Angels Acquire Damien Magnifico; Designate Jose Valdez For Assignment

The Angels have acquired right-hander Damien Magnifico from the Orioles in exchange for righty Jordan Kipper.  Both teams have announced the deal, and both players have been assigned to their new clubs’ respective Triple-A affiliates.  The Angels have also designated right-hander Jose Valdez for assignment to create roster space.

Magnifico joins his third different organization in less than a month, after being dealt from Milwaukee to Baltimore for an international bonus slot on April and now this move to Los Angeles.  The O’s designated Magnifico for assignment earlier this week to create a 40-man roster spot for catcher Francisco Pena.

Magnifico was hit hard (11.37 ERA in 6 1/3 IP) in five relief outings for Triple-A Norfolk this season, and for his career, he owns a 3.82 ERA, 7.0 K/9 and 1.7 K/BB rate over 346 frames in the minor leagues.  He made his MLB debut last season, appearing in three games for the Brewers.

Kipper, 24, was a ninth-round pick for the Angels in the 2014 draft.  The righty has a 4.02 ERA, 5.8 K/9 and 2.28 K/BB over 338 1/3 career innings, starting 56 of his 70 career games.  Kipper has gotten off to an especially good start this year with a 1.74 ERA over 31 innings at Double-A, though still with very modest strikeout totals.

The hard-throwing Valdez was purchased from the Tigers last June, and he posted a 4.81 ERA, 8.5 K/9 and a 6.3 BB/9 over his 24 1/3 innings in an Angels uniform.  Big strikeout totals and a lack of control have been the story for Valdez over his nine-year pro career, as he has a 9.8 K/9 but an ungainly 5.2 BB/9 over his 314 1/3 IP in the minors, though he has gotten good bottom-line results in the form of a 3.21 ERA.  Los Angeles previously outrighted Valdez off its 40-man roster during the offseason, so it isn’t a sure thing that another team would be interested in taking a flier on his power arm.