The Angels have placed concussed third baseman Yunel Escobar on the seven-day disabled list, recalled third bagger Kaleb Cowart from Triple-A Salt Lake, activated first baseman C.J. Cron from the DL, and designated second baseman Johnny Giavotella for assignment, according to Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register (Twitter link).
[RELATED: Updated Angels Depth Chart]
Escobar suffered his injury on a fourth-inning bunt attempt against the Yankees on Friday. The ball went off Escobar’s bat and hit him in the face, causing him to leave early.
“We’re going to take it one step at a time, but (the DL) is a possibility,” manager Mike Scioscia said afterward (via Steve Dilbeck of the Associated Press).
Escobar has enjoyed his second straight quality offensive season, having posted a .320/.368/.402 batting line through 479 plate appearances. He’s playing on a $7MM salary this year and has a $7MM club option for 2017, which either makes him an affordable option for the Angels or a potential trade candidate. With the end of August drawing nearer, a concussion issue won’t help the Angels’ cause if they’re willing to deal Escobar, though there’s no word on whether that’s the case. FanRag Sports’ Jon Heyman reported Thursday that Escobar, 33, drew interest prior to the Aug. 1 non-waiver trade deadline.
Taking Escobar’s place on the roster will be Cowart, whom MLBTR’s Jason Martinez highlighted in his “Knocking Down the Door” series earlier this week. As Martinez noted, Cowart had been swinging a red-hot bat in the minors prior to his call-up and has the ability to play a handful of positions. The 24-year-old has collected just 58 major league plate appearances since the Angels selected him 18th overall in the 2010 draft. He peaked as Baseball America’s 60th-ranked prospect after the 2012 season.
Cron, meanwhile, is returning after landing on the DL on July 8 with a fractured left hand that occurred on a hit by pitch. Cron has been one of the few bright spots for the club, slashing .280/.331/.479 with 11 home runs over 283 plate appearances. That represents nice progress for the 26-year-old, who had only been a slightly above-average hitter in his two previous seasons. Cron also recorded career-best rates in walks (6 percent) and strikeouts (14.5 percent) prior to the injury.
Although he has logged 869 plate appearances with the Angels since last season, Giavotella’s playing time had been dwindling lately in favor of Cliff Pennington and Gregorio Petit, Fletcher wrote Thursday.
“Johnny is a good player,” Scioscia told Fletcher. “But those guys have jumped up and won more playing time.”
The 29-year-old Giavotella is making just over the league minimum and is scheduled for his first trip through arbitration during the upcoming offseason. He has hit .260/.287/.376 with six homers in 367 plate appearances this season and owns a similar .256/.295/.361 line in 1,334 major league PAs.
It will be another MORONIC move to release Johnny be good, a proven clutch hitter… I hope these kakabrainiacs don’t make another epic mistake …
Idiots.Drop Choi, not Johnny Magic
Choi is 25 and can play the OF, Gia is 29 and barely plays 2B
Choi is garbage at everything defensively and always has been.
A stupid….stupid…move by Angels Management. Most durable infielder they had ALL YEAR!!!
Of course … I agree … There kakabrainiacs are just plain fools
Yeesh. Johnny G is completely expendable given his minimal production and the fact that he’s set to be released rather than paid via arbitration. Couple that with his subpar defense and the handful of other 2B options on the roster and I can’t understand why you guys are so razzed about this
Please Johnny Giavotella is 29 he is not and will not be a difference maker and he is not a building block for the future. If he had any trade value he would have been traded. But the Angels are better off seeing what Cowart can do.
Johnny will be like many other players that left the Angels and blossomed somewhere else …
… Which is a list that every team has! Lol
Well I’m voting with my wallet. My wife and I make two trips a year to Anaheim from Vegas. If Giavotella is not on the roster we’re not making the second trip this year. His scrapiness has been fun to watch, he puts the ball in lay, and his performance is better than his replacements.
Giavotella 99 games, 90 hit, 39 SO
Marte 61 games, 42 hits, 41 SO
Petit 67 games, 44 hits, 40 SO
Pennington 42 games, 24 hits, 32 SO.
Giavotella’s designation for assignment is just another blow to Angels run production. And frankly, Cowarts been up three times and proven he’s not a producer. Case in point, Marte, a really subpar defensive player, is starting at third base tonight.
You forgot to mention the 14 HR’s between those other three and the fact that they all have a higher OBP than Johnny G. They’re all better defensively as well. And not making the trip over Johnny G is rather petty. I know plenty of fans around the country that would make that trip just to see Mile Trout play…
I don’t get why everybody is going crazy and starting hashtags about Johnny. He was great to watch and had amazing fight, but he just wasn’t producing. and he only plays second. He’ll probably clear waivers and hopefully accepts the minors.
All of the options in place of Johnny Giavotella have better OBP, more power, and better gloves. End of story. Explaining that to Angels fans, however, is another story…
seriously, Angel fans freaking out about this way more than they should be
Giavotella has been cut by 3 other teams before. He’s a marginal player with limited skills. He plays 2nd because he doesn’t make it anywhere else. A poor and inaccurate arm. The player he beat out(taylor featherston) was just released by Philly. If you came to the Big A to see him,then you don’t know baseball. A C- player at his best.
Why do people feel the need to constantly reiterate their opinions. That’s all we are on here folks…opinions. Say it once and let it be. And “kakabrains” guy needs to learn a new word.
This being said Johnny is fun to watch. Maybe he can get it together and come back. If we have been taught anything this year, it’s that anything can happen.
the angels need a make over in the offseason, starting with getting rid of scioscia, even though eppler said he’s staying
I hope Johnny gets a chance somewhere. His work ethic is outstanding and he is a class act.
Angels and their fans are in bad shape when the release of a replacement level 2B generates this kind of ire.
LA Times hit it on the head with this one. “His .287 on-base percentage ranked 86th among the 90 American League players with at least 350 plate appearances, and his defense, while improved, was no better than average.” Think about that, only 4 players in the whole league with a worse OBP.