The Angels announced that oufielder Kirk Nieuwenhuis has been designated for assignment. His roster spot will go to the newly-promoted Kyle Kubitza, a third base prospect who will see his first big league action.
Nieuwenhuis, 27, was not able to turn things around in brief action with the Angels after struggling earlier in the year with the Mets. All said, he’s slashed just .100/.156/.167 in 64 plate appearances. It’s still possible that the Angels will be able to stash him in the minors, though Nieuwenhuis could be headed for his third organization of the year.
Meanwhile, Kubitza will have a chance to fill in temporarily for David Freese, who is battling a seemingly minor injury. He came over to the Halos in exchange for lefty Ricardo Sanchez in an offseason deal with the Braves. The 24-year-old has put up a solid .287/.362/.452 line in 260 plate appearances in the PCL. Los Angeles will be watching closely to see whether he is ready to take over for the free-agent-to-be Freese heading into 2016.
Phillies have Ben Revere available……………hint, hint……….
The one deal I really hate from the braves offseason was dealing kubitza. Hes gonna be good.
Wow…Kirk has imploded. He used to be a decent bat/utility guy off the bench.
Poor Capt. Kirk.
For the last 2 years, the Angels have had to operate under the same
financial limitations as many small market teams to stay under the
luxury tax cap. Despite that, Dipoto and the brass have ingeniously
improved our pitching depth, catching depth and depth at 3rd base.
…….The glaring mistake they made was the Jepsen for Joyce trade last
winter. The negative effect of that trade was amplified by the Josh
Hamilton situation and his resulting release. …….The inability of
the bottom half of the lineup to produce and continue a rally, turning
it over to the top of the lineup, was further exasperated by the
terrible offensive performance of Iannetta and the poor start of Cron.
…….Many Angel fans call for an immediate trade of our pitching
prospects for a big bat in left field. I think that would be taking a
step backward and only a temporary solution. …….Until teams fall out
of contention and the trade market improves, we should look in house
for players who can bolster the bottom of the line up and turn it over
to the top run producers. We should start Efren Navarro in left field
and Grant Green as well as Cron, at DH until the trade market heats up.
Trading our pitching prospects for another team’s bad contract players
would be a mistake. …….In the event Navarro,Green and or Cron fail
to jump start the bottom of the lineup, a trade for a young, cost
controlled hitter such as A.J. Pollack of Arizona should be made for one
of our pitching prospects. …….Joyce and Iannetta are free agents
after this season and should not be part of the Angel’s future plans, so
why waste anymore time waiting for them to hit above the Mendoza
line??????? …….Navarro, Green, Cron and Perez could be part of our
future, so give them a fair chance to establish themselves in the next
20 to 30 days. Kubitza should play 3rd base while Freese is mending but
should be returned to Salt Lake to play every day to improve his
defense and cut down on his K Rate until he’s recalled in September or
Freese is injured.