Do the Angels have problems?  Sure they do.  Do I care?  Of course.  Does that matter right now?  No.  Why not?  Because I just want to talk about how awesome Jered Weaver is.

Seriously, how awesome is Jered Weaver?!?!  Two straight complete games, a shutout, a 0.99 ERA, six wins in six starts and he once again is leading the majors in strikeouts.  Did I miss anything?  I'm sure I did, because Weaver has just been so amazingly good this year that it is impossible to summarize all of his impressive feats.  Heck, it seems like there is nothing Jered can't do at this point.  Maybe I'm getting a little too excited here, but I'm not even against the idea of letting him hit for himself at this point just because everything else he has touched has turned to gold (OK, that's clearly too far, time to reel this thing in).

Daily Links for the LA Angels including Amarista gets called up, Morales' rehab stalls, Pineiro has a strong rehab start and much more...

The Story: Alexi Amarista was called up and Reggie Willits was demoted yesterday.

The Monkey Says: Amarista is presumably getting the call to provide some infield insurance while Maicer Izturis nurses a sore hammy.  This is still an odd move though.  Amarista is a well-thought of prospect for the Halos and is red hot at Salt Lake, so it only makes since to call him up if they are going to use him, but the middle infield is the one area that the Angels don't need help.  If this was just a depth move, they easily could have promoted Andrew Romine instead.  Sosh even basically suggested that Amarista may not play at all.

The Story: Kendrys Morales' rehab program has stalled.

The Monkey Says: I don't think we are getting the whole story here.  For a guy who was supposedly close to being ready to start the season, he can't seem to get past the running in the field step of his rehab program.

The Story: Joel Pineiro appeared strong in his rehab start.

The Monkey Says: The article suggests he might make another rehab start, but I don't see how the Halos don't have him rejoin the rotation on Saturday, provided he still feels good when he wakes up tomorrow.,

Weaver once again shows himself up with a complete game shutout, proving me wrong. In other words: nothing new to see here,  just move along.

Angels 5 Athletics 0    

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Oakland Athletics   (11-11) @ Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim  (12-10)

Pitching Probables: OAK – Gio Gonzalez (2-1, 1.80 ERA)  LAA – Jered Weaver (5-0, 1.23 ERA)

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

So the Angels are coming off a 4 game sweep at the ends of the Red Sox, but can you honestly say you're surprised? The Angels have never had any luck against Boston, The Angels being demolished was practically a foregone conclusion. The good vibes from the road series are officially completely dead, replaced with feelings of ire towards the team. Alas, today is a new day, so let's create some new positive vibes in this home series against Oakland.

Talk about a buzzkill.  One day we are celebrating the Angels as the new AL West division leader.  A few days later the Angels are wallowing in their own misery and trying to figure out how their offense got so bad so fast.

Granted, it wasn't like the lineup was putting up big numbers to begin with, but after getting shutout by the likes of Dice-K and Big John Lackey in the span of 24 hours, some thigns clearly need to change.  The question is what changes will make any kind of difference?

Oh, sorry, did you think that was a rhetorical question?  No, I'm literally asking.  I have no idea how to fix this offense and, sadly, I'm not sure that Mike Scioscia does either.  Ladies and gentlemen, the suggestion box is now officially open.

We aren't even out of April yet and the Angel offense looks to have already gone bust.  With so many things go wrong, do we even know who to blame for this complete and total offensive failure?

Time to vote!

Daily Links for the LA Angels including Wood gets claimed by the Pirates, Pineiro on pace to be back this weekend, Downs placed back on the DL and much more...

The Story: Brandon Wood was claimed on waivers by the Pirates.

The Monkey Says: Well, the era is over even though it never really began.  For Brandon's sake, Pittsburgh might actually be the best possible situation for him since he gets to return to his natural shortstop position and play somewhere where he will be under almost no pressure to perform whatsoever.

The Story: Joel Pineiro will make a rehab start on Monday and hopes to rejoin the Angels this weekend.

The Monkey Says: Joel sounds like he is ready to go right now.  It is worth noting that he is on pace schedule to return Saturday, which suggests that Matt Palmer will be the odd man out in the rotation.

The Story: Scott Downs was placed on the DL due to a virus that caused him to lose ten pounds in three days.

The Monkey Says: This guy just can't catch a break, can he?  Hopefully he will be back and finally healthy soon, if only so he can finally make me look smart for saying he will make the Angel bullpen markedly better.