Tuesday Halolinks: Mark Trumbo's The Bomb, Mike Trout's The Fuse

If Halolinks were on the All-Star team, they'd be booed by Kansas City fans too:

• I know, some of you think the home run derby is lame, but Trumbo's performance will be one of the highlights of the 2012 season: Angels' Mark Trumbo doesn't win but his mammoth shots are the talk of Home Run Derby - angels.com. "The Royals' Billy Butler, the hometown guy who didn't get picked, was asked whether he had ever seen someone swing as hard as Fielder. Then he changed the subject. "I don't think I've seen a guy hit balls further than I saw Mark Trumbo hit them," Butler replied. "I don't know who swung harder, but Mark Trumbo hit a ball into the Hall of Fame. I don't think we'll ever see that again."
• Move over M & M boys, here come the TnT guys: In Appreciation of Andrew McCutchen (and Mike Trout) - Beyond the Box Score. "This will be the billionth article on the internet about Mike Trout. And why shouldn't there be a billion? He's 20 years old. He is hitting .341/.397/.562 with 12 home runs and 26 stolen bases (3 CS). And he's been spectacular with the glove."
• This was reported here four days ago by Downing Rules, but Bill Plunkett noticed a difference at the stadium: Angels make Wells disappear – from stadium entrance - The Orange County Register. "The decision to swap out one of the banners (one of the most striking promotions that greet fans at the stadium) in mid-season is apparently unprecedented. It was a marketing decision – one made with no input from the baseball operations side of the Angels' front office – according to a team spokesman." What happens when (if?) Wells returns?
  
• The two big fish of the trade deadline are starting pitchers. What are they worth, and do the Angels have the bait to land one? What Greinke or Hamels Would Yield in a Trade - FanGraphs Baseball. "With the Milwaukee Brewers and Philadelphia Phillies 6.0 and 10.0 games out, respectively, of the second wild-card spot in the National League, it’s probable that one or both teams will trade their front-line, free-agent-to-be starters — i.e. Zack Greinke and Cole Hamels — before the July 31st trade deadline. "What might either be worth in terms of trade value?"
• I have mixed feelings on this one. I get it that the KC fans were angry that Billy Butler wasn't a derby participant, but booing Cano might have been a little low class: Robinson Cano's poor All-Star Home Run Derby effort draws cheers from Kansas City Royals fans - FOX Sports on MSN. "Royals fans were upset Cano didn’t pick Billy Butler, the lone Kansas City All-Star, for the four-man American League derby team. They booed lustily when Cano was interviewed on the giant center-field scoreboard during batting practice." But then, he is a Yankee:
  
• No, he's not on the list: The Top-Ten Worst Players in Baseball History - Beyond the Box Score. "The majority of the players on this list, and those who just missed made careers out of being team's utility infielders. This fact leads me to believe that either WAR underrates the value of utility infielders, or that teams overrate their value. My guess is that teams tend to overrate the value of that type of player, especially in the case of the players that qualified for this list."
• I sorta disagree with the conclusion of this post: Why Does the Mainstream Media Celebrate Journeymen Players? - Pinstripe Alley. "The answer can be summed up in one word: it’s about narrative. Over the course of a long, 162-game season, you have to have something to say about every player, and if you are a team broadcaster, whatever your outlet, you can’t take the totally honest route and say, "What the hell is this guy doing here, anyway? He really doesn’t contribute anything at all." Instead, you have to talk about what a gritty, gutty, scrappy dude the player is, how he persevered through ten long years in the minor leagues, and how his poor mother is missing a head due to the tragic incident with the wolverine, despite which she successfully labored to put him through junior college." I don't think it's because of narrative, but rather, the journeyman is a player more fans can identify with.
  
• This is funny: What Happens When ESPN Accidentally Allows Write-In Votes On A Facebook Poll - Deadspin. ""That's a clown question bro," also has a respectable vote total, just ahead of the Holy Trinity of Tim Tebow, Chuck Norris, and Batman. Dark horses include Herp Derpson, the European Union, a Flying Prolapsed Unicorn, and "who cares." I thought "Pedro Ceranno" was a pretty good choice.
  
• Here's another story I haven't made my mind up about. Do I side with the Yankee front office because Reggie Jackson is a loudmouth, or with Reggie because he's right? Steinbrenners Rob Reggie To Allay A-Rod " Baseball Nerd (Keith Olbermann). "Instead the Yankees: get another publicity nightmare; underscore the fragility of their third baseman’s ego and the insanity of his five-years-to-go contract; and pull the rug out from under one of their top ambassadors (and one of their guys who actually hit his 500+ home runs without any juice)."
• In a bit of TMZ-style reporting, my soon-to-be ex-wife took this picture of Angels assistant GM Scott Servais last night at a LaCrosse Loggers baseball game (that's him in the white shirt):
  
  Servais' is from this area and his son Tyler is a switch-hitting C/1B for the Northwoods League Loggers. The Northwoods League is a collegiate summer league with 16 teams in Wisconsin, Iowa, Minnesota, Michigan, and Ontario Canada. After the game, my son got his and his son's autograph, and briefly chatted with Servais who asked my son what he thought of Mike Trout.