Daily Links for the LA Angels including Reagins talks Branyan signing, Kendrick hits the DL, Scioscia says home plate collisions are part of the game and much more...

The Story: Tony Reagins talks about the Russell Branyan signing.

The Monkey Says: I gave my two cents on the signing yesterday, but it is good to hear what Tony has to say.  I like the idea of having Trumbo be used a little less often so as to hide his flaws some and I also think it is smart to have Trumbo start practicing in LF.  What I do think this sort of indicates though that the Halos are hoping that this will be the only real acquisition they make during the season. If Branyan does what they hope he can do, I believe they'll just wait this out and hope for improvement from within to breath some life into the offense.

The Story: Howie Kendrick has been placed on the disabled list because of his lingering hamstring issues.

The Monkey Says: Sounds like the Angels are just playing it safe.  Hopefully Howie can return by next weekend.  And I do mean hopefully because I can't stand watching Reggie Willits anymore.

The Story: Mike Scioscia says home plate collisions like the one that injured Buster Posey is just part of the game.

The Monkey Says: Considering that Sosh made blocking the plate into a fine science in his playing days, I didn't expect him to say anything less.  Personally, I think the same thing as Sosh.  The only reason this is such a big deal is because it was a marketable young star like Posey and not some scrub like Bobby Wilson.  I don't remember calling for a rule change when Darin Erstad nearly caved in Johnny Estrada's head and basically ended his career several years ago.

Now I'm gonna be late to class and the Angels don't even have a win to show for it. Thanks a lot Brett Anderson.

Angels 3 Athletics 4

This just in via Twitter, the Angels have signed Russell Branyan.

I'm not normally one to get excited about a team singing a 35-year old slugger with a bad back that the Arizona Diamondbacks recently decided wasn't good enough to play for them, but I am going to make an exception this time.

Before this signing, if someone were to ask be the three things the Angel offense was missing the most my response would have been:

1. More homers
2. Bench depth
3. A left-handed power threat

But now that Branyan has signed up, those three have all been addressed in one fell swoop.  OK, so maybe they still need more power and their depth is just less of an issue now, but hey, its an improvement.  Probably the best news of all is that the Angels finally have another guy over 5'10" to put in the lineup.

@
Oakland Athletics   (23-27) @ Los Angeles Angels Anaheim (26-25)

 Pitching Probables: OAK –Brett Anderson (2-4, 3.18 ERA)  LAA – Joel Pineiro (2-0, 2.67 ERA
 
   Game Info: 12:35 PM PT; TV - Fox Sports West; Radio - KLAA 830 AM

If the Angels can pull this series before Minnesota rolls into town things would be all "gravy", as those kids like to say, for this team. The Twins are one of the worst teams in baseball right now, fattening up on the weakest team would do wonders for this teams confidence. The first confidence they should look forward too is finishing this series strong.

Daily Links for the LA Angels including calling up Trout in 2011 isn't such a longshot anymore, Kendrick could hit the DL today, Moreno rated the third best owner in MLB and much more...

The Story: Mike Scioscia is starting to soften on his stance against calling up Mike Trout.

The Monkey Says: The Angels said loud and clear before the season that Trout would not be called up in 2012 for even one second.  They were rather adamant about it at the time, but Scioscia says that he might be willing to consider at least talking about it in a month or so.  For the record, I am against taking that kind of gamble with Trout even though the Angels could really use the help.

The Story: Kendrick could go on the DL tomorrow, but Vernon Wells is making progress in rehab.

The Monkey Says: That is good news for Wells, but not so good news for Kendrick.  The Angels have a tendency to play it safe with injuries, so I am guessing Howie will be forced into a short DL stint, which means more Amarista and Willits for us (booooo!).

The Story: ESPN ranks Arte Moreno as the third-best owner.

The Monkey Says: I would have agreed with that before last off-season.  His complete inability to understand the free agency market embarrassed the franchise and should have cost him a few spots in these rankings.  That being said, Moreno is incredibly fan-friendly and dedicated to winning, which is something that can't be said about most owners in pro sports.

I didn't see much of this game, but I did get to follow al of it on Gameday. What I did see were some pretty spiffy home runs, a nice RBI "hit" by Bourjos, and two rookies busting a slump in grand fashion.

Angels 4 A's 1 

@
Oakland Athletics (23-26) @ Los Angeles Angels Anaheim (25-25)

Pitching Probables: OAK – Trevor Cahill (6-1, 1.79 ERA)  LAA – Ervin Santana (2-4, 4.18 ERA)

Game Info: 7:05 PM PT; TV - Fox Sports West; Radio - KLAA 830 AM

Holding that crown is the one and only Ervin Santana. Santana, being the proud owner of a sub 2 ERA against the A's in 19 games, is bound to bring the home crowd a pretty little victory. He's coming off a CG shutout, so logic only states that he carries that momentum into today's game.