Daily Links for the LA Angels including the facts on the Morales surgery, Rodriguez to the DL and Jepsen called up, Guillen compares himself to Scioscia and much more...

The Story: The facts on the Kendrys Morales surgery.

The Monkey Says: Don't even bother clicking on that link, the facts are few and far between.  Essentially, there is going to be surgery, but we don't know when our how bad it will be.  What we do know is the Angels need to address what they are going to do now that they know for sure that they won't be getting Kendrys back in 2011.  I'll try and figure that out in a post later today.

The Story: Torii Hunter admits the team was "kinda down" after Morales hurt himself last year.

The Monkey Says: Amazingly, this was written before the big news broke.  One can't help but wonder if the team might not suffer a similar depression now that they have lost Kendrys again.  On the other hand, they never got him back, so how upset can they really be?

The Story: The Angels placed Francisco Rodriguez on the DL and called up Kevin Jepsen.

The Monkey Says: Losing Wolviriguez is no big deal, getting Jepsen back could be though.  The Angels badly need someone to displace Rodney as the righty setup man and Jepsen has the talent to do so even though he actually hasn't been that good in the minors.  One could even argue that Michael Kohn deserved the promotion more, but Jepsen does have a better history.

Fernando Rodney? GET 'EM OUTTA HERE

Kevin Jepsen? GET 'EM OUTTA HERE

Might as well throw in ol' Jeffy while I'm at it.

GET MATHIS OUTTA HERE!

White Sox 5 Angels 4 

I think we all saw this coming, if not when Morales ended up being not ready to start the season, then definitely when news broke about him seeking out a second opinion.

As it turns out, that second opinion was the one we didn't want to hear, that Morales would have to go under the knife again and thus miss the rest of the season.

What is even scarier is just how nebulous this whole situation still is.  From what I gleaned from the various statements on the diagnosis, this surgery is going to be explorative.  In other words, they don't really know what's wrong yet, so they can't even give a timeline for when he will be healthy.  Heck, the best they could offer us was that it would be a "minimum of six months."  A minimum!!!  That means we could be going through this recovery dance again next season.

Just shoot me.

The real question now is where the Angels go from here.  For that, well, I'll try and delve into that tomorrow.  I need to digest this news for a little while first... and maybe bash my head on the keyboard a few times.

@
Chicago White Sox   (14-23) @ Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (21-16)

Pitching Probables: CWS – Jake Peavy (0-0, -.-- ERA)  LAA – Tyler Chatwood (2-1, 4.08 ERA)

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

What a game we have in store for us today, two young pitchers trying to prove their worth in the majors. One is a star attempting to rebound from a devastating injury and the other is a young stud attempting to cement his career in the majors and leave the minors in his rear view. Only one will be able to take that big step today.

And now your monthly edition of Monkeying Around!  This week's guest star: broken promises!!!!  Everyone please give them a round of applause!

Don't cry, monkey.  Some promises are made to be broken.

Daily Links for the LA Angels including Wells' injury isn't as bad as first thought, debating calling up Mike Trout, former GM Dick Walsh passes away and much more...

The Story: Mike Scioscia is relieved that Vernon Wells' groin injury is not as bad as they feared.

The Monkey Says: There is no actual timetable for his return, but they have ruled out surgery.  Still, the Halos could be without Wells for several weeks for all we know.

The Story: Considering the case for and against calling up Mike Trout.

The Monkey Says: I am 100% in the camp of not calling up Trout.  There is a chance he could be OK right away, but his long-term potential is too vast to risk on what might only be a few weeks worth of a call up.  Besides, Mike Scioscia doesn't have the best track record of giving his youngsters playing time right away.

The Story: Former Angels GM Dick Walsh has passed away.

The Monkey Says: Walsh was a major figure in Southern California pro baseball history.  Condolences to his family.

And so begins the legend of the Rally Masks!

Angels 6, White Sox 2

It wasn't a come from behind victory a la the fabled Rally Monkey, but one cannot deny the power of the Rally Masks, which improved to 2-0 after tonight's Halo victory.  The luchadore masks wasted little time in demonstrating their power by way of a three-run first inning for the Angels, giving them a lead from which they would never look back.

Call me superstitious if you want, but I truly believe these masks have some magic in them and, so as not to deplete it all, we must come up with some ground rules for mask usage, just like with the Rally Monkey:

1. The masks only work if Rojas and Gubi wear them.  No exceptions.
2. The masks may only be worn in a game that followed a loss.  Perhaps we should dub them the Slump Buster Masks?
3. Ranchero music must accompany the call to put on the masks until a proper theme song can be chosen. I nominate Enrique Iglesias' "Hero" (since the masks will save the day... and kiss away our pain).  Ricky Martin's "La Vida Loca" is strictly forbidden.

My only concern is that the masks' powers might only work against teams with "Sox" in their name.  I guess we'll have to try them out again later.