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

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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.

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Halos Hero of the Game

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

The May 14th, 2013 edition of daily news for the Los Angeles Angels including Madson looks good in rehab, Bourjos report improvement and much more...

The Story: Ryan Madson struck out one and allowed no baserunners in his first rehab appearance last night.

The Monkey Says: There is speculation he could be activated Wednesday, but the Angels might have him make another rehab appearance. Even when he does come back, don't get too excited too soon because he is not yet back to form as his 92 MPH average fastball last night indicates. It could be weeks or even months before he regains his old velocity and effectiveness. At this point, I'm not sure if he'll ever even work his way back into the closer role.

The Story: Peter Bourjos reported improvement in his hamstring but still unlikely to return before early June.

The Monkey Says: At a point you have to wonder if the Halos need to pick someone else up because the Shuck/Lucho platoon isn't getting it done and Kole Calhoun probably won't be ready to play again before Bourjos is.

Joe Blanton is slowly robbing me of my will to live. I really can't handle another one of his starts and I'm not sure the Angels already microscopic hopes of turning this season around can either.

After having three not terrible starts against three terrible offenses, Blanton reverted back to becoming the Human Batting Practice machine. There is no sense describing it beyond that because we've all seen it already, over and over and over. It isn't getting better. This is who he is.

The most brutal part of his starts isn't how bad he is, it is how bad everyone else knows he is. Once the wheels start getting a little wobbly for Joe, you can just see the rest of the team starting to sag because they know what is coming. Even on offense they seem enervated once Blanton digs them that early hole because they just know that even if they scratch out a run or two to close the gap, Blanton is just going to come back the next inning with his shovel in hand to undo everything and then some.

Jered Weaver should be back in a few weeks and, contract be damned, there is no good reason for Blanton to keep his rotation spot when that happens. There is just no way this team will ever right the ship when Blanton comes out every fifth day and bangs the hull into an iceberg.

Royals 11, Angels 4

The Angels finally have, well, something going. I'm not sure what it is, but the lukewarm-to-hot streak is mostly being led by one man with some help from some unlikely sources....

RANK	PLAYER	CHANGE	COMMENTS
1		+1 Last Week: 2	Mike Trout - Does he earn extra MVP votes at season's end for saving his team from being the victim of a perfect game?
2		-1 Last Week: 1	Mark Trumbo - After ascending to number one and earning praise from many media outlets, Trumbo went and posted a .591 OPS last week. Welp.
3		+1 Last Week: 4	Howie Kendrick - Kendrick had another fine week, but once again that fine week was sullied by an untimely and back-breaking GIDP.
4		+7 Last Week: 11	Ernesto Frieri - Picking up three saves on three consecutive days, one of which was a five-out save, was absolutely heroic for the Angels.
5		+4 Last Week: 9	C.J. Wilson - Maybe I am just being naive, but he seems like he is inching closer and closer to breaking through. Or maybe he is just facing some really pathetic lineups right now.
6		-3 Last Week: 3	Albert Pujols - This is getting really depressing. There just doesn' look to be any real sign that Pujols will snap out of this any time soon. At least not without a leg transplant or two.
7		-1 Last Week: 6	Jason Vargas - It is never a good sign that your personal hot streak got interrupted by the Astros.
8		-- 0 Last Week: 8	Erick Aybar - Hooray! Aybar is back... aaaaaaand he's hurt again.
9		+9 Last Week: 18	Dane De La Rosa - A strong week for DDLR, but the best part was that he was only used twice. Seriously, I was about to report Scioscia to social services for his physical abuse of Dane's arm.
10		-3 Last Week: 7	Alberto Callaspo - I thought there might be some kind of controversy at the hot corner between Beto and Lucho, but it looks like it is more a controversy of picking from the lesser of two evils.
11		+2 Last Week: 13	Scott Downs - Let me just put it this way: I'm running out of jokes for how often Downs gets hurt on a routine fielding play.
12		+3 Last Week: 15	Michael Kohn - Kohn appeared in 4 games this week but for only 2.1 innings. Is he now a ROOGY?
13		+1 Last Week: 14	Garrett Richards - Maybe I am just reading into it too much, but Richards doesn't look like he is all that into this relief pitching thing right now.
14		+2 Last Week: 16	Joe Blanton - Blanton has been not terrible lately yet the Angels have been completely unable to take advantage.
15		+6 Last Week: 21	Josh Hamilton - For him, he had a great week, but he still only managed a .174 average and .762 OPS in two series against terrible teams. Really can't wait for him to keep on being more aggressive.
16		+1 Last Week: 17	Jerome Williams - A nice bounceback start for Williams as he continues to buy time for the Halos until Weaver returns from his broken non-throwing elbow and whatever injury to his throwing arm the Halos are pretending he doesn't have.
17		-5 Last Week: 12	Chris Iannetta - He is still drawing walks, but it feels like forever since Iannetta got a hit.
18		+1 Last Week: 19	Hank Conger - Not to make this all about me, but maybe you could've waited a week for that three-error game instead of doing it the same day I post something on how your defense should earn you more playing time.
19		+4 Last Week: 23	Brendan Harris - Two homers in a week? I love Brendan Harris all over again!
20		-- 0 Last Week: n/a	Mark Lowe - Hey, everyone! Mark Lowe is back!!! .... .... (crickets)
21		+1 Last Week: 22	Luis Jimenez - I like the idea of Lucho becoming a utilityman. I'd like it a lot better if he'd start hitting again.
22		-2 Last Week: 20	J.B. Shuck  - He had a 1.071 OPS before Bourjos got hurt and owns a .523 OPS since the injury. Way to make the most of an opportunity.
23		-- 0 Last Week: n/a	Robert Coello - I like to think I know just about everything about the Angels but I have no freaking idea what a Robert Coello is.
24		-- 0 Last Week: 24	Barry Enright - Some year the Angels will have good rotation depth. This is not that year.
25		-- 0 Last Week: n/a	Scott Cousins - Yet another reason why the Angels are hating that Kole Calhoun broke his hand at the absolute wrong time.

Dropped from rankings: Peter Bourjos (hamstrung), Tommy Hanson (restricted list), Ryan Brasier (back where he belongs)

Biggest Riser: De La Rosa, up nine spots

Biggest Dropper: Iannetta, down five spots

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There are several different adjectives that one could use to describe the season so far for the Los Angeles Angels, almost none of which are appropriate for anyone under the age of 16. It's been a rough start to the 2013 campaign for the Halos, with almost no exceptions.

Even Mike Trout, who went from rookie to legend in the span of only a few months in 2012, has had his struggles this season. Under the microscope after winning American League Rookie of the Year, and nearly (probably should have) taking home the Most Valuable Player award, Trout got off to the sophomore slump that many feared he would.

Good thing it's a 162-game season. It's almost impossible to judge anything off of what happens in April. In Major League Baseball, what happens in April, tends to stay in April. Just ask Chris Shelton. In recent weeks, the Angels have started to look like a real life baseball team. And it's no coincidence that Mike Trout is beginning to round into form over that same span as well.

Trout's April was certainly not what he was hoping for, nor was it anywhere near what the Angels were expecting, having come into the season as heavy favorites in the American League West. The Angels won just eight games in April, while Trout's numbers were largely unimpressive.