The March 29th, 2013 edition of daily news for the Los Angeles Angels including Weaver is the most important player in MLB, Madson feeling better and much more...

The Story: Jered Weaver is the most important player in MLB.

The Monkey Says: That sounds like hyperbole, but I actually agree. The Halos need to have some frontline pitching to back their offense and thatt isn't going to happen if Weaver isn't his normal self. Even if Wilson and Hanson step up, they need an ace like Jered, which is why it is so important that he be able to either regain his velocity or continue to be effective without it.

The Story: Ryan Madson is feeling fatigued, but much better than he has all spring.

The Monkey Says: He has gotten a few more bullpen sessions under his belt but isn't throwing full out yet. The hope remains that he will only miss the first month of the season.

1. Alex Yarbrough will be a Top 5 prospect and finish the season in AA/AAA.

Call it intuition or simply a fool’s wild guess, but the scout in me sees something in Yarbrough that I’m not sure many other publications see.  His stroke is smooth, direct to the ball, no unnecessary movements.  He has gap power but looks like he may have some homerun power eventually.  He’s athletic and is going to hit for average.  I might be going out on a limb here, but I’m really excited about this Yarbrough kid.  I genuinely believe he’ll hit over .300 this year and climb the ladder fast enough to replace Howie Kendrick by the time his contract expires.  I envision Yarbrough beginning the year in the Cal League but being promoted aggressively to AA or AAA around the all-star break, which is incredible given it will be his first year in the minors. 

2. Chevy Clarke will have a breakout season

This is where we test the limits of he term “breakout season”.  By breakout season, I mean that for the first time in his professional career, Chevy Clarke won’t disappoint fans who bought the hype following his first round selection.  Clarke should spend the majority of the season in Burlington playing for the Angels A Ball affiliate.  He’ll contribute across the board, accumulating 30 doubles, 15 home runs 30 stolen bases and a .250 average.  Most surprisingly, Clarke will collect more than 50 base on balls for the second consecutive season.  It won’t be enough to land him on any Top 100 Prospect lists, but it should be enough to make him a relevant prospect again in the organization.   

Goodbye, Vernon Wells. You were great as Wez in Mad Max 2, and iconic as Bennett in Commando, and California will miss you.

What?

Oh. The other one. Better start this again…

Jerry Dipoto has done it again, pulling off the impossible by trading Vernon Wells. He and a chunk of that much derided salary are off to the Yankees, probably the only other team in Baseball with the depth of pocket and roster to be able to afford him.

But let’s not celebrate in an unseemly fashion. Let’s look back on the highlights of Vernon’s two seasons with the Angels.

Yes, really, there were some.

2011 may have been, to put it kindly, a miserable year for Wells, but it had its moments. A grand slam to bury the Orioles, a two run RBI in the bottom of the 10^th to silence the Mariners, a fistful of highlight-worthy catches and outfield plays. And, let’s face it; his return to Toronto on August 12^th, when he walked out to a standing ovation and then put Brandon Morrow’s first pitch to him into the left field seats, was pretty darn cool. For me personally, there was the Fourth of July game, my first at The Big A, when he went 2 for 4 with a solo HR in a 6-1 win over Detroit.

The March 28th, 2013 edition of daily news for the Los Angeles Angels including Trout in GQ, Angels sign Mark Lowe, trade Geltz and much more...

The Story: The Angels signed reliever Mark Lowe to a minor league contract with a invite to spring training.

The Monkey Says: It looks like the Angels are getting really nervous about the bullpen's performance. It seems the plan is to evaluate Lowe, who had been with the Rangers but was just cut by the Dodgers, to see if he is worth a quick add to the roster, otherwise they could stash him in the minors if they think they need a longer evaluation period. He definitely throws hard, but he has not been healthy recently, so this is really just a flier.

The Story: Steve Geltz was traded to the Rays for reliever Dane de la Rosa.

The Monkey Says: Another roll of the dice by Dipoto. Geltz is 25 and has some potential, but it is pretty clear there is something about him the organization didn't like. They get back de la Rosa, a 30-year old flamethrower with all of 12.1 innings of big league experience, so this really seems odd. However, de la Rosa is one of those weird guys that quit baseball for a few years and came back to rack up a bunch of whiffs but also a bunch of walks. Dipoto did find Frieri, so maybe we should give him the benefit of the doubt here.

And now we finally get to the projection you have all been waiting for. And now a player that needs no introduction...

2012 Stats: 639 PA, .326 AVG, .399 OBP, .564 SLG, 129 R, 30 HR, 83 RBI, 49 SB, 5 CS, 139 K, .409 wOBA, 170 OPS+, 10.0 fWAR

2013 ZiPS Projections: 695 PA, .282 AVG, .364 OBP, .507 SLG, 122 R, 29 HR, 83 RBI, 47 SB, 8 CS, 149 K, .371 wOBA, 142 OPS+, 7.4 fWAR

2013 Bill James Projections: 679 PA, .325 AVG, .402 OBP, .564 SLG, 122 R, 30 HR, 87 RBI, 53 SB, 9 CS, 135 K, .410 wOBA

2013 CAIRO Projections: 654 PA, .300 AVG, .383 OBP, .498 SLG, 104 R, 25 HR, 77 RBI, 46 SB, 10 CS, 134 K, .385 wOBA

2013 MWAH Projections*: 720 PA, .319 AVG, .393 OBP, .541 SLG, 138 R, 27 HR, 92 RBI, 60 SB, 8 CS, 125 K, .408 wOBA

*The MWAH projections are simply my best guess based off my own personal opinion and research (my wOBA calculation is approximate)

Preseason is a time for bold predictions. Before opening day, every team is tied for first place, thus springing forth eternal hope for the fans of all teams that this year could be their "year".

1. By the end of 2013, Hank Conger and Chris Iannetta will be in a fairly equal timeshare at catcher.

Chris Iannetta’s the man. He’s earned this title, he’s played like it and no one is disputing this. However, I believe that Iannetta will inevitably need some time on the DL given his recent past and the physical demands of playing catcher for the Angels. This will open the door for Conger to earn some playing time. I believe his defense, or more specifically his throwing will progress far enough that Scioscia won’t be afraid to deploy him in Iannetta’s absence. Conger’s ability to hit from both sides of the plate for average, some power and show good plate discipline will make him an attractive and dangerous option for the Angels. This isn’t to say that Chris Iannetta is going to be bad, quite the contrary, I think he’ll be even better in 2013 than he was in 2012. But a productive Iannetta/Conger timeshare is inherently a better option than any lineup featuring Bobby Wilson or Jeff Mathis on a regular basis as we’ve seen in the past.

2. Josh Hamilton will hit UNDER 30 HR for the Angels in 2013.

This isn’t a “dig” on Josh Hamilton. He’s a great hitter and will continue to be for quite some time. He may have hit 43 HR for Texas last year, but when we look at his career thus far, that appears to be an outlier. In previous season where he had played in 120 games or more, he hit 25, 32 and 32 HR’s. His .359 batting average from 2010 also appears to be an outlier. His strikeouts have since skyrocketed (though to be fair his walks have progressively increased as well). So playing for Texas, the norm was more like a .300 batting average with around 30 HR’s. But Hamilton is no longer playing in Texas. The tall wall in RF and the marine layer in Anaheim knock down their fair share of potential HR’s. Hamilton should still be a productive hitter, to the tune of a .290 batting average with 40 doubles and 25+ HR’s, but gone are the MVP caliber days.

The March 27th, 2013 edition of daily news for the Los Angeles Angels including the Wells trade becomes official, Vernon wants to 'Napoli' the Angels and much more...

The Story: The Yankees and Angels officially finalized the Vernon Wells trade with the Angels receiving prospects Kramer Sneed and Exicardo Cayones in addition to nearly $14 million in cash over two years.

The Monkey Says: I guess you could say that it took a lot of Cayones to trade for Wells. Thank you! I'll be here all week. But seriously folks, while Sneed and Cayones both have amazing names, neither are really prospects worth worrying about. The big win here for the Halos is all that sweet, sweet cash. Thanks, Yankees!

The Story: Why the Yankees might have actually been smart to pay that much cash for Wells.

The Monkey Says: I don't fully understand it even re-reading that piece, but apparently it helps out the Yanks and Angels when it comes to luxury tax implications for the Angels to pay $9 million to Wells in 2013 and $20 million in 2014.