Halo Hotline

Fuentes to the DL

After a scary road trip opener in NYC where Matty Palmer and Jered Weaver saw a crazy guy jump to his death from the hotel, Brian Fuentes has been sent to the DL for a back strain and reliever Francisco Rodriguez has been called up.

Vote Chone Figgins Onto the 2009 MLB All Star Team

Bad News for the Angels

Vlad is out with a torn pectoral 15d-DL, but out for at least a month before even being re-evaluated.
The bullpen can't pitch...but hopefully call-up from AAA, Rich Thompson will help that.
I hate the World Baseball Classic, it destroys pitchers.  We'll see if anyone has the time to go through all of the stats of guys that threw and see how poorly they do this time around.

Game 4 of 162

Hopefully the game tonight will help everyone start to work through the tragedy of this week.
Tonight sees the Halos welcome their arch-rivals (and traditional bane), the Red Stockings to Anaheim for a three game series.  We're sending Jered "Bob-and-"Weaver (0-0, 0.00) to the hill and they're throwing their stud, Tim Wakefield(0-0, 0.00).

The Angels will be playing tonight with only 24 men on their roster, in memory of Nick Adenhart.  In addition, they'll be wearing the patch, below, over their hearts on their home and away jerseys the remainder of the season.

Nick Adenhart - 1986-2009

It is a day of tremendous sadness for everyone in the Angels family, and in MLB.
Our thoughts and prayers go out to Nick's family, the Angels family, and the families of all of those touched by the tragic accident this morning.

Angels information
OC Register story

Halo Hotline Picks & Predictions for 2009

Okay, so, here it goes, the prognostication is going to happen:

1. Kendry Morales will rake all season, Casey Kotchman and Mark Teixeira will be forgotten, and he will be in the running for AL MVP.
2. Howie Kendrick will tear it up for about 25-30 games and then get hurt and go on the DL until after the All Star break.
3. HK's injury will open the door for Brandon Wood to come up and get some playing time in a platoon rotation with Aybar and Izturis at 2B/SS.
4. The Halos rotation stabilizes quicker than anyone imagines and they win 99 games, again just missing the 100 game mark.

Well that's it on the guessing game from the Halo Hotline.

UPDATE:  For more prognostication, see Halo's Heaven.

The Gary Matthews Jr. Situation

So, GMJ is complaining about getting more playing time...  Well, how can anyone blame him.  He is a professional athlete; that means he busted his but for free and next to free because he loves the game and he loves to compete.  Who cares how much money he's making, he is a good outfielder, he just happens to be on a team with a BUNCH of good outfielders.  He's not old at 34, and he could be a great influence in the clubhouse, however, what I'm upset about, is that he's bitching and moaning in public and throwing down ultimatiums.  Torii Hunter does come to his defense, but, I'm sure he's not happy with the moaning either.

Winter & Free Agents

I'm only saying this once... If the freaking Angels don't pick up Tex and then go get Peavy and Eck or OC, they're idiots!

Congratulations

Congratulations, Angels, for winning the ALWest
Congratulations, Frankie Rodriguez (K-Rod), for tying Thigpen for the single season saves record.

Goodbye Casey Kotchman

Well, it happened today, in the pre-game warm-ups...  The Halos offensive MVP (in my opinion), Casey Kotchman, was traded today, along with pitching prospect Stephen Marek (AA Travelers player), to the Atlanta Braves for Mark Teixeira.  Read the full story at MLB.com, and vote over at Halos Heaven.  Maybe we can get Eckstein or Cabrera still, as they're on the block too.