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Angels Rumors

Tigers Claim Kolton Ingram From Angels, DFA Nick Maton

By Leo Morgenstern | February 5, 2024 at 12:40pm CDT

The Tigers claimed left-handed pitcher Kolton Ingram off waivers from the Angels, according to announcements from both teams. As a corresponding move, Detroit designated utility infielder Nick Maton for assignment. In additional Tigers news, the team announced that right-handed pitcher Devin Sweet has cleared waivers and been sent outright to Triple-A Toledo.

Ingram was initially selected by the Tigers in the 37th round of the 2019 draft. However, his time with the organization was short-lived. The southpaw was released in July 2020, having made just 15 appearances in the Rookie-level Gulf Coast League. He signed a new deal with the Angels ahead of the 2021 season and eventually worked his way up to the majors in 2023, pitching 5 1/3 innings across three separate stints with the big league club. Although his MLB numbers were disappointing (8.44 ERA, 5.21 SIERA), his performance between Double- and Triple-A was far more impressive. In 61 innings, he pitched to a 2.95 ERA with a 30.2% strikeout rate and a .189 batting average against. He figures to compete with fellow lefty Joey Wentz, as well as righties Miguel Díaz, Beau Brieske, and Brendan White for a spot at the back end of Detroit’s bullpen. The fact that Ingram has option years remaining could work against him; both Díaz and Wentz are out of options.

Maton came to the Motor City as part of the trade package the Tigers acquired from the Phillies in exchange for Gregory Soto. In his lone season with Detroit, Maton appeared in 93 games, primarily at third base but also at second and shortstop. While his versatility was helpful for manager A. J. Hinch, the 26-year-old struggled to contribute at the plate. In 293 plate appearances, he slashed .173/.288/.305, good for a paltry .593 OPS and 67 wRC+. By FanGraphs’ calculation of Wins Above Replacement, only six AL players were less valuable to their clubs in 2023.

Despite his struggles, not all is lost for Maton. In fact, there are several reasons to believe he is due for some positive regression. Both his 13.0% walk rate and 24.9% strikeout rate last season were significantly better than his career totals to date. He also increased his barrel rate from 6.7% to 8.4%. What’s more, his .206 BABIP was unusually low, and he can expect that number to rise in future seasons. Finally, his poor performance at third base, a position he had limited experience playing before this season, dragged down his defensive metrics, and therefore, his overall WAR. For a team in need of a lefty-batting second baseman who can fill in at shortstop, third base, and the corner spots in a pinch, Maton could be worth a shot.

Sweet, a right-handed reliever, made his MLB debut last summer for the Mariners. He was designated for assignment a few weeks later, after which he landed with the Athletics for the final month of the season. Overall, he made seven appearances at the MLB level, where he gave up 10 runs in 8 2/3 innings, and 36 appearances in the minors, where he posted a much prettier 2.25 ERA. The Giants claimed him off of waivers from the A’s in December, and the Tigers subsequently claimed him off of waivers from the Giants a month later. He was designated for assignment again last week to make room for top prospect Colt Keith on the 40-man roster after Keith signed a six-year extension. After bouncing around between four different organizations over the past year, Sweet has finally cleared waivers and will remain in the Tigers organization as additional pitching depth.

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Detroit Tigers Los Angeles Angels Transactions Devin Sweet Kolton Ingram Nick Maton

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Angels Sign Jose Cisnero

By Nick Deeds | February 3, 2024 at 8:34pm CDT

The Angels have signed right-hander Jose Cisnero to a one-year deal, per a club announcement. To make room for Cisnero on the 40-man roster, the club has designated Livan Soto for assignment. MLB.com’s Rhett Bollinger reports that the deal guarantees the veteran righty $1.75MM.

Cisnero, 35 in April, made his big league debut with the Astros back in 2013. Over two seasons in Houston, the righty struggled to a 4.66 ERA across 48 1/3 innings of work before elbow issues brought his 2014 campaign (and his Astros tenure) to an end. After a brief 5 1/3 inning stay in the Reds’ minor league system, Cisnero stepped away from affiliated ball for several years, pitching in independent leagues across North and South America until he signed on with the Tigers during the 2018-19 offseason.

Upon joining Detroit’s roster in June on 2019, Cisnero found his home for the next half decade. In 35 1/3 innings of work during his return to the majors that year, the right-hander posted a solid 4.33 ERA (111 ERA+) with a 4.66 FIP. Those respectable numbers earned Cisnero a shot at a larger role headed into the 2020 season, and he made the most of it during the shortened campaign as he posted a sterling 3.03 ERA and 2.65 FIP in 29 appearances. The righty continued to put up strong numbers while covering the middle innings for the Tigers over the next couple of years, and entered the 2023 season with a 3.26 ERA and 3.89 FIP across 151 2/3 innings of work during his time in Detroit.

Unfortunately, things took a turn for the worse last season. The veteran righty saw his ERA balloon to 5.31 despite posting a 26.2% strikeout rate and a 9.4% walk rate, both of which were career bests outside of the shortened 2020 campaign. Some of that drop in quality of performance can be explained by Cisnero’s inflated .338 BABIP and a 68.4% strand rate that came in somewhat below his usual norms. With that being said, the biggest red flag in Cisnero’s profile last year was clearly his issues with the long ball. Cisnero allowed ten homers in his 59 1/3 innings of work last year as a whopping 15.6% of his fly balls left the yard for home runs.

Despite those blemishes, taking a flier on Cisnero is a sensible move for the Angels. At a guarantee of just $1.75MM, Cisnero joins the likes of Adam Cimber and Luis Garcia as veterans looking to rebound after a difficult 2023 season who can cover the middle innings for a bullpen that has already added the likes of Robert Stephenson and Matt Moore to handle late-inning duties. On the other hand, the addition of Cisnero sees the Halos double down on their strategy of focusing their offseason additions primarily on the club’s bullpen. While the club’s relief corps posted a lackluster 4.88 ERA last season, it’s fair to wonder why the club has yet to make significant moves targeted at improving the club’s lineup and rotation mix following the departure of two-way superstar Shohei Ohtani, instead making complementary additions in those areas such as Aaron Hicks and Zach Plesac.

The addition of Cisnero may spell the end of Soto’s time in the Angels organization. The 23-year-old infielder made his MLB debut with the club back in 2022 and impressed over the course of a brief, 18-game cup of coffee. In 59 plate appearances that year, Soto slashed a strong .400/.414/.582 with seven extra base hits in just 55 at-bats. Unfortunately, Soto’s strong performance in his first taste of the big leagues didn’t carry over to the 2023 season. The youngster hit a mediocre .237/.342/.358 in 110 games split between the Double- and Triple-A levels last year, and his four games in the majors last year saw him go just two-for-nine with zero extra base hits, though he continued to flash solid on-base ability by drawing three walks during that time. Going forward, the Angels will have seven days to trade Soto or attempt to pass him through waivers. If Soto clears waivers, the Angels will have the opportunity to retain him as non-roster depth headed into the 2024 campaign.

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Los Angeles Angels Transactions Jose Cisnero Livan Soto

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Angels Win Arbitration Case Against José Suarez

By Darragh McDonald | February 2, 2024 at 2:00pm CDT

The Angels have won their arbitration case against left-hander José Suarez, per Jon Heyman of The New York Post. The team filed at $925K with the lefty’s camp at $1.35MM, but he will make the lesser figure this year.

Suarez, 26, qualified for arbitration for the first time this offseason. He seemed to be establishing himself as a viable rotation piece over 2021 and 2022. He appeared in 45 games for the Angels in that time, 34 of them starts, logging 207 1/3 innings while allowing 3.86 earned runs per nine. His 21.5% strikeout rate, 7.9% walk rate and 44.5% ground ball rate were all reasonably close to league averages.

But 2023 was undeniably a struggle. He allowed 26 earned runs in 24 1/3 innings to start the season, then landed on the injured list in early May due to a left shoulder strain. He didn’t return until mid-September and made five shorter appearances down the stretch. He had a 4.82 ERA in that brief return but his season-long ERA still finished at 8.29 thanks to his early struggles.

MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projected him for a salary of $1.1MM for 2024. That ended up being roughly the midpoint between the two filings figures, but arbiters have to pick one number or the other and can’t pick midpoints.

Since they opted for the team’s figure, it will result in some small short-term savings for the Halos while reducing the earning power for the southpaw. He is still slated for two more passes through the arbitration system and those future raises will be starting from a lower starting point. He will try to put the injury-marred season behind him and get back on track in 2024.

The Angels’ rotation mix should feature arms like Reid Detmers, Griffin Canning, Patrick Sandoval and Tyler Anderson, while Suarez will be battling for a back-end job with the like of Chase Silseth, Zach Plesac, Sam Bachman and others. Suarez is out of options so he’ll need to either earn a rotation job or be bumped to the bullpen, unless the Angels are willing to remove him from the 40-man roster altogether.

The club still has one more hearing to go, with outfielder Taylor Ward having filed at $4.8MM while the Angels filed at $4.3MM.

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Los Angeles Angels Transactions Jose Suarez

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Angels Sign Caleb Hamilton To Minor League Deal

By Darragh McDonald | February 1, 2024 at 2:24pm CDT

The Angels have signed catcher Caleb Hamilton to a minor league deal, according to his transactions tracker at MLB.com.

It’s a bit of an early birthday present for Hamilton, who will turn 29 on Monday. The backstop has 26 games of major league experience, 22 with the 2022 Twins and four more with the Red Sox last year. His 29 plate appearances resulted in five walks but also 19 strikeouts.

That’s a tiny sample and difficult to draw conclusions from, but it’s not terribly dissimilar from his minor league work. His 480 Triple-A plate appearances have featured 148 strikeouts, a 30.8% rate. But he’s also drawn 64 walks at that level, a 13.3% clip. He also hit 17 home runs in that time, leading to an uneven slash line of .199/.308/.369. Defensively, Baseball Prospectus has generally given him solid grades for his framing and blocking, both in the majors and minors.

He was outrighted by the Red Sox in July and was able to elect free agency at the end of the season. He’ll now join the Angels and jump onto their depth chart. The Halos only have two backstops on their 40-man roster at the moment in Logan O’Hoppe and Matt Thaiss. Francisco Mejía and Chad Wallach have signed minor league deals to give them some non-roster depth, with Hamilton now joining them.

Hamilton can also play a little bit the infield corners, which could appeal to the Angels. They have Nolan Schanuel set to be their first baseman even though he was just drafted last summer. At third, Anthony Rendon is going into his age-34 season and hasn’t played 60 games in a season since 2019. Players like Brandon Drury and Luis Rengifo give them some cover but there’s no harm in a little extra depth. If Hamilton is added to the roster at any point, he has a couple of options remaining.

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Los Angeles Angels Transactions Caleb Hamilton

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Joe Smith Announces Retirement

By Steve Adams | January 31, 2024 at 2:42pm CDT

Veteran reliever Joe Smith announced his retirement on Wednesday, calling it a career after spending parts of 15 seasons in the Major Leagues. Via his representatives at Excel Sports Management, Smith issued a lengthy statement thanking the Mets, Guardians, Angels, Cubs, Blue Jays, Astros, Mariners and Twins organizations in addition to his coaches, teammates, trainers and family for supporting him throughout his career.

Selected by the Mets in the third round of the 2006 draft, the now-39-year-old Smith was in the majors less than one year later and practically never looked back. That’s in large part thanks to the fact that Smith established himself as a quality big league reliever right out of the gate, pitching 44 1/3 innings of 3.45 ERA ball with a 22% strikeout rate and 10.1% walk rate as a rookie.

That set off a remarkable run of 13 straight seasons with an ERA of 3.83 or better for Smith — including five years with a sub-3.00 mark and two with a sub-2.00. While the sidearming Smith was rarely thrust into the ninth-inning spotlight (30 career saves), he’s one of the most consistent and prolific setup men in the game’s history. Since holds began being tracked, Smith’s 228 rank him in the top five all-time. His blend of durability and consistently strong performance kept him in leverage spots for more than a decade.

Smith wasn’t on the 2016 Cubs’ World Series roster after missing most of the final month of the season due to injury, but he did take home a ring that year and pitched in parts of five other postseasons (including in 2019, when he pitched in the World Series as the Astros finished runner-up to the Nationals). As was the case during his regular-season performances, he remained quite strong in October. In 14 career playoff innings, Smith yielded only four earned runs on eight hits and three walks with 13 strikeouts (2.57 ERA).

All told, Smith will walk away from the game with 762 1/3 innings of 3.14 ERA ball under his belt. In his career, he pitched for eight MLB clubs, notching a 55-34 record with 30 saves, 228 holds, a 21.1% strikeout rate and an 8.1% walk rate. Smith didn’t post an ERA over 4.00 until his age-37 season in 2021, and in 15 MLB seasons he never had a single year where he ERA climbed to 5.00 or higher. He picked up more than 13 years of Major League service time and earned more than $51MM in salary over the course of a quietly excellent career. Best wishes to Smith and his family in whatever lies in store for his post-playing days.

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Chicago Cubs Cleveland Guardians Houston Astros Los Angeles Angels Minnesota Twins New York Mets Newsstand Seattle Mariners Toronto Blue Jays Transactions Joe Smith Retirement

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Astros Acquire Trey Cabbage From Angels

By Darragh McDonald | January 31, 2024 at 2:40pm CDT

The Angels announced that they have traded infielder/outfielder Trey Cabbage, who was recently designated for assignment, to the Astros. In exchange, the Angels will receive minor league right-hander Carlos Espinosa. The Astros designated right-hander Declan Cronin for assignment to open a roster spot for Cabbage, per Ari Alexander of KPRC 2.

Cabbage, 27 in May, made his major league debut with the Angels last year, making 56 plate appearances in 22 games. He hit just .208/.232/.321 in that time, pairing a 3.6% walk rate with a 46.4% strikeout rate.

But his minor league results have naturally been much better. In 107 Triple-A games, he hit 30 home runs last year. His 30% strikeout rate was still on the high side but his 9.5% walk rate was strong. Even in the hitter-friendly environs of the Pacific Coast League, his .306/.379/.596 batting line still led to a wRC+ of 128. On top of that, he stole 32 bases in 35 attempts while lining up at first base and all three outfield spots.

“If we could somehow get a left-handed bat, preferably an outfielder with some speed, that type of package we’ll pounce on it.” Those were the words of Astros general manager Dana Brown last week, after the club signed Josh Hader. Cabbage doesn’t have any major league success yet but he ticks those boxes for Houston, as he does indeed hit from the left side.

The Astros have lefties Yordan Álvarez and Kyle Tucker set for regular action, but the rest of their lineup skews right-handed. That includes outfielders Chas McCormick and Jake Meyers, as well as depth option Corey Julks and utility player Mauricio Dubón. If Cabbage can have his major league offense make progress towards what he’s done in the minors, he could be a nice complement to the club’s current roster. He still has two options and doesn’t need to be on the active roster right away.

In order to add Cabbage to the organization, the Astros have removed Cronin from their 40-man. The 26-year-old was just claimed off waivers from the White Sox a few weeks ago. Similar to Cabbage, he just made his major league debut in 2023 with uninspiring results. He tossed 11 innings for the Sox, allowing 11 earned runs in that time.

But also like Cabbage, his work in the minors was more impressive. He tossed 51 2/3 Triple-A innings last year, allowing 3.83 earned runs per nine. His 18.7% strikeout rate was subpar but his 54.5% ground ball rate was very strong. That’s been a hallmark of his career, as he’s kept more than half of balls in play on the ground at every level of the minor leagues and in that brief major league debut as well.

The Astros will now have a week to trade Cronin or pass him through waivers. He still has a full slate of options and limited service time, which could help him appeal to a club in search of some bullpen depth and roster flexibility.

As for the Angels, they nudged Cabbage off their roster a few days ago when they signed Matt Moore, but they were able to salvage some value from him by sending him across the division in exchange for Espinosa. The 22-year-old Cuban has limited experience in affiliated ball, having only played in the Complex League and Single-A. He has thrown 84 1/3 innings at those levels with a 3.74 ERA, 27% strikeout rate and 9.9% walk rate.

Eric Longenhagen and Tess Taruskin of FanGraphs gave Espinosa a brief mention on last year’s list of Houston’s top prospects. They noted that the righty was throwing in the mid-90s, while also featuring a slider and a changeup.

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Houston Astros Los Angeles Angels Transactions Declan Cronin Trey Cabbage

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Angels Sign Aaron Hicks To One-Year Deal

By Darragh McDonald | January 29, 2024 at 11:58pm CDT

The Angels announced the signing of veteran outfielder Aaron Hicks on a major league deal. Left-hander Kolton Ingram was designated for assignment in a corresponding 40-man roster move. Hicks, a CAA client, previously signed a contract extension with the Yankees, a deal that runs through 2025. The Yanks released him last year and are still on the hook for what’s left, meaning the Angels will only owe the prorated $740K league minimum for any time spent on the roster, with that amount subtracted from what the Yankees pay.

Hicks, 34, had a strong run with the Yankees earlier in his career, performing as an all-around player in the Bronx. From 2017 to 2020, he drew walks in 15.1% of his plate appearances while only striking out at a 20.5% clip. He hit 60 home runs in 338 games, leading to a .247/.362/.457 batting line and a 123 wRC+. He also stole 26 bases and served as the club’s primary center fielder.

It was midway through that stretch, going into 2019, that the Yanks bought into Hicks and signed him to an extension. He was just one year away from free agency at the time but agreed to a seven-year, $70MM pact that was supposed to keep him in the Bronx through 2025. He had already agreed to a $6MM salary for 2019 so the deal added six years and $64MM of new money. That was a relative rarity for the club, as shown on MLBTR’s Contract Tracker. Since February of 2014, that’s one of just three extensions given out by the Yanks, the other two being for Luis Severino and Aroldis Chapman.

Health became an issue in the early parts of that contract. In 2019, he went on the injured list due to a left lower back strain and then again due to a right flexor strain, only playing 59 games that year. In 2020, the pandemic shortened the season to 60 games, with Hicks playing in 54 of them. Then in 2021, a left wrist injury limited him to just 32 contests and poor performance when on the field. The shortened season obviously wasn’t his fault but he nonetheless found himself having been unable to log a normal amount of playing time in three straight seasons.

He was finally able to stay healthy in 2022, getting into 130 contests for the Yanks that year. But he hit just eight home runs in that time and his .216/.330/.313 slash line led to a wRC+ of just 91. He told Dan Martin of The New York Post in September of 2022 that he tried to come back from wrist surgery lean and athletic to stay healthy but that it backfired by sapping his power. His struggles continued in the early parts of the 2023 season, leading the Yankees to release him in May, despite the contract still having another two full guaranteed years.

The Orioles took a shot on Hicks, a move with no real financial risk since the Yanks were stuck holding the bag. Hicks bounced back in Baltimore, hitting seven home runs in 65 games, leading to a .275/.381/.425 slash line and 129 wRC+. He also stole six bases and helped the O’s by slotting into each of the three outfield positions.

That’s still a fairly small sample size of success after more than two years of struggles, but it’s sensible for the Angels to take the risk that he could perform well in the coming season. Hicks is still set to make a salary of $9.5MM both this year and next, then there’s a $1MM buyout on a 2026 club option, but the Yanks will be paying the majority of that. The Halos will only have to pay the prorated portion of the $740K league minimum for any time that Hicks spends on their roster.

For Hicks, money would not have been a factor in signing this deal since his salary is already set. It’s possible that he was attracted to playing his home games in Southern California, as he was born in Los Angeles and grew up in Long Beach. Beyond that, the Angels are at least going to attempt fielding a competitive team this year and could perhaps offer Hicks some decent playing time.

The club’s outfield mix prior to signing Hicks consisted of Mike Trout, Taylor Ward, Mickey Moniak and Jo Adell. Trout is obviously one of the most talented players in the game but durability has started to become a bit of a concern. Thanks to some nagging injuries and the shortened 2020 season, he hasn’t played 120 games in a campaign since 2019. Adding a player capable of playing some center field like Hicks could perhaps help Trout stay healthy as he goes into a season in which he will turn 33 years old.

Ward has only once played 100 games in a season, which was in 2022. Last year, he was limited to 97 contests, his season ending on a scary incident when he was hit in the face by a pitch from Alek Manoah. Moniak seemed to have something of a breakout last year, hitting 14 home runs in 85 games. But he’s likely due for some regression when considering his 2.8% walk rate, 35% strikeout rate and .397 batting average on balls in play. Adell has similar walk and strikeout rates across the past four seasons without the semi-encouraging power surge to go with. Considering that mix, there should be plenty of playing time available to Hicks. The designated hitter slot is also open now that Shohei Ohtani has signed with the Dodgers.

It’s possible that this move bodes particularly poorly for Adell. He has received part-time action in each of the past four campaigns but has hit just .214/.259/.366 while striking out at a 35.4% clip and walking in only 4.8% of his plate appearances. Though he was a 10th overall selection back in 2017, he is now out of options and doesn’t have a clear path to playing time.

As for Ingram, the 27-year-old lefty just made his major league debut last year. He made five appearances for the Angels, allowing five earned runs in 5 1/3 innings. He split the rest of the year between Double-A and Triple-A, tossing 61 innings with a 2.95 ERA and 30.2% strikeout rate, but a 13.3% walk rate. The major league work didn’t go well and the control issues aren’t new for him, but the minor league strikeouts are intriguing and he still has a couple of options remaining. The Angels will now have a week to trade him or try to pass him through waivers.

Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register first reported the Angels were signing Hicks.

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Los Angeles Angels Newsstand Transactions Aaron Hicks Kolton Ingram

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Cardinals Claim Alfonso Rivas, Designate Moises Gomez For Assignment

By Steve Adams | January 29, 2024 at 1:23pm CDT

The Cardinals announced Monday that they’ve claimed first baseman/outfielder Alfonso Rivas off waivers from the Angels. In a corresponding move, outfielder Moises Gomez was designated for assignment.

Rivas has seen MLB time in each of the past three seasons, splitting those years between the Cubs, Padres and Pirates. The 27-year-old hit well in a tiny sample of 49 plate appearances during his 2021 MLB debut with the Cubs but carries a more tepid .233/.316/.342 slash in 410 trips to the plate over the two previous seasons.

That said, Rivas has a minor league option remaining and an excellent track record at the game’s top minor league level. He’s a career .313/.424/.492 hitter in parts of four Triple-A seasons and has drawn a walk in a massive 15.1% of his plate appearances there. He’s more of a gap hitter than true power bat, evidenced by his 40 doubles and 15 long balls in 637 career plate appearances in Triple-A. He’s primarily been a first baseman in his career, but Rivas does have 342 innings in left field and 75 innings in right field between his time in the big leagues and minors combined. He’ll compete for a job as a left-handed bat off manager Oli Marmol’s bench this spring.

As for the 25-year-old Gomez, he looked to be on the cusp of slugging his way to the big leagues a couple years back but has been dogged by consistent contact issues and saw his numbers decline in Triple-A this year. In 2022, Gomez split the season between Double-A and Triple-A, belting 39 home runs while posting a massive .294/.371/.624 slash line. That power output was accompanied by a staggering 34.7% strikeout rate, however, and things only got worse in his second go-around at the Triple-A level. He still mashed 30 homers this past season but did so with a diminished .232/.293/.457 line and an only slightly improved 31.7% strikeout rate.

The right-handed-hitting Gomez still has two minor league options remaining and is clearly bursting with raw power, but scouting reports have long been down on his glove, speed and particularly his hit tool. FanGraphs and Baseball America both credited Gomez with 70-grade raw power (on the 20-80 scale) as recently as last offseason, but BA put a 40 on his hit tool while FanGraphs was even more bearish and pegged him at a 30.

A club looking for some right-handed pop to stash in the upper minors could well take a flier on the power, but Gomez will need to significantly scale back the strikeouts and/or improve defensively if he’s to carve out a big league role. The Cardinals have a week to trade him or attempt to pass him through outright waivers.

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Los Angeles Angels St. Louis Cardinals Transactions Alfonso Rivas Moises Gomez (b. 1998)

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Angels Designate Trey Cabbage For Assignment

By Mark Polishuk | January 27, 2024 at 2:29pm CDT

The Angels announced that first baseman/outfielder Trey Cabbage has been designated for assignment.  The transaction creates a 40-man roster spot for Matt Moore, whose one-year, $9MM deal is now official.

Cabbage was a fourth-round pick for the Twins in the 2015 draft, and he was a member of the Angels organization for the last two seasons after signing as a minor league free agent.  He didn’t show much at the plate over his first five pro seasons, but after sitting out 2020 due to the canceled minor league season, Cabbage’s bat suddenly caught fire.  A .283/.377/.574 slash line over 414 Double-A plate appearances was followed up by a .306/.379/.596 slash line in 474 PA at the Triple-A level, and it resulted in Cabbage getting a look on the Angels’ active roster this past season.

Despite only a .553 OPS over 56 PA in the Show, Cabbage at least finally made the big leagues, debuting slightly after his 26th birthday.  He might now find himself on the move to another team in the event of a waiver claim or if the Halos opt to simply release him after the DFA period, though one would imagine Los Angeles might just hang onto a player who has performed so well against minor league pitching.  Cabbage’s age could be a slight caveat to his numbers, though his performance can’t even be chalked up just to the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League, given how Cabbage’s breakout started when he was still in Minnesota’s farm system.

After getting some time as a third baseman and shortstop earlier in his career, Cabbage has settled into a first base/corner outfield role.  His DFA could indicate that the Angels simply prefer other options at those positions — Nolan Schanuel is penciled in for regular first base duty and Brandon Drury can also play the position, while Miguel Sano and Hunter Dozier were recently signed to minors contracts.  The corner outfield picture is also pretty crowded, and could be even more crowded if Mike Trout is moved to left field in order to both help keep him healthy and to improve the defense with a more glove-focused center fielder.

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Los Angeles Angels Transactions Matt Moore Trey Cabbage

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MLBTR Podcast: The Broadcasting Landscape, Josh Hader and the Relief Market

By Darragh McDonald | January 24, 2024 at 11:59pm CDT

The latest episode of the MLB Trade Rumors Podcast is now live on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and wherever you get your podcasts! Make sure you subscribe as well! You can also use the player at this link to listen, if you don’t use Spotify or Apple for podcasts.

This week, host Darragh McDonald is joined by Anthony Franco of MLB Trade Rumors to discuss…

  • The RSN model for MLB clubs (1:00)
  • The latest details on the Diamond Sports Group bankruptcy (4:05)
  • The Astros signed Josh Hader (12:35)
  • The Angels signed Robert Stephenson (19:05)
  • The Pirates signed Aroldis Chapman (21:50)

Plus, we answer your questions, including…

  • Does J.D. Martinez make sense for the Angels? (24:30)
  • With the Mets in rebuild/retooling mode and the Mariners in need of another infield bat (and a surplus of controllable young arms), is there a trade there? (27:55)
  • How odd is it that we are this late in January and have several players likely to get multi-year deals? (31:55)

Check out our past episodes!

  • The Cubs’ Activity, Marcus Stroman And Jordan Hicks – listen here
  • Teoscar Hernández Signs With L.A. And The Move-Making Mariners and Rays – listen here
  • Yoshi Yamamoto Fallout, the Chris Sale/Vaughn Grissom Trade and Transaction Roundup – listen here

The podcast intro and outro song “So Long” is provided courtesy of the band Showoff.  Check out their Facebook page here!

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Diamond Sports Group Houston Astros Los Angeles Angels MLB Trade Rumors Podcast New York Mets Pittsburgh Pirates Seattle Mariners Aroldis Chapman J.D. Martinez Josh Hader Robert Stephenson

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