (5-6, 5.37 ERA)  SEA – Blake Beavan (3-4, 4.14 ERA)

Game Info: 7:10 PM PT; TV - FS-W; Radio - KLAA 830 AM

Despite what the majority thinks of the Angels @ Rangers series the past weekend, the Angels did in fact get the job done. Pulling 1 win out of Texas to stay a close 3 games back puts this team in striking distance of the Rangers while they go off to face Hellickson and the Tampa Bay Rays while the Angels go on to face the lowly Mariners in Seattle. After yesterdays tough loss to the Rangers the Angels need to pick up today's win to keep the gap from widening any more if the Rangers do end up pulling a victory out of Tampa. Unfortunately for the Angels they are in no better position tonight, as they are entrusting Joel Pineiro to tighten the gap in the AL West.