The Angels snagged Hector Carrasco, a 37 year-old reliever, for $6.1MM over two years. Considering that Carrasco was waiver bait a couple of years ago, he did an excellent job capitalizing on his freakish 2.04 ERA in 2005.
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Carrasco had the lowest batting average with balls in play among any pitcher with at least 80 innings in 2005 – .236. Given that the typical BABIP is more like .300, Carrasco’s luck is likely to run out. Expect an ERA closer to 4 in ’06.
The Carrasco acquisition adds fuel to the fire that the Halos could deal a top reliever like Scot Shields or Brendan Donnelly.