Headlines

Go To Pro Hockey Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Angels Rumors

California Notes: Scully, Angels, Belt, Butler, Fisher

By | at

Fans traveling to Dodger Stadium from Sunset Boulevard to Stadium Way can now make the journey on Vin Scully Avenue.  The city of Los Angeles officially renamed the street formerly known as Elysian Park Avenue in honor of the legendary voice of the Dodgers in a dedication ceremony today.  This will undoubtedly be just one of many well-deserved tributes to Scully as the iconic broadcaster enters his 67th and final season calling Dodger games.  Here’s the latest baseball news from California’s teams…

  • Even with Jered Weaver and C.J. Wilson coming off the books next winter, Pedro Moura of the Los Angeles Times doesn’t expect the Angels to be huge spenders in the 2016-17 free agent market.  Assuming the Halos don’t pass their high of $165MM on player payroll, they will only have around $40MM to spend on 16 roster spots.
  • Brandon Belt’s five-year, $72.8MM extension with the Giants is “a reasonable common ground” between the two sides, Fangraphs’ Craig Edwards writes in an analysis of the contract.  Belt may have sacrificed some extra money by not hitting free agency after the 2017 season, though since he’s had a bit of inconsistency in his career, landing a big nine-figure deal wasn’t a guarantee.  (Edwards doesn’t mention Belt’s concussion history, which may have also played a factor in his taking a big payday now.)  Edwards also notes that Belt is just the third player in the last three years to sign an extension two years away from free agency, along with teammate Brandon Crawford and the Marlins’ Giancarlo Stanton.
  • In an interview on MLB Network Radio on Sirius XM (Twitter link), Athletics manager Bob Melvin implied that Billy Butler will indeed be a part-time player for the club, saying that “for the most part he’s gonna be playing against lefties.”  The veteran slugger has “been great about” accepting the reduced role.  Obviously, neither Butler or the A’s have to be happy that it has come to this, given the three-year, $30MM deal Butler signed prior to the 2015 season.  Butler has been the least-valuable player in baseball as per the fWAR metric since the start of the 2014 season, as he provides no defensive value as a full-time DH and his once-fearsome bat has badly declined.
  • Athletics majority owner John Fisher is taking a larger role in the club’s quest for a new ballpark, Phil Matier and Andy Ross of the San Francisco Chronicle report.  Fisher appears to be interested in a downtown Oakland location for a new stadium, possibly a site near Laney College if the team can purchase the land.  Since purchasing the A’s with Lew Wolff in 2005, Fisher has largely been publicly silent on team matters, with Wolff taking a more visible role as the Athletics’ managing partner.

Minor MLB Transactions: 4/11/16

By | at

Here are the day’s minor transactions, with the newest moves at the top of the post…

  • The Pirates have placed John Holdzkom on release waivers, a week after the righty was designated for assignment.  Holdzkom went from independent baseball to a key role in the Bucs’ bullpen in 2014, recording a 2.00 ERA and 14 strikeouts in nine relief innings (his first and, to date, only taste of MLB action) to help Pittsburgh reach the postseason.  Holdzkom battled injuries, a loss of velocity and control issues in 2015, however, and he pitched only 24 1/3 innings of minor league ball.
  • The Angels selected the contract of left-hander Greg Mahle and optioned A.J. Achter to Triple-A in a corresponding move, the club announced.  (The Angels already had a 40-man roster spot open, so no further transactions were necessary to add Mahle.)  A 15th-round draft pick in 2014, Mahle has a 2.97 ERA, 10.8 K/9 and 4.00 K/BB rate over 97 career minor league relief innings.  The 2016 Baseball America Prospect Handbook ranked him as the 13th-best prospect within the Halos’ thin farm system, noting that Mahle delivers his pitches from three different arm angles, including a sinking fastball that ranges from 85-94mph depending on from where Mahle is throwing it.  He also has a plus changeup.
  • The Diamondbacks outrighted Kyle Drabek to Triple-A after the righty went unclaimed, MLB.com’s Steve Gilbert reports (via Twitter).  Drabek signed a minor league deal with the D’Backs during the offseason and pitched in one game for the club before being designated for assignment last Friday.  The 18th overall pick of the 2006 draft, Drabek has struggled at the big league level and also battled injuries, most notably two Tommy John surgeries.  Drabek has only thrown 12 2/3 innings over the last four seasons.
  • The Lancaster Barnstormers of the independent Atlantic League have signed left-hander Phil Coke and right-hander Ryan Kelly, Jason Bristol tweets.  Coke threw 12 2/3 innings with the Cubs and Blue Jays last season, and has also since signed minor league deals with the A’s and Braves.  The veteran southpaw was released by Atlanta during Spring Training.  Kelly was also released by the Braves during the offseason, ending a three-year stint in the organization.  Kelly made his Major League debut last season, posting a 7.02 ERA over 16 2/3 innings out of Atlanta’s bullpen.

Read more

AL Notes: Weaver, Vazquez, Yanks, Chisenhall

By | at

Angels righty and former ace Jered Weaver, who’s coming off a career-worst season in which his fastball velocity sat in the low 80s, made his 2016 debut Sunday and threw six innings of one-run ball in a 3-1 win over Texas. Weaver allowed seven base runners (six hits, one walk), struck out four, and was encouraged afterward. “It makes me look forward to the future in baseball as opposed to thinking about shutting it down,” he told reporters, including Alden Gonzalez of MLB.com (Twitter link). Weaver’s fastball resided in the 82 mph range Sunday and he didn’t generate many grounders (a common career trend), but he effectively used his curveball and changeup to keep Rangers hitters at bay. Whether he can continue to get by that way is up for debate, but Weaver seems confident, saying, “Haters equals motivation for me. I feed off of it.”

More from the American League…

  • Red Sox catcher Christian Vazquez is recovering well from Tommy John surgery and could rejoin the team by the end of the month, Tim Britton of the Providence Journal reports. “Everything points to [the 20-day rehab timeline] being more than enough time for him right now,” manager John Farrell said Sunday. Vazquez’s rehab assignment with Triple-A Pawtucket lasts until April 28, at which point the big league club will either have to call up the 25-year-old or option him to the minors. The Red Sox currently employ two capable catchers in Blake Swihart and Ryan Hanigan, though the latter has been mentioned as a trade candidate in the past.
  • The Yankees, who opened the season in less-than-ideal weather in the Bronx and then went to frigid Detroit for their second series, have already had two games postponed (one of which was made up). Manager Joe Girardi isn’t pleased with the schedule makers’ decisions, per Brendan Kuty of NJ Advance Media. “I’m not sure why it happens,” he said in regards to MLB’s choice to start the Yankees in cities prone to poor conditions. “I’d really like to see us start within (the American League East) in the first month as much as you can and I know there’s five teams, and those games you try to go to warmer cities. It didn’t happen and we’ll have to deal with it,” he added.
  • Bad weather is also serving as an annoyance to the Indians and slowing right fielder Lonnie Chisenhall’s comeback from a left wrist impingement, writes Jordan Bastian of MLB.com. Before beginning his rehab assignment Sunday with Triple-A Columbus, Chisenhall hadn’t played since March 27 – thanks in part to the postponement of Columbus’ previous three games. Chisenahll, who went hitless in three at-bats Sunday, is eligible to return from the 15-day disabled list early in the upcoming week. However, the Indians might not activate him until Thursday because they face lefty starters Tuesday and Wednesday. Chisenhall owns an uninspiring career line of .241/.288/.371 against lefties.
  • Royals southpaw reliever Tim Collins will undergo his second Tommy John surgery since March 2015 on Friday, Jeffrey Flanagan of MLB.com tweets. The news that Collins needed the surgery after his previous elbow graft failed was revealed last month. Collins, 26, posted a 3.54 ERA, 9.4 K/9 and 5.2 BB/9 in 211 relief innings for the Royals from 2011-14.

West Notes: Butler, Angels, Coors Field

By | at

Athletics designated hitter Billy Butler has sat four straight days and could be relegated to facing only lefties, Jane Lee of MLB.com writes. Manager Bob Melvin wouldn’t commit to putting Butler back in the lineup Monday against Angels righty Nick Tropeano, per Lee, saying that he’ll definitely play Tuesday when the A’s deal with lefty Hector Santiago. Butler, whom the A’s signed to a three-year, $30MM contract in November 2014, has batted just .262/.323/.386 since the beginning of the ’14 campaign and been the least valuable player in baseball by the standards of fWAR during that time frame. The soon-to-be 30-year-old has been vastly superior against lefties than right-handers historically, though that wasn’t the case last season. So far this year, nine of Butler’s 10 plate appearances have come versus southpaws.

Here’s more from MLB’s West divisions:

  • Angels lefty Tyler Skaggs, who’s on the comeback from August 2014 Tommy John surgery, made his 2016 debut for Triple-A Salt Lake on Sunday. The 24-year-old threw 42 pitches over three innings, struck out one and allowed a run on three hits (two bunt singles) and two walks, according to Taylor Blake Ward of InsideTheHalos.com. Skaggs’ fastball sat in the 91-93 mph range, which is right in line with his 2014 average of 92 mph (Twitter links). That year, Skaggs tossed 113 innings of 4.30 ERA ball for the Angels to go along with a 6.85 K/9 and 2.39 BB/9. ERA estimators like FIP (3.55) and xFIP (3.65) indicated that Skaggs deserved a better fate with respect to results.
  • The Angels entered Sunday having applied defensive shifts more than any team in the majors (79 times over five games), according to data from Fangraphs (link via Alden Gonzalez of MLB.com). Their 15.8 shifts per game represents a marked increase for a team that was around the middle of the pack in shifting over the previous four seasons. First-year general manager Billy Eppler is largely behind the Halos’ change in philosophy, having installed an analytics team that judges when the team should employ the shift, per Gonzalez.
  • The Rockies will explore further ways to make Coors Field more friendly to pitchers, owner Dick Monfort told Nick Groke of the Denver Post.  “[W]e’re going to continue to find ways to make it not so offensive a park,” said Monforto. “We all know it’s the most offensive park in baseball. Part of that, there’s nothing we can do about it. But if there are things we can do to take some of the offense away from it, that’s what we should try to do.” The Rockies raised the wall in right-center field by eight feet, nine inches prior to the season and also added height to the wall straight down the left-field line. Those changes didn’t halt offensive production during the first series of the year at Coors Field, however, with Colorado and San Diego amassing 47 runs in three contests.

Angels Claim Danny Reynolds From Astros

By | at

The Angels have announced that they’ve claimed righty Danny Reynolds from the Astros and returned him to Double-A Arkansas, where he pitched last season. The Astros designated Reynolds for assignment on Thursday.

The 24-year-old Reynolds was previously a prospect in the Angels system, but he was claimed last December by the Dodgers and then the Astros. Last season, the 24-year-old posted a 4.57 ERA, 10.4 K/9 and 5.8 BB/9 in 43 1/3 innings of relief at Arkansas, increasing his strikeout rate but also his walk rate. Reynolds, a third-round pick of the Angels in 2009, has never pitched in the big leagues.

Minor MLB Transactions: 4/9/16

By and | at

Here are today’s minor moves from around the league.

  • Phillies outfield prospect Andrew Pullin has retired, reports Matt Gelb (Twitter). Pullin, 22, tied for the Florida State League lead with 14 home runs last season. A 2012 fifth round pick, Pullin had experience in parts of four professional seasons. No reason was cited for his retirement.
  • The Angels have optioned hard throwing reliever Cam Bedrosian to the minors, the club reports. In a corresponding move, A.J. Achter has been promoted to the major league roster. Achter, 27, is a soft-tossing righty with an extreme fly ball tendency. In 13 major league innings last season, he allowed four home runs. Achter does have good command with a history of solid strikeout rates. Bedrosian continues to struggle with commanding his 95 mph fastball. The club likely hopes a stint in the minors can help him to locate better.
  • Blue Jays starter Scott Copeland has reportedly been sold to a Korean team, tweets Mike Harrington of the Buffalo News. Copeland, 28, made his major league debut last season, pitching to a 6.46 ERA with 3.52 K/9 and 1.17 BB/9. He’s a command and control righty whose stuff works best in a Quad-A role.
  • The Brewers have announced that they’ve outrighted righty Ariel Pena to Triple-A Colorado Springs. Pena has three days to decide whether to accept the assignment. Pena opened the season in Milwaukee’s bullpen, but the Brewers designated him for assignment this week when they acquired Sam Freeman. Pena split the 2015 season between Colorado Springs and Milwaukee, posting a 4.28 ERA, 8.9 K/9 and 4.6 BB/9 in six outings (including five starts) with the big club.
  • The Dodgers will sign veteran lefty Sean Burnett to a minor-league deal with a May 1 opt-out date, FOX Sports’ Ken Rosenthal writes (Twitter links). As Rosenthal notes, the Dodgers only have one lefty (J.P. Howell) in their current bullpen. Burnett pitched well for the Nationals this spring, but ultimately exercised his opt-out and was released. He last appeared in the Majors in 2014, and it’s been since 2012, when he pitched 56 2/3 innings with a 2.38 ERA with Washington, since he’s been a significant contributor. Since then, he’s struggled with elbow trouble.
  • The Reds will select the contract of righty Tim Melville tomorrow so that he can make a spot start in place of Anthony DeSclafani, who’s dealing with an oblique injury, C. Trent Rosecrans of the Cincinnati Enquirer writes. The Reds say that DeSclafani hasn’t had a setback, but isn’t quite ready to pitch. The Reds signed Melville to a minor-league deal in November after he posted a 4.63 ERA, 6.1 K/9 and 4.0 BB/9 for the Tigers’ Triple-A affiliate in Toledo.

AL Notes: Teixeira, Beltre, Heaney, Rays

By | at

Mark Teixeira has previously told reporters that he feels like he can play until he’s 40 years old, and the 35-year-old Yankees first baseman doubled down on those comments following last night’s win over the Astros, as MLB.com’s Barry M. Bloom writes. Teixeira said last night that he hopes to play for five to six more seasons beyond the 2016 campaign, adding that he would love to remain in Yankee pinstripes for the remainder of his playing days. “I’ve loved playing here,” said Teixeira. “I’ve loved every minute of it. … I mean, once you’ve played for the Yankees you’ve reached the pinnacle of Major League Baseball. It’s just tough to see myself in another uniform.” Of course, the Yankees’ roster, as currently constructed, could complicate that possibility. Alex Rodriguez is a strict DH now and is signed through 2017, while the Yanks have a highly promising young first base option in the form of Gregory Bird. While Bird will miss the 2016 campaign due to shoulder surgery and could therefore be rusty heading into next season, he looked plenty comfortable against MLB pitching in his 2015 debut after impressing at the Triple-A level as well.

More from the American League…

  • Rangers third baseman Adrian Beltre told reporters, including Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News, that he is still waiting on a contract proposal from the Rangers following yesterday’s loss to the Angels. Grant writes that the Rangers’ hesitation, unsurprisingly, is likely due to Beltre’s age. The three-year deal he seeks would cost Texas something in the vicinity of $60MM, and the Rangers must weigh whether that type of investment in Beltre’s age-38 through age-40 seasons is a better course of action than trusting a high-upside but unproven prospect, Joey Gallo, to man the position while making scarcely more than $1.5MM (total) in his pre-arbitration seasons over that same time frame.
  • Angels left-hander Andrew Heaney was relieved after receiving encouraging news following an MRI, writes the Orange County Register’s Jeff Fletcher. “I saw the MRI for myself,” Heaney explained. “Obviously I’m not a doctor, but the way they explained it to me, it looked perfectly sound and healthy,” he added in reference to his ulnar collateral ligament. The words “forearm tightness” have become increasingly frightening in recent years, as that can often be a precursor to Tommy John surgery, but the MRI makes two waves of evaluations that seem to indicate a healthy UCL for Heaney. In his absence, the Halos will turn to Nick Tropeano to step into the rotation, though as Fletcher notes, Tropeano didn’t exceed four innings in an appearance in Spring Training. With Tropeano and Jered Weaver both limited in terms of endurance at this time, there could be some extra stress placed on the ’pen.
  • Former big league right-hander Jeremy Sowers is beginning to carve out a career on the baseball operations side of the game as a member of the Rays organization, writes Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times. Sowers’ final big league game came in 2009, and since that time he received an MBA from North Carolina. After briefly working in the corporate world, Sowers took a 2015 internship with the Rays, who eventually hired him as a Major League operations assistant. Sowers is working with the Rays’ advance scouting process, and he’s also an integral part of the club’s instant replay process as well as the “information flow with [the Rays’] players and coaches,” per president Matt Silverman.

AL West Notes: Wandy, Beltre, Weaver, Surkamp

By | at

The Astros have made veteran left-hander and former rotation mainstay Wandy Rodriguez a an offer to pitch for their Triple-A club, reports MLB.com’s Brian McTaggart (Twitter link). The 37-year-old Rodriguez signed with Houston on a minor league deal this winter but didn’t crack the big league roster in Spring Training and is now mulling over the prospect of pitching for the club’s top minor league affiliate, per McTaggart. Rodriguez opened the 2015 campaign with Texas’ other club, the Rangers, and pitched quite well out of the Rangers rotation for a couple of months (3.20 ERA, 7.0 K/9, 3.2 BB/9 across his first 11 starts) before a midsummer meltdown led to his release. Rodriguez spent the first seven and a half seasons of his career with Houston, though the Astros have multiple options ahead of him on the rotation depth chart and a number of lefty relief options at the Triple-A level as well.

Elsewhere in the American League West…

  • Rangers general manager Jon Daniels joined 105.3 The Fan yesterday and talked about Adrian Beltre’s contract status (h/t: the SportsDay DFW, which has transcribed a portion of the interview). Daniels said that retaining Beltre beyond 2016 is still high on his list of priorities. “I love the guy,” said Daniels of Beltre. “I could not appreciate him more on or off the field, and what he’s done for a lot of people – including myself, this franchise, our young players – I love the guy. So, we would still like to be able to find a way to keep him as a Ranger beyond this year. … Whether that gets done now or whether that gets done another time…I think he wants to be here, and we want him here.”
  • Angels righty Jered Weaver tells reporters, including Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register, that he is “100 percent” certain that he will return to form. Weaver told the media that his velocity, which sat 80-82 mph late in Spring Training, reached 86 mph a couple of times in a four-inning simulated game earlier this week, and while skipper Mike Scioscia didn’t reveal specific velocity readings from the workout, he did acknowledge that there was improvement. Weaver conceded that he still has work to do both in terms of endurance and velocity, but he expressed confidence in his ability to make strides in both departments. He’s lined up to pitch for the Halos on Sunday, and with yesterday’s news that Andrew Heaney has been placed on the DL due to a forearm strain, Weaver’s performance is even more crucial to the Angels. It should be noted, too, that while 86 mph (especially from a right-hander) is well below average, Weaver enjoyed success in both 2013 and 2014 while averaging about 86.4 mph on his fastball. Scraping 86 and averaging 86 are different, of course, but the uptick in velocity is nonetheless an encouraging sign. Weaver averaged just 83.3 mph on his fastball last year.
  • Left-hander Eric Surkamp will start in Felix Doubront’s place for the Athletics on Friday, as MLB.com’s Jane Lee writes. Surkamp gets the nod over right-hander Jesse Hahn, who will remain at Triple-A Nashville after posting an ERA north of 11.00 in Spring Training this season. Skipper Bob Melvin said that Surkamp is deserving of the job after a strong spring (3.60 ERA, 19-to-7 K/BB ratio in 20 innings), though as Lee points out, the A’s will have to make a 40-man roster move to accommodate Surkamp’s promotion. If surgery is the eventual outcome of the “fibrous tearing” that was reportedly found in Doubront’s left elbow, the club could simply transfer the injured lefty to the 60-day DL to create space for Surkamp, though there’s been no definitive word out of Oakland on Doubront, who was headed for a second opinion this week.

Andrew Heaney Placed On DL With Strained Flexor Muscle

By | at

The Angels announced today that left-hander Andrew Heaney has been placed on the disabled list with a strained flexor muscle in his left forearm (Twitter link). As Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register writes, Heaney’s velocity dipped from 93-94 mph in the first inning of last night’s season debut to 90-91 mph in the second inning, and he was working at 88-89 mph by the end of his six innings. Heaney complained of some “tightness” in his left forearm following the outing.

While forearm tightness is an ominous ailment, as it’s often a precursor to Tommy John surgery, MLB.com’s Alden Gonzalez tweets that doctors have assured the Angels that Heaney’s ulnar collateral ligament is healthy. In regards to the possibility of Tommy John, GM Billy Eppler told Gonzalez (Twitter link): “All I can say is that with the muscle strain, you’d rather hear the word muscle than ligament.” Gonzalez also tweets that an initial clinical exam showed Heaney’s UCL to be in good shape, and a followup MRI confirmed that diagnosis. The MLB.com scribe adds that there’s no timetable for Heaney to resume throwing, though Fletcher tweets that Eppler says Heaney will rest his arm for a couple of weeks before the club proceeds.

While the fact that Heaney appears positioned to avoid a catastrophic injury is good news for the Angels, the absence of their No. 2 starter from an already injury-ravaged rotation is disconcerting all the same. Anaheim already has C.J. Wilson on the disabled list, and with Heaney joining him, they’re left with Garrett Richards, Hector Santiago, Matt Shoemaker and Jered Weaver, the latter of whom has had his own physical issues and been struggling to get his velocity even into the mid-80s this spring. Nick Tropeano will likely be recalled to replace Heaney on the roster and in the rotation, and lefty Tyler Skaggs could eventually emerge as an option. Those options aside, losing Heaney for any significant amount of time would be a blow to an Angels roster that entered the season with a number of question marks.

AL West Notes: Doubront, Wilson, Gregerson, Loney

By | at

Athletics lefty Felix Doubront has suffered “fibrous tearing” in his pitching elbow, trainer Nick Paparesta tells Joe Stiglich of CSN Bay Area (Twitter links). A second opinion will still be needed before a course of treatment is determined, but a surgical option seems to be on the table. The 28-year-old southpaw had been lined up for fifth-starter duties, at least to open the year.

Here’s more from

  • Angels left-hander C.J. Wilson is still waiting to be cleared to begin ramping up, Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register reports. Wilson, 35, is building up strength in his balky shoulder, and says he expects to need a full month to get ready once he’s allowed to begin a throwing program. Los Angeles will need everything it can get from the veteran, but it remains unclear at present how long it will take for him to make it back to the big league rotation.
  • Luke Gregerson will open the year as the Astros’ closer, manager A.J. Hinch announced and Jake Kaplan of the Houston Chronicle reports. The 31-year-old will reprise his 9th-inning role of a year ago, beating out recent addition Ken Giles for the job, though certainly the young flamethrower will be knocking at the door if a need arises. For the time being, said Hinch, Giles will “pitch in a couple different roles, depending on what the highest leverage situation of the game would be” — including, perhaps, some save chances. Even the analytically-inclined Astros apparently believe that roles matter, though; as Hinch explained: “for the purposes of getting guys prepared, I think it’s important that they know sort of generally how they’re going to be used.”
  • Meanwhile, the Astros don’t have interest in now-free agent first baseman James Loney, Jon Heyman of MLB Network reports on Twitter. Houston views that position as “set” with Spring Training in the books, he adds. Tyler White figures to get the first look, though players such as Marwin Gonzalez, Evan Gattis, Jon Singleton, and rising prospect A.J. Reed could factor into the picture as well.
Show all

MLB Trade Rumors is not affiliated with Major League Baseball, MLB or MLB.com

Do not Sell or Share My Personal Information

hide arrows scroll to top