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Los Angeles Angels Anaheim (29-28) @ Kansas City Royals (24-30)

Pitching Probables: LAA – Tyler Chatwood (3-2, 4.13 ERA)  KC – Felipe Paulino (0-4, 5.68 ERA)

Game Info: 1:10 PM PT; TV - Fox Sports West; Radio - KLAA 830 AM

Ah, dammit.  The Angels are totally boned.  Really, they should just forfeit this game and get the guys an extra day of rest.  Why you ask?  Because Felipe Paulino is starting.

Who is Felipe Paulino, you ask?  Exactly.  I have no idea and that's the problem.

What I do know about Paulino is that he hasn't made a start all season long and has been generally ineffective pitching in relief.  In other words, he is the exact kind of pitcher that has been making fools of the Angels all season long.

The only remaining question is whether Paulino will merely shutout the Halos or if he will be the pitcher who finally no-hits them?

It's the most wonderful tiiiiiiiime of the year!  Ladies and gentlemen, with the calendar turning to the month of June, we can declare trading season officially open.  But before the real rumors start churning out of the speculation mill, I must perform my annual public service of crafting the definitive (according to me) 2011 Angels wishlist.

I wish the Angels hadn't already blown their wad on Vernon Wells.

Daily Links for the LA Angels including Vernon Wells expected to start rehab this weekend, checking the Angel mock drafts, Segura is climbing the prospect rankings and much more...

The Story: The Angels are hoping to send Vernon Wells out on a rehab assignment this weekend.

The Monkey Says: Even if Wells continues to stink the joint up, the Angels will be better off having his glove in left and without having their depth streched so thin.

The Story: The mock drafts are pouring in for the Angels.

The Monkey Says: Most of the drafts I've seen have the Angels selecting a high school pitcher, but it doesn't seem like they've locked in on one specific player like they have in the past.

The Story: Jean Segura is in Keith Law's updated top 25 prospect list.

The Monkey Says: Segura is still years away from the majors, but him climbing the prospect rankings is always worth getting excited about.

What started out as pretty nice game for the Angels went awry pretty quickly when Joel Pineiro got rattled and threw the game away... literally.

Royals 7, Angels 3

There I was minding my own business watching the Angels jump out to a rare early lead, feeling pretty good about the Halos' chances.  Joel Pineiro was cruising early and seemed to be well on his way to that elusive 100th victory.  But then he had to go and get greedy.

Maybe this is just my own personal bias, but I always get nervous when a pitcher has to field the ball.  Not that most MLB pitchers aren't skilled athletes, but fielding the ball just isn't something most pitchers do on a frequent basis.  I'm not saying they can't field.  I just think most pitchers aren't fully prepared to handle anything other than a routine play.  This is why I screamed "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" when I saw Pineiro field that third inning dribbler and wheel towards second to try and start a doubleplay.

Actually, Pineiro didn't wheel towards second base itself, more like where the second baseman usually places positions himself before the pitch.  The result was a throwing error that caused Pineiro to unravel completely.  Rattled by his mistake, Pineiro proceeded to allow five runs on four hits before finally wiggling out of the inning.

Oh, Joel, if only you had not tried to get fancy and just taken the easy out at first.

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Los Angeles Angels Anaheim (29-27) @ Kansas City Royals (23-30)

Pitching Probables: LAA – Joel Pineiro (2-1, 3.15 ERA)  KC – Jeff Francis (1-5, 4.52 ERA)

Game Info: 5:10 PM PT; TV - Fox Sports West; Radio - KLAA 830 AM

I didn't think yesterday's comeback victory could be more improbable than it already was, but the fallout from the Angels ninth-inning rally has managed to do just that.

As it turns out, the Angels not only got knocked out Joakim Soria in the ninth inning yesterday, they knocked him all the way out of the closer's role.  Soria has been embattled of late for sure, but we are talking about a guy who has probably been the best closer in baseball the previous three seasons.  What I want to know though is whether or not this demotion was merely the culmination of a bad two-week stretch or the sheer embarrassment of gagging away such a cushy lead to such an inept offense.

Relax, I'm kidding around.  But seriously, when is the last time the Halos hit four homers in a game?  A head has got to roll, right?

Who dares to doubt the great and mighty Trout?

In the early portion of this season, some Trout watchers were concerned that Mighty Mike hadn't exactly been burning up the basepaths as he stole a mere four bags in the month of April.  Could it really be that Trout's legendary speed was actually more of a myth?  My theory (OK, maybe I wasn't the only one to come up with it), was that the incessant rain that followed the Travs around in April made for poor running conditions, thus Trout's steal attempts were few and far between.

Survey says..... number one answer!!!!

I'll try not to break my arm patting myself on the back here, but the weather has finally dried up and Trout is taking full advantage to the tune of ten stolen bases in May, with four of those coming in the last week alone.  That four steals in a week thing is made all the more impressive when you consider that Mike only walked or got a base hit ten times last week, and obviously all ten of those on-base opportunities put him in a position where he could even attempt steal.  Plain and simple, Trout has his running shoes on now and he appears to have every intention of making up for all that lost base stealing time in April.

That's it for this week, check back in next week to see what happens to our future hero.  Same Trout Time.  Same Trout Channel... err, blog.

Tony Reagins has and continues to take a lot of flack for the Angels' current shortcomings.  Much of that criticism is justified, but if we are going to slam Tony, it is only fair that we give him credit for the things he actually did right.  And yes, he did do some things right, specifically, his moves this winter did resolve one major problem: fielding.

Yes, fielding.  Whereas the 2010 Angels were an average fielding bunch, at best, the 2011 Angels having the distinction of being the best fielding team in the free world right now.  As of this morning, the Angels are the proud owners of the best UZR in Major League Baseball at 21.8, which is a far cry better than the 7.4 that they compiled in the entirety of 2010.

Bravo, Tony, bravo.

But wait, what exactly did Tony do to fix the fielding problem?