Angels Sign Andrew Bailey, Release Al Alburquerque

The Angels have signed reliever Andrew Bailey to a minor league contract and released fellow bullpen option Al Alburquerque, per a club announcement. Bailey, an Excel Sports Management client, had been on the market since the Phillies released him last Saturday.

Injuries have helped derail the right-handed Bailey’s once-promising career, but he has finally stayed healthy this year. Unfortunately, an inability to prevent runs brought an end to the 32-year-old’s short tenure in Philadelphia. In 32 1/3 innings with the Phillies, Bailey posted a 6.40 ERA, but he did log a solid 9.2 K/9 and a usable 4.18 BB/9.

A former closer with the Athletics, Bailey has thrown 259 major league innings and recorded a 3.20 ERA, 9.24 K/9 and 3.09 BB/9 as a member of four different teams. While Bailey’s results and velocity have trended in the wrong directions since the impressive beginning of his career, he could work his way into an Angels bullpen that has been among the majors’ worst this season. Further, the Halos’ two primary late-game options – fellow righties Huston Street and the lights-out Cam Bedrosian – are currently on the disabled list, as their depth chart indicates.

Alburquere barely cracked LA’s ’pen this year, amassing only two innings. He spent the majority of his Angels stint at Triple-A Salt Lake, where he threw 23 2/3 innings and put up a 3.80 ERA, 9.89 K/9 and 4.94 BB/9. Alburquerque had a successful run in Detroit from 2011-15, during which time he posted a 3.20 ERA, 11.04 K/9, 5.00 BB/9 and 47.4 ground-ball rate across 225 frames.