As we all know far too well right now, the Angels pretty much stink. The only thing more surprising than the mere fact that they are so bad is the manner in which they have managed to be so disappointing. Yes, the pitching hasn't been very good, but a lot of people saw that coming. What people didn't predict was that their offense would be so underwhelming.

Last year, the Halos had one of the top offenses in all of baseball. All they really changed was replacing Torii Hunter with Josh Hamilton. Even with a potential decline from Hamilton, the thought was that the lineup should still be pretty good. That is how it should have played out, especially with Howie Kendrick and Peter Bourjos having career years at the plate. The problem is that they have had two very disappointing players in their lineup. Right smack dab in the middle of the lineup, to be precise.

Teams can handle disappointing players, but what they can't handle is having underachieving hitters occupying premium run production slots in the order. There is no more stark example of that than what Albert Pujols has done, or rather failed to do, batting third for the Halos.

Here is the production the Angels are getting from their three-hole hitters (almost entirely Pujols) in 2013, right up until Scioscia shook up the lineup over the weekend:

The June 12th, 2013 edition of daily news for the Los Angeles Angels including Sean Burnett out at least a month, Robert Coello placed on the DL, Dane De La Rosa recalled and much more...

The Story: Sean Burnett's exam found no new damage, but he won't touch a baseball for at least a month.

The Monkey Says: So there is no surgery, but there is also no real idea of what he needs to do to get healthy. Shutting him down for a month amounts to just crossing their fingers that things work themselves out in that time. Even if they do, he is going to need several weeks of progressing through a throwing program to be ready for big league action again. Best case scenario, he returns in early August. It seems far more likely that by the time he is healthy, the Angels are out of contention and just keep him on the DL for the rest of the season.

The Story: Robert Coello was placed on the DL with shoulder inflammation and Dane De La Rosa was recalled to take his place.

The Monkey Says: Coello claims his arm problems started a week or two ago, which is conveniently right before he started not being able to get anyone out.

The Angels continue to confound with their winless ways. They pitched well, they played remarkable, stunning, jaw-dropping defense, and still couldn't defeat the Baltimore Orioles. Starter Jason Vargas pitched as well as he could've. Peter Bourjos, fresh off the DL, showed just why he is in centerfield instead of Mike Trout, robbing JJ Hardy (the same guy Trout robbed last year with his famous catch) of another home run. Even Mark Trumbo, he of the awful defensive reputation, made a nice sliding grab in right field. 

What must this team do to win?

At this point, GM Jerry Dipoto must be having feelings of futility, wondering exactly what went wrong.

Scene: Jerry Dipoto stands beside a white board. "Get Good Players" has been emphatically crossed out. "What other ideas?" he asks the room.

— Sam Miller (@SamMillerBP) June 11, 2013

Just about sums it up.

Orioles 3, Angels 2

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Game Notes

-- One bright spot to this game was certainly the Peter Bourjos robbery. Now this is quite the doozy. Poor JJ Hardy. 

-- Mike Trout hit his second home run in as many days. You know what else Trout has done in two days? Play left field. Where are all those people who think offensive performance correlates with defensive happiness, now?

-- Kevin Jepsen continues to dominate out of the bullpen. Do we really trust this guy, though?

-- Sean Burnett's injury woes loomed large in this game, when lefty reliever Scott Downs was summoned in the seventh to preserve a 1-1 tie. He promptly allowed all his inherited runners to score on a Nick Markakis single. The one job he has left in the bullpen (get a lefty out), he couldn't even do that.

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Halos A-Hole of the Game

Yepp.

J.J. Hardy must see Angel outfielders in his nightmares. A season after Mike Trout made one of the most memorable home run robberies in recent memory against Hardy in Camden Yards, Peter Bourjos did everything he could to one up him. Same batter. Same location. Same result.

So, yeah, it turns out that all the hub-bub over Bourjos forcing Trout into left field really isn't that big of a deal after all. Speedy Petey's catch may not have been quite on par with Trout's magnificent grab, but it is still a thing of beauty that will surely have a life of its own in highlight clip shows for weeks and months to come. As for J.J. Hardy, well, maybe he should just try pulling the ball to right field.

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The best part of the amateur draft is that we fans get all sorts of new toys to play with. Our favorite team drafts nearly 40 new prospects for us to dream on. The problem is that the draft is such a murky thing that we really know nothing about these guys. I intend to fix that.

No, I don't actually have information on the new players, but that isn't going to stop me. Instead, I am just going to arbitrarily assign backstories to each guy so that they will always have a special place in our memories even if they don't pan out. Why? Because why not, that's why!

Round 2 (#59) - Hunter Green, LHP, Warren East HS: A first round talent that fell to #59 because he takes his first name too literally and only hunts "the most dangerous game."

Round 3 (#95) - Keynan Middleton, RHP, Lane CC: He is the fifth cousin four times removed of Princess Kate Middleton. As such, if there is ever a horrible explosion during a picture of the extended royal family, Keynan could find himself the unlikely new monarch of Great Britain. (Yep, that's right a King Ralph joke in 2013. What are you gonna do about it?)

Round 4 (#127) - Elliot Morris, RHP, Pierce College: His nickname since childhood is "Weenie the Poo." Do NOT ask him why.

Round 5 (#157) - Kyle McGowin, RHP, Savannah State: Plans on using his signing bonus to start an alpaca farm.

Round 6 (#187) - Harrison Cooney, RHP, Florida Gulf Coast: In his contract negotiations, he insisted that he be allowed to enter the game on a Segway whenever he gets called in from the bullpen.

Round 7 (#217) - Garrett Nuss, RHP, Seminole State: Due to his first name, he is clearly destined for greatness. That's just good science talking.

Round 8 (#247) - Nate Smith, LHP, Furman University: Communicates with dead people, but only people who died in unfortunate luge accidents.

Round 9 (#277) - Stephen McGee, C, Florida State: Had a small role in the unreleased sequel to Snakes on a Plane. He played "Blue Krait #4."

Round 10 (#307) - Grant Gordon, RHP, Missouri State: Caught Tebowmania, had to be placed on life support for three weeks.

Round 11 (#337) - Jonah Wesely, LHP, Tracy HS: Has a pet raccoon named Carl Von Cuddlestripes.

Round 12 (#367) - Blake Goins, RHP, Pearland HS: The Angels agonized over this pick because they weren't sure if they wanted to pick Brad Cummins instead. Yep, they didn't know if they were Cummins or Goins. (Hello? Is this thing on? Take my wife, please!)

The June 11th, 2013 edition of daily news for the Los Angeles Angels including Bourjos activated, Nelson DFA'd, Burnett visiting Dr. Andrews and much more...

The Story: Peter Bourjos was activated from the DL yesterday with Chris Nelson getting designated for assignment to make room on the roster.

The Monkey Says: Bourjos returned to play center (get over it, people) and bat ninth. Nelson was cut loose in favor of Brad Hawpe who provides more positional flexibility since he can play first base, which has been a bit of a problem for the team this year thanks to Pujols' injury.

The Story: Sean Burnett is off to Alabama for another visit to Dr. James Andrews.

The Monkey Says: This is his second visit this season, so it speaks to how hopeless this situation is becoming. Andrews didn't find anything in his last exam, so one would think there is nothing new for him to find this time around, but perhaps he will be prompted to take a more invasive approach with Burnett to find the source of his continuing elbow problems.

It really speaks to how the Angels' season is going when you find yourself rooting for the rain to never stop.

For a few hours, it looked like the Halos may have caught a break after Baltimore took the lead in the bottom of the fifth only to have the umpires call a rain delay with two outs in the inning. Had the rain not stopped, the inning wouldn't have counted and the game could've been wiped out and the Halos could at least temporarily avoid a loss.

Nope. Didn't happen. Even the weather is against the Angels right now.

Instead, play resumed and the Angels tried to mount a comeback after once again being largely held in check by Freddy Garcia, which is kind of inexcusable but also totally expected. As per usual, the Angels had their shot, loading the bases with one out only to be foiled by Albert Pujols striking out on three pitches and Mark Trumbo weakly grounding out to end the threat.

Such is the Angels.

Orioles 4, Angels 3