In the wake of consecutive arson jobs by Joe Blanton and Barry Enright, the rotation that Jerry Dipoto has come under fire. Well, that's not true, it has been under fire since the first week of the season, but the level of WTF when it comes to the starting pitching is now palpable. How could a GM make over a rotation that struggled last season and somehow replace it with a new rotation that is even worse?

A growing sentiment is that Dipoto is just plain incompetent. That, of course, is stupid. True incompetence would be to build a rotation with no discernible plan. Jerry very much had a plan and a sound one at that. Unfortunately, plans don't always play out like they are supposed to and Dipoto is finding that out the hard way.

The acquisitions of Joe Blanton, Jason Vargas and Tommy Hanson weren't terribly popular. Those three lack the style and flash that Dipoto's other more famous pick ups have had. These weren't big name guys with stellar track records yet they were replacing guys who did have either a big name and/or a good track record in Zack Greinke, Dan Haren and Ervin Santana. That was just fine with Dipoto though because he wasn't acquiring those three because of their marketing potential, he was acquiring them because he thought he was getting known, stable commodities.

The May 16th, 2013 edition of daily news for the Los Angeles Angels including Madson won't rejoin team for several weeks, the Trout-Harper-Machado debate and much more...

The Story: Ryan Madson is moving his rehab to Triple-A for what could be a short stint or "a couple weeks."

The Monkey Says: There was some thought he would be activated yesterday, but now the team appears to be proceeding with caution with Madson. The problem is that they are sending mixed signals about just how long they are going to keep him in the minors as there were some comments suggesting it could be for a few days and others stating it could be several weeks. This is just another wrinkle in his already frustrating recovery. Keeping him out longer might be best though since Madson reportedly was sitting at just 92 MPH in his first rehab outing. He clearly has some rust to work off and it better off doing that in Salt Lake than during games that count. Sure, the Angel bullpen needs help, but not as urgently as they did a few weeks ago.

The Story: Why does the Trout-Harper-(and now) Machado debate have to exist?

The Monkey Says: Thank you! How long have I been saying this? I get the historical significance of having such young players doing so well at the same time, but it doesn't need to be a contentious issue. All three are great. We don't need a Thunderdome death match to determine who is the best. They aren't rivals in any way, shape or form. Stop it, America.

All the Angels want is a chance to turn things around but their thin, decimated roster just isn't affording them one. Take tonight for example. By the third inning the game was essentially over because of how far down the depth chart the Angels have had to go.

Barry Enright, who is the ninth starting pitcher the Halos have used this year, once again proved that he has no business on a big league roster. He knows and, more importantly, Mike Scioscia knows it. That's why Sosh came with a crazy early hook after Enright loaded the bases with no outs in the third inning despite the score being 1-0. Scioscia could see that the situation was only going to end poorly for Enright and pulled him in desperate hope that the bullpen could at least keep the damage to a minimum and give the Angels a shot at getting back into the game against struggling pitcher Wade Davis.

It was an aggressive plan, but a good one as the Halos did knock around Davis and really tested the KC bullpen after that. The problem was the execution. It turns out the bullpen didn't stem the bleeding. More specifically, Mark Lowe couldn't do it as he not only allowed all three inherited runners to score, but tacked on another four runs for good measure. Those proved to be the most costly because Michael Roth, Garrett Richards, Michael Kohn and Robert Coello combined to permit just one more run to cross the plate in six innings of work which meant the Angels lost by, you guessed it, four runs.

That is just the kind of season the Angels are having. They try and make the best of a bad situation and even when they make the right decision, it still goes all wrong.

Royals 9, Angels 5

It looks like the "Fire Scioscia" crowd is going to have to put down their torches and pitchforks for awhile. Angels owner Arte Moreno broke his silence earlier today via comments to Jon Morosi of FoxSports.com and made it very clear that he has no plans to fire Mike Scioscia amidst the Halos current struggles.

Moreno spoke to FOXSports.com outside Major League Baseball’s headquarters in New York, where he is attending this week’s owners’ meetings. He said the chances of an in-season managerial change are “right now, zero.”

“Mike has zero problems, OK?” Moreno said. “This is his 14th year. Mike goes beyond what he does on the field. He’s a good person. He’s a good person in the community, a very good baseball guy. You don’t have to ask me. You just ask other managers, other baseball people.

“Look at 14 years’ worth of productivity. Look at his record. He has two World Series rings with the Dodgers. He has one with the Angels. We’ve been to the playoffs.”

According to Moreno, not only is Scioscia safe, but he claims that he and GM Jerry Dipoto haven't even discussed the topic or anything that pertains to major structural changes within the organization. He also went on to back the Josh Hamilton signing and generally suggest that he is nowhere near panicky or angry.

As much as certain trolls at the LA Times might want you to believe that there is this angry, rampaging version of Moreno who has been stomping around with steam coming out of his ears, Arte comes off quite the opposite here. He is definitely defensive of Scioscia, but not in a belligerent way. It is almost like he is a smart, savvy, level-headed business man who has made over a billion dollars in his lifetime and knows that rash, emotional decisions are almost always bad decisions.

The only chink in his armor here is that he used the phrase “right now, zero.” As definitive as his statements were, he definitely left himself an out to move on from Scioscia down the line. To me, that suggests it is something that he would consider after the season, but certainly not anytime soon.

So, there you have it. Scioscialism is here to stay for at least a few more months. We can all shut up about it until at least August now. Thanks, I appreciate it.

Like MWAH on Facebook

Follow MWAH on Twitter

Slow clap, everyone. Slow clap.  Congratulations, Jerry Dipoto, through the tens of millions of dollars that you spent and the series of trades you swung last off-season, you finally go something right.

Sean Burnett? When healthy, sure, but that healthy part is kind of important.

Tommy Hanson? Meh.

Ryan Madson? I'll let you know if/when he ever dons an Angel uniform.

Josh Hamilton? Of course not.

Joe Blanton? Don't make me punch you.

I'm talking about the "big splash" that was the trade of Jason Vargas who has thus far been a rousing success for the Halos in that Vargas has been exactly what the Angels expected. What? You didn't think a Halo acquisition would actually overachieve did you? That would just be silly.

The May 15th, 2013 edition of daily news for the Los Angeles Angels including Hamilton claims allergies are affecting him, Weaver close to going out on rehab and much more...

The Story: Josh Hamilton claims he has been "off" lately due to allergies and a sinus infection.

The Monkey Says: This is why he left Monday's game early with some dizziness. Or, as Ranger fans will suggest (probably profanely), Josh finally found his first horse crap excuse to hang his struggles on.

The Story: Jered Weaver is hoping to skip making rehab starts and return to the rotation next week.

The Monkey Says: That doesn't sound like it is going to happen though since the team is treating him with kid gloves. The team is still insisting he needs not one but two rehab starts which really doesn't do much to make me change my conspiracy theory that he is nursing another undisclosed ailment in his pitching arm.

Who would've thought it? The Angels knocked the cover off the baseball Tuesday night, riding solo home runs to victory over the Kansas City Royals. Albert Pujols, Howie Kendrick, Josh Hamilton, and Mike Trout all absolutely clobbered baseballs, sending them screaming into orbit.

A night after Joe Blanton laid another solid turd out there on the Angel Stadium mound, Jason Vargas did some solid clean-up duty, gobbling up 7 innings while limiting the Royals to only two runs. He also did something out of character: he struck hitters out. He actually struck 7 hitters out. It was a rare night indeed, in Anaheim.

The bullpen did a solid job of nailing things down as well, something you just don't read a lot in relation to the 2013 Angels. Is there eason for optimism? Or is this simply another temporary mirage in the Southern California baseball wasteland?

Angels 6, Royals 2

-----

Game Notes

-- Josh Hamilton, a day after being removed for yet another mysterious head-case/light-headed/blue eyes/something issue, tore the cover off the baseballs. After working a second inning walk, he launched a howitzer into deeps center field and later ripped a laser that unfortunately found Kansas City shortstop Alcides Escobar's glove. If making random excuses will help Hamilton to snap out of his funk, then so be it.

-- I'm not entirely sure of Mike Scioscia's rationale when it comes to the management of his bullpen this season. Before you say something snarky, like, "Thank you, detective" or "hey-o, here comes Captain Obvious," here's the thing. Jason Vargas had already thrown 100 pitches by the end of the 7th inning. That's enough to usually send a starting pitcher to the showers. Job well done.

Mike Scioscia, however, thought Jason Vargas still looked pretty strong, thus sending him out there to start the 8th. Jason Vargas proceeded to throw four straight balls. Mike Scioscia then wasted no time in yanking him.

My question is this: If you weren't going to give that long of a leash to Jason Vargas anyways, then why would you send him out to begin with? Why not start with a fresh arm out of the pen, instead of risking anything with Vargas? This has happened way too many times this season. I don't understand it. But no wonder. The team won.

----

Halos Hero of the Game

Jason Vargas might just have been the best offseason acquisition for the Angels.