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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.

Eating, sleeping and breathign Angels baseball is a great way to live... most of the time.  However, there are a few things I could do without; chief amongst them is the collection of Angel-related jokes that have been beaten to death over the years.  I think it is high time we identify these lingering pieces of unoriginal humor and ban them from the Halosphere once and for all.

At long last, Scott Kazmir's days as an Angel have come to an end.  I'd say he was put out of his misery, but I don't know if the fans didn't actually suffer more from having to watch Kazmir's epic downward spiral.  Either way, the maligned Kazmir is gone, but as of right now, his legacy seems to be that he will go down as one of the worst Angel acquisitions of all time.

The trade that brought Kazmir to Anaheim certainly wasn't a good one, but does it really deserve such an ignominious distinction?  Believe it or not, I'm not so sure that it does.

Daily Links for the LA Angels including Kazmir finally gets released, Weaver's high pitch counts shouldn't be cause for concern, ESPN calls the Halos the fourth best franchise in sports and much more...

The Story: The Angels finally released Scott Kazmir.

The Monkey Says: This has been inevitable since last year, really.  The Halos gave Kazmir every chance to keep his job, but things just kept getting worse for him.  His acquisition will no doubt go down in Angel history as one of the worst ever, but I'll be taking a look later today on just how bad it really was.

The Story: A retrospective of just how quickly Kazmir's performance declined.

The Monkey Says: It really is staggering how fast Kazmir went from very good to absolutely miserable.  Hopefully he can catch on with a pitching guru like Dave Duncan in St. Louis and salvage his career since he is still plenty young enough to have a quality career.