It finally happened. Jerry Dipoto granted the wish of many an Angel fan by making Vernon Wells disappear.

No, not like that. Instead, Dipoto found himself a sucker in the form of the New York Yankees who are so desperate for healthy players that they not only acquired Wells via trade but have supposedly agreed to pay $13 million of his remaining $42 million owed.

#yankees are to pay $13M of the $42M on wells deal thru 2014.

— Jon Heyman (@JonHeymanCBS) March 24, 2013

For what it is worth, Ken Rosenthal is saying it is only $10 million, but either way it is a bigger chunk of change than we could've hoped for which kind of makes me wonder if Tony Reagins was serving as a special advisor to the Yankees on this deal. In fact, that amount is so sizeable that it could actually free up enough payroll space for the Angels to go out and acquire some relief help right now or a biggish contract at the trade deadline. This all but assures that Kole Calhoun will remain on the roster to serve as the Angels' primary back-up outfielder, though it does mean that the Halos have pretty much no veteran presence on the bench, which may not sit well with Scioscia. But that is more than off-set by no longer having a perennial punchline on the roster, even if he did have that "veteran presence."

Well, done, Jerry. Well done.

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The March 22nd, 2013 edition of daily news for the Los Angeles Angels including 'dead arm' no longer troubling Weaver, wondering whether Trout or Harper have a higher ceiling and much more...

The Story: Jered Weaver threw nearly 90 pitches with an 89 MPH fastball in an intrasquad game yesterday.

The Monkey Says: His annual dead arm phase is now behind him and Weaver appears to be feeling quite good, which is a big relief for everyone.

The Story: Does Mike Trout or Bryce Harper have the higher ceiling?

The Monkey Says: I hate this comparison still, but given that Trout has already had a 10-WAR season, which is incredibly rare, I really don't see how he doesn't have a higher ceiling.

Last year I did this little exercise to demonstrate how much bang the Angels got for their buck payroll-wise. It was a look back at how on a WAR basis, the Angels' various investments paid off. Folks seemed to like it, so I thought I'd do it again.

As with last year, the big caveat is that this is a valuation model of about $4.5 million per WAR. That amount is essentially what the player would be paid if he were to hit the open market. Obviously, a lot of players don't hit the open market which is why youngsters like Trout and Trumbo provide so much monetary value. Even with that in mind, it is still fun to look over, if only to realize just how lucky the Angels are to have Trout under control for the next five years.

Here is how the WAR to salary breakdown worked for the 2012 season (italicized figures are estimates):

The March 21st, 2013 edition of daily news for the Los Angeles Angels including Tommy Hanson is OK after triceps scare, Pujols says he is too young to be a DH and much more...

The Story: Tommy Hanson left yesterday's game with triceps tightness but will not need an MRI and fully expects to make his next start.

The Monkey Says: But at least he scared the crap out of everyone for like 10 minutes. The person I feel the worst for is Kyle Lohse who probably thought he was about to finally find a job.

The Story: A look at how Jered Weaver's return to his old arm slot, while subtle could be a very good thing.

The Monkey Says: You know that post from the other day saying how slim a chance Weaver had at regaining his velocity? Well, suck on this!

So, this just happened in the Angels' Spring Training game today:

#Angels Tommy Hanson is leaving the game after 3 innings with an unknown injury. He had not thrown a pitch in the inning.

— Jeff Fletcher (@JeffFletcherOCR) March 20, 2013

Now excuse me for a minute while I try and find the nearest panic button.

OK, I'm back. And while I was out Fletcher followed up claiming he has tricep tightness. That sounds minor, but any kind of injury to Hanson is cause for alarm given his history of shoulder and back problems. In fact, I've written extensively the last two days about Hanson's health as it relates to his reduced velocity (and he supposedly was in the 89-91 range today), so even a minor injury is cause for long-term concern even if it isn't to his troublesome shoulder. Besides, the triceps issue is just the preliminary complaint and could lead to a more serious diagnosis once the Angels trainers check him out.

If it is a short-term thing, the Angels have internal options to fill his slot in the form of Jerome Williams or, more likely, Garrett Richards. If this ends up being serious, those two could also be called upon, but there will undoubtedly also be speculation that the Halos could pursue Kyle Lohse (and one can only assume Scott Boras used his dark powers to sense the disturbance in the force when Hanson left the game and already has a call in to Jerry Dipoto) or maybe inquire on Rick Porcello.

For now, we just have to sit back and await further word from the Halos. Stay tuned.

UPDATE: Step back from the ledge and stop staring at Kyle Lohse's Baseball-Reference page, Hanson says he is just fine

No MRI for Hanson. Says tightened up for only two pitches and he's planning on making his next start.

— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) March 20, 2013

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The Angels took a big gamble trading for Tommy Hanson in the off-season. Will he bounce back and push the Angels rotation to the next level or will he turn out to be the second coming of Scott Kazmir?

2012 Stats: 174.2 IP, 13-10, 4.48 ERA. 4.57 FIP, 183 H, 71 BB, 27 HR, 161 SO, 1.01 GB/FB, 1.0 fWAR

2013 ZiPS Projections: 169.2 IP, 11-10, 3.92 ERA, 4.09 FIP, 166 H, 57 BB, 22 HR, 149 SO, 2.1 fWAR

2013 Bill James Projections: 160.0 IP, 9-9, 3.66 ERA, 3.82 FIP, 142 H, 61 BB, 18 HR, 156 SO

2013 CAIRO Projections: 169.1 IP, 11-8, 3.98 ERA, 3.93 FIP, 165 H, 58 BB, 21 HR, 150 SO

2013 MWAH Projections*: 165.0 IP, 13-10, 4.31 ERA, 4.52 FIP, 165 H, 69 BB, 23 HR, 144 SO

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

Poor, poor Luis Jimenez, in any other organization he would likely be battling for a starting spot during Spring Training. In fact, in most other organizations, Jimenez would have already won the Opening Day 3B job, if not the job as a backup. His impressive .314 BA/.395 OBP/.429 SLG% is deserving of a spot on the regular season roster, but that just won't happen for Luis Jimenez with the Angels.

The 25-year old 3B prospect has never really gotten the chance to break through with the Angels and it looks like he'll never get the chance with Alberto Callaspo signed for the next two years until Kaleb Cowart is ready to take over the job. It's not that Jimenez is some slouch prospect however, he has shown impressive power in the minors.

The last two years Jimenez has tallied over 35 doubles and 15 homeruns per season which would theoretically give the Angels the power they've been craving from the hot corner. His ability to make consistent contact as a "free-swinger" is impressive in the idea that it complements his power while giving him a tool many free-swinging prospects his age don't possess. Unfortunately, his plate discipline is not nearly as up to snuff with his other tools, cracking the big leagues with poor strike zone judgment and difficulties working the count will put Jimenez in the hole far too often for him to successfully control his plate appearances. On top of that he would be taking away a fair amount of defensive value given by Alberto Callaspo, who was a top five 3B in terms of UZR in the 2012 season . While Jimenez may not necessarily get on base as much as Callaspo he will provide more power, giving the Angels another impact bat in the lineup (though 35+ doubles and 15+ HR's isn't a massive jump from Callaspo, though it is strong progress).

Jimenez has shown big improvements in his plate discipline this Spring Training, drawing a walk in a third of his plate appearances. If that can translate to a full season Jimenez would go from "solid impact bat" to "perpetual threat"; unfortunately the Angels aren't too interested in giving him the chance to prove this. Don't get me wrong, the Angels are very much justified in going with Callaspo over Jimenez, especially when you consider the fact that the team will need to be as defensively superior as possible in order to win important games. The offense of this team is strong enough already so keeping the defense in tip-top shape is the only way to prop up the susceptible pitching staff. 

This just leaves us with one question: What in the world will the Angels do with Luis Jimenez?