A major part of Jerry Dipoto's bullpen rebuilding plan, Sean Burnett brings a lot to the table, including a crooked hat, question marks about his health and ability to repeat his stellar 2012 performance.

2012 Stats: 56.2 IP, 1-2, 2 SV, 2.38 ERA. 2.79 FIP, 58 H, 12 BB, 4 HR, 57 SO, 2.51 GB/FB, 1.1 fWAR

2013 ZiPS Projections: 56.1 IP, 3.51 ERA. 3.40 FIP, 54 H, 17 BB, 5 HR, 48 SO, 0.5 fWAR

2013 Bill James Projections: 55.0 IP, 3-3, 0 SV, 3.60 ERA. 3.68 FIP, 54 H, 15 BB, 5 HR, 40 SO

2013 CAIRO Projections: 60.0 IP, 3-3, 1 SV, 3.13 ERA. 3.32 FIP, 57 H, 18 BB, 4 HR, 50 SO, 0.8 fWAR

2013 MWAH Projections*: 55.0 IP, 2-2, 2 SV, 3.27 ERA. 3.49 FIP, 52 H, 20 BB, 4 HR, 48 SO

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

The February 21st, 2013 edition of daily news for the Los Angeles Angels including Pujols won't play in games until mid-March, Rangers fans to give Hamilton the silent treatment and much more...

The Story: Albert Pujols will not appear in Cactus League games until mid-March at the earliest.

The Monkey Says: Most guys like Pujols don't play in games the first week or two anyway, so this isn't that big of a deal so long as he actually does start playing in game by that designated deadline.

The Story: Some Rangers fans are planning on giving Josh Hamilton the silent treatment when he return to Arlington.

The Monkey Says: You know what? I actually like this plan. I think maybe Texas fans are overreacting to his comments, but by not booing him or holding up offensive signs or anything like that they are taking the high road. The silent treatment is a great way to show your displeasure without being overly disrespectful.

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Are you willing to provide slave labor work for free?

If so, you're in luck! We at Monkeywithahalo.com are looking to add more writers to our top-notch staff. If you meet the following requirements or are morally bankrupt enough to lie about it, then we want to hire you:

--Must be an Angels fan. All violators of this requirement will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law.

--Must have a unique perspective or field of expertise. Sorry, but we're not looking for someone who can write good press release copy.

--Must be able to write on at least a semi-regular schedule. I'm not your mom and don't have time to harass you to make sure your homework is done.

--Must be able to press the spell check button. Seriously, this seems to be a lot harder than you would think.

We are specifically looking for someone who can contribute weekly columns and/or provide game recaps once or twice per week. If you think you can provide something out of the box like video, audio or art content, that would also be of particular interest.

If interested, please send two writing samples and at least three additional ideas for article topics as well as any qualifications you feel are relevant to monkeywithahalo(at)gmail(dot)com. If not interested, take an inventory of your life, go to your room and do some serious thinking.

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The MWAH prospect countdown marches on with the first hitter taken by the Angels in the 2012 Amateur Draft.

Alex Yarbrough
Position: 2B  Highest Level: Double-A
Bats: Switch Throws: Right  Height: 5'11" Weight: 180 lbs.
Age: 21  Born: 8/3/91

2012 Season Stats
Low-A: 256 PA, .287 AVG, .320 OBP, .410 SLG, 12 2B, 9 3B, 0 HR, 27 RBI, 20 SO, 9 SB, 2 CS, .309 BABIP
Double-A: 18 PA, .111 AVG, .111 OBP, .167 SLG, 1 2B, 0 3B, 0 HR, 0 RBI, 3 SO, 0 SB, 0 CS, .133 BABIP
 

Contact – A.  Yarbrough has a beautiful, compact swing from the right side and strong lift from the left side, with an almost equally as compact swing.  He’s one of the few college hitters that will come into professional ball with minimal adjustments to be made if any.    

Power – B.  This is where MWAH (well me, I can’t speak for Garrett) differ from every other prospect publication.  The other sites believe Yarbrough has some pop but middling power at best.  I disagree, I see quite a bit of power projection in his swing.  I see Yarbrough hitting 30+ doubles per year and 10-15 HR’s, which is really solid for a middle infielder.   

Discipline – B-  I haven’t seen Yarbrough being overwhelmed by any pitchers so far.  He’s laid off pitches that were out of the zone and made really solid contact on balls that were hittable.  He’s not going to walk a lot, but he seems to be rather adept and staying tough no matter what the count.

Speed – B.  Alex can run.  He isn’t extremely fast among middle infielders, but he’s athletic and is a smart base runner.  I can see him swiping 15-25 bags on a regular basis. 

Arm – B-.  Yarbrough has enough arm strength to play 2B with ease.  If the Angels tried him in the outfield however, I’m not sure it would play out any better than below average. This shouldn’t be a problem though, because I don’t envision Yarbrough being forced to move off second base.       

Performance – B+.  He put up ridiculous numbers at Ole Miss in a tough SEC division.  Despite that performance, scouts weren’t sure how he’d fair against minor league pitchers.  So far, so good.  Yarbrough hit .287 in A-Ball and even spent the final five games of the season in AA, where he wasn’t embarrassed despite the advanced competition and the fact that three months earlier, he was playing college ball.

Projection – B+.  This is again, where most prospect publications and I do not see eye to eye.  I see tremendous projection in Yarbrough.  I could see him turning into potentially an above average defender that hits for average, swipes some bases and tallies 50 extra base hits per season.  Basically, I see him being a switch-hitting Howie Kendrick that doesn’t enter the major leagues with the ridiculous “future batting title” hype.  Regardless, that’s an above average second baseman.  But fair warning, all other publications do not share this opinion.  They seem him being a solid second baseman that doesn’t necessarily open any eyes.  A fringe major leaguer perhaps.  Personally, not only Yarbrough’s ability, but his baseball IQ, ability to adjust and the intangibles have me convinced he’s considerably more.  Give it a few years and we’ll see who is right.   

(*As always, the above scouting report is provided by Scotty Allen of LA Angels Insider)

The February 20th, 2013 edition of daily news for the Los Angeles Angels including Burnett hurt his back lifting his kid, why we need WAR and much more...

The Story: Sean Burnett apparently suffered his back injury while lifting his child into a shopping cart.

The Monkey Says: This is something of an annual tradition for him it seems. If I recall, he hurt his back last spring reaching into his locker or something like that. It is good that he is already feeling better and that the injury only ever lasts a few days, but it is still troubling that he can tweak his back so easily.

The Story: Sam Miller explains why we all need WAR as a statistic, no matter what our feelings are towards sabermetrics.

The Monkey Says: The jumping off point, of course, was the Trout-Cabrera MVP race, which is great because it gives me an excuse to link to this wonderful piece. This is one of the best, most rational and most understandable pieces I have ever read explaining WAR. Alas, I fear that this is just one of those things where people have already made up their mind. It is kind of like explaining all the obvious holes and flaws in a devout person's religion. What you are saying makes perfect sense and is hard to argue with, but the devout person is almost always going to choose to disregard all your points because accepting them would be such a monumental shift to their world view.

The biggest signing in the history of the Angels, Albert Pujols career as a Halo got off to one of the rockiest starts in the history of rocky starts. While he repaired much of the damage by season's end, questions remain as to whether or not Albert's best days are already well behind him.

2012 Stats: 670 PA, .285 AVG, .343 OBP, .516 SLG, 85 R, 30 HR, 105 RBI, 8 SB, 1 CS, 76 K, .360 wOBA, 141 OPS+, 3.9 fWAR

2013 ZiPS Projections: 638 PA, .285 AVG, .359 OBP, .516 SLG, 88 R, 31 HR, 94 RBI, 10 SB, 2 CS, 72 K, .354 wOBA, 103 OPS+, 5.3 fWAR

2013 Bill James Projections: 690 PA, .305 AVG, .394 OBP, .564 SLG, 105 R, 38 HR, 117 RBI, 9 SB, 4 CS, 73 K, .398 wOBA

2013 CAIRO Projections: 672 PA, .284 AVG, .359 OBP, .517 SLG, 95 R, 33 HR, 111 RBI, 10 SB, 2 CS, 76 K, .374 wOBA

2013 MWAH Projections*: 685 PA, .300 AVG, .361 OBP, .533 SLG, 95 R, 33 HR, 121 RBI, 7 SB, 4 CS, 83 K, .385 wOBA

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

I don't want to sound toooo misleading off of that title there, there won't be any "stealing" of jobs by Ernesto Frieri. Although the fact is that Mike Scioscia does happen to prefer Ryan Madson as the Angels full-time closer this season he has not been officially given the job yet. While it's been made clear the Angels want Madson to close for them they do acknowledge the fact that the job is up for grabs, no one has safely earned the job yet. This is business as usual in Spring Training, every manager on every team spouts the usual "We would like to see so-and-so playing this position, but it's still up for grabs. Anyone can win the job with an impressive Spring Training."

Normally you would think that this means "Sure other people can try to earn the job, but it'll probably go to so-and-so at the end of the day", yet there are certain factors in here that make the case between Ryan Madson and Ernesto Frieri a tad bit more complicated. Let’s start this one looking at Ryan Madson's side of the battle. Although he has shown to be an All-Star closer in previous years he is currently recovering from Tommy John surgery, though there are no major setbacks that will impede his progress in making the team. The only problem is that he isn't slated to return to the Angels until after Opening Day, and with his recent shutdown due to "stiffness" (which an MRI ruled as non-major) his progress will be held back a few weeks at most. While a few weeks isn't even close to enough to automatically stamping out his dreams of closing for the Angels it is more than enough for Frieri to claim the title of "closer" as his own. 

The biggest issue with Ernesto Frieri down the stretch last season was his vulnerability to the homerun ball based off the spottiness of his fastball in high pressure situations. I don't need to go pulling out the numbers to remind you guys of the fatal stretch against the Kansas City Royals and Texas Rangers at the tail end of the season that cost the Angels what looked to be for sure victories. These would have been victories that would have strengthened the Angels playoff contention as much as it did to weaken them. Regardless of Frieri’s fleeting moments of vulnerability he has shown to have one of the best fastballs in baseball; over 70% of his recorded K's came off his fastball and two-seamer. Maybe 70% of strikeouts coming off fastballs doesn't seem too out of the ordinary to the average baseball fan, once you take into account his absolutely ridiculous 13.3 K/9 rate. That's 80 strikeouts over a period of 54.1 innings pitched, and as a matter of fact Frieri was a top 5 leader in reliever appearances with 2 strikeouts or more last season. While he did have some trouble with his control, noted by his 4.3 BB/9 rate, he did more than enough to keep batters from putting the ball in play. Even though he did give up a few free passes, at times giving multiple walks in an inning, his pure stuff was great enough to keep batters from putting the ball in play and getting consistent movement on the basepaths.

In other words, Frieri was a polyester-clad god at keeping action on the basepaths to a minimum despite the walks.

If Frieri was so dominate as the Angels closer for the better part of last year then why not just let him keep the job? Simply put, the Angels bullpen needs significant depth changes and Ryan Madson has an excellent track record as a closer. Madson has pitched in 9 separate postseason series across a 4 year period. During this period Madson personally pitched the last outs of 11 different playoff games while putting up a ridiculous 2.31 postseason ERA. Madson has spent nearly a decade closing in the eternal playoff contention environment of Philadelphia with the Phillies. Frieri spent two years buried in a fantastic San Diego Padres bullpen where he was made to mop up innings and pitch in low-pressure situations before spending little more than half a season closing in Anaheim. Frieri simply does not have the track record Ryan Madson does. If Madson can close to such great success in a high pressure baseball city like Philly then why wouldn't his transition be as smooth to the new AL powerhouse in Anaheim?