JAN. 19: The Angels have announced the signing, though some new details on the deal have emerged today. Alburquerque’s contract is non-guaranteed, according to MLB.com’s Alden Gonzalez. While the contract does give Alburquerque a 40-man roster spot, the team is only responsible for up to one quarter of his $1.1MM base salary if he is cut prior to opening day, Gonzalez reports.
JAN. 15: Alburquerque will receive a $1.1MM guarantee with the Angels and can earn additional money through incentives, tweets Heyman.
7:11am: The Angels and right-hander Al Alburquerque are in agreement on a one-year, Major League contract, reports Jon Heyman (via Twitter). The 29-year-old MDR Sports Management client has spent his entire Major League portion of his career to date as a member of the Tigers but was non-tendered this past December.
The hard-throwing Alburquerque has never struggled to miss bats in the Major Leagues, as evidenced by a lifetime 11.0 K/9 rate and 14.1 percent swinging-strike rate. However, control has indeed been a problem for the right-hander, who has averaged 5.0 walks per nine innings over the life of his 225 innings in the big leagues. Alburquerque did take a step backwards in 2015 as well, as his velocity dipped to a still-strong 93.1 mph (down from 94.5 a couple of years ago), which resulted in a decline in the aforementioned K/9 (8.4) and swinging-strike (11.1 percent) rates.
With this new agreement, Alburquerque will slot into the Angels’ mix of right-handed setup men, in some ways serving as a replacement for young right-hander Trevor Gott, who was traded to the Nationals in exchange for new third baseman Yunel Escobar. He’ll join right-handers Joe Smith, Fernando Salas, Mike Morin, Cory Rasmus, Cam Bedrosian and Deolis Guerra as right-handed setup options behind closer Huston Street in Anaheim.
With four years, 147 days of Major League service time under his belt, Alburquerque can be controlled not only for the 2016 season but also for the 2017 season via arbitration, should he perform well in his new surroundings.
So they sign Alburquerque to replace gott?
It’s not a bad replacement. We don’t know how good Gott was going to be in his second season, especially when he has yet to play a full season. In fact he got lit up a bit after he started his Angels tenure with a long scoreless streak. And remember Mike Morin had a very good year in 2014, and then struggled all of 2015. Bullpens are volatile, and this guy at least has proven he can be a good reliever over the course of a full season.
they need a lefty , Bastardo would be a nice signing or clippard
Bastardo is seeking 3/$18m which is $6m AAV and that alone would keep him from being signed unless someone is traded to free up “cap” space….and if they are going to free up “cap” space it will be for an OF IMO…
How would you feel if they took a flyer on desmond for 1 year to play in left so he can rebuild his value
Really bad idea, because they have a star at SS so nowhere for Desi to go if outfield doesn’t work out.
2B?
It would add production and power to their lineup but at 2B instead of LF.
As a hard throwing right hander out of the pen. That’s all that he’s saying.
Al Al is the best jersey value in the MLB…
Probably the costliest Jersey to produce in terms of the number of letters.
Complete opposite of (Fu Te) Ne..
The Tigers needed to release AlAl in order to sign Saltalamachia. There just were not enough letters available to keep both of them.
I think you’re missing a C there in Saltalamacchia. It’s even longer than you thought.
As a Tigers fan, I like AlAl, but he can be incredibly frustrating at times with the wildness. He got ample opportunity in Detroit and could not learn to harness his control. Good luck in LA.
maybe the new angels pitching coach can figure him out, if he can control his wildness then it could be a huge steal for the angels. But what they do need is a lefty, I am not really sold on Alvarez, I would like to see them go after Antonio Bastardo.
Alvarez is adequate, which is all one can really expect because anything outside of the 8-9 inning guys in any bullpen is a roll of the dice.
AlAl can get lefties out.
Mop up guy with some upside?
He was used quite effectively as an old time fireman because of his ability to get strikeouts. Unfortunately he had a bad habit of walking the first batter he faced, which led to inconsistency and frustration. You just couldn’t count on him because you never knew which Al would show up.
He has good stuff. He could be like ex Tigers Rodney and Grilley or he can be Phil Coke for you.
So the Angels sign Al Al to replace Gott, so which player is being taken off the 40 man roster?
prolly featherson , they should of went after clippard
What are the odds on a 2 for 1 deal being announced today? Something like Cam Bedrosian and _______ for Blackmon / Dickerson
If the second person in that scenario is Andrew Heaney, maybe. Otherwise, Bedrosian’s not much of a starting point for talks involving Blackmon or Dickerson.
This signing isn’t likely to be tied to any major trade — it’s probably more about adding more right-handed bullpen depth at a reasonable price.
I hope not Heaney , I would give up Tropeano
they need another lefty in the pen
If Heaney is to part of any deal for a Rockies OF he should be considered untouchable.
CarGo-injury prone/too short of control for him to be inc’d
Blackmon/Dickerson red flag splits for him to be inc’d
I never liked Bedrosian , he didn’t have good control every time I watched him, I think Dickerson would be better. Cam Bedrosian + Tropeano and Salas for Dickerson
The Angels swapped a backup catcher for Tropeano a year ago, and he went on to have a poor season at Triple-A before pitching reasonably well in a small MLB sample. Tropeano and two relievers (one of whom — Salas — is expensive and a free agent next winter) is not going to convince Colorado to part with four years of Corey Dickerson.
I think Tropeano can be a big league pitcher — be it a fifth starter or a reliever — but he’s not going to be the centerpiece of a Dickerson trade.
If the angels do make a trade, who do you think will be the center piece? Everyone on the mlb network is saying Tropeano will be the piece to go
If you want a good outfielder it’s probably going to have to be Heaney. Tropeano and Bedrosian doesn’t get it done.
Then I would back out, Heaney has a lot of upside
Trop has a lot of upside. He will be one of our best pitchers if given the opportunity. I hope we trade Santiago for an outfielder.
No body until they determine if there is another move made. The reason why you see players agree to deals but not officially is b/c they only need to be added after its official.
Remember how long it took for Maeda to be officially added to the Dodgers roster….they waited til room was made
Send him to the Rockies so he can be assigned to AAA.
Sadly, not gonna happen. We can dream on our Al Albuquerque pitching for Albuquerque dreams though.
now there really is like 0 room under the luxury tax
If they make a trade for dickerson there should be room
What I was thinking … If they’re getting a left fielder it better be someone really cheap. Unless they’re going through the cap for Upton.
It would probably take Heaney or Skaggs a lesser piece to get Blackmon or Dickerson. If the asking price was Tropeano Bedrosian I think the deal would have been done already.
I think I’d rather have Dickerson TBH. Would love to get away with a Santiago/Tropeano type package.
Angels haven’t pulled the trigger because the home/away splits are a concern for the Angels. I also wouldnt trade Trop for Blackmon. If we can trade Santiago than thats a trade they ahould do but all the reports say Rox like Trop.
Haha I like how some Angels fans trash on Bedrosian and then offer him up in a proposed deal for Blackmon or Dickerson like he has a bunch of value. I wish that were the case but he simply isn’t worth much
Al Albuquerque. Grrrrrrrrrrr. – A’s fan
I like this move. Needed a true swing and miss pitcher. Now if they can package Cron Shoemaker and someone else to get a left handed hitting left fielder it would be better.
Sign Pedro Alvarez. Trade Cron, Bedrock and Shoemaker for Blackmon and Dj Lemahieu
I would go for that
Al Alburquerque joined the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim leaving Al Avila.
Alliteration
Good luck with Al-Al. He has an amazing slider. It was even better when the Tigers first got him, but it seems like he gave up movement to get better control. He also has a very straight fastball. It might be mid 90’s, but it has no movement. He also does not handle pressure well. His worst performance comes with the game on the line. He gets frazzled easily (Google: walk off balk). It was time for the Tigers to move on.
Nice, we’ll use that as his nickname here in Anaheim: Balk-Off Al
Correction:
Al Alburquerque joined the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim leaving Al Avila.
Assonance, not Alliteration.