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Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (34-37) @ New York Mets (34-36)

Pitching Probables: LAA – Dan Haren (6-4, 2.54 ERA)  NYM -- Mike Pelfrey (3-5, 5.11 ERA)

                                                                     Game Info: 4:10 PM PT; TV - Fox Sports West; Radio - KLAA 830 AM

  After last night's nailbiter thanks to a shaky but ultimately effective bullpen, The Angels look to settle things down by throwing Co-Ace Dan Haren at the Mets. I have to admit that this series is a primary argument against interleague play. Here are two below .500 teams in the middle of their divisions which leads to something of a boring series to write about and watch. But with re-alignment on the horizon in some form, I guess we all should get used to these sorts of non-descript matchups more often.

I would imagine right about now Joel Pineiro is finally breathing again after the tense ending to his 100th career victory. Thanks to some timely hitting and the rollercoaster ride that was the bullpen, Pineiro becomes the fourth Puerto Rican born player to win 100 games in the majors. More importantly, the Angels inched a little closer to the .500 mark and hopefully are starting to play with more confidence as the road trip from hell continues.

Angels 4 Mets 3 
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Poor Tony Reagins, all he does is try his best to create a team of winners yet he falls flat on his face time and time again. He's had some huge busts, there is no denying that, but he has also had his fair share of glorious victories. The oh so common saying "the best move is the move never made" is as true as it is old, but how does it apply to Tony Reagins? 


Did you know his middle name is Dolt? It's almost as if his parents knew.

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Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (33-37) @ New York Mets (34-35)

Pitching Probables: LAA – Joel Piniero (2-3 4.03 ERA)  SEA – Chris Capuano (5-6, 4.40 ERA)

Game Info: 4:10 PM PT; TV - Fox Sports West; Radio - KLAA 830 AM

The Angels head to the big apple to take on the red headed stepchild of NY Sports, the lovable Mets. In some ways these two teams are alike. Both live in the shadow of a more famous older brother. Both were born at roughly the same time. And both fan bases always seem surprised when their team plays well.
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Yesterday, it was reported that Angels owner Arte Moreno has told GM Tony Reagins that he is not permitted to add anymore payroll this season.

Apparently this is supposed to be some kind of earth-shaking revelation.  Why?  I have no idea.  Just because Arte allegedly handed down the ultimatum recently doesn't mean that this isn't something that has been common knowledge for quite some time.

All it takes is a little brain power and a little bit of memory jogging to see how this decision has been in the cards since this last off-season.

We all know I love the Angels, but some of you may not know that I am also a reformed comic book nerd.  By reformed, I mean that I no longer actively read comic books, though I still maintain an interest.  The main way I get my fix nowadays is via the glut of comic book movies that Hollywood has been churning out recently.  In fact, I just got to see X-Men: First Class.

It was a very well done movie in almost every aspect (with the exception of January Jones' awful acting).  I should have loved the movie.  I should have been raving about it.  But... well, I just don't give a crap anymore.

Maybe I am just getting old and the fanboy inside me is fading away, but this movie didn't do anything for me.  Nor does the Green Lantern movie that opens today (although I am pretty sure I lack interest in that one because it looks like giant piece of green-colored crap).  Not even the release of the Captain America movie later this summer has me excited.

I hate to say, but I think the entertainment industry has spoiled a good thing by inundating us with it until we are all oversaturated.  Stupid, Hollywood, you just have to ruin everything, don't you?

A pretty good movie, but still, I just couldn't get that into it.

Daily Links for the LA Angels including Moreno tells Reagins no more spending, more Kazmir release reactions, the Angels now have a three-man catching rotation and much more...

The Story: Arte Moreno reportedly told Tony Reagins that the team cannot add any more payroll this season.

The Monkey Says: I've got some more thoughts on this major but obvious development later today.  However, this doesn't mean the Halos won't make trades as they could always do what the Rangers did last season and just give up bigger prospect packages in return for the other teams eating more salary.  Of course, that means the Angels need to be in position to be buyers and not sellers at the deadline.

The Story: Assessing the demise of Scott Kazmir.

The Monkey Says: I think a lot of people overlook Kazmir's history of relatively minor but persisting arm problems.  He never had to have major surgery or had to miss giant chunks of time, but my theory has long been that those nagging arm problems ultimately sapped him of his natural ability and velocity and screwed up his mechanics.