The Angels have re-signed right-hander Alex Meyer to a minor league deal, Brandon Warne of Zone Coverage reports (Twitter link). Meyer was originally released by the club at the end of November.
2018 was a lost season for Meyer, as he spent the entire season recovering from surgery to fix a torn labrum in September 2017. While he wasn’t expected to pitch last year, Meyer’s rehab process suffered a couple of notable bumps in the road — he received a cortisone shot in late August to relieve some pain in his shoulder, and he was shut down in early November after another setback. Jeff Fletcher of the Southern California News Group tweets that Meyer won’t be cleared to begin throwing until February, so it could still be some time before we see the 6’9″ right-hander back on the mound.
Selected 23rd overall by the Nationals in the 2011 draft, Meyer was a regular in top-100 prospect rankings in the first half of the decade, though he has yet to convert that promise into production at the big league level. Meyer has a 4.63 ERA over 95 1/3 career innings for the Twins and Angels, showing some ability to miss bats (10.1 K/9) but also struggling with control (5.9 BB/9). Meyer has started 19 of his 22 MLB games, though given his health issues, the Angels could explore using him as a reliever in the future. Meyer’s height and velocity (95.6 mph average fastball) could make him an intimidating weapon out of the bullpen, particularly if the shorter outings can add even more speed to his heater.
Beyond anything, of course, the first step is simply to get Meyer healthy and regularly throwing. The Angels have been looking for both starters and relievers this offseason, and Meyer could be an interesting wild card to address either area if he can overcome his shoulder problems.
ME-YER-NOT.
good luck, tall guy!
He has a career as an actor if they remake Phantasm.
Was it 4 or 5 years ago when Mr. Myer was a can’t miss Top 100 prospect?
The injury was just a bit over a year ago.
In 2012-2015 Meyer was a top 100 prospect. There is no such thing as a can’t miss prospect. Even consensus #1 prospects miss. Just ask the Twins about Buxton. Or the Rangers about Profar. Or the Orioles about Weiters. As they say in my neck of the woods, that dog don’t hunt.
Wtf was wrong with Wieters. He wasn’t a star but Christ buddy he was an above average major leaguer for years. I wouldn’t count on the 25 year old Profar from carving out a successful career either.
I think he meant “out,” not “on”
Yeah, that’s what I meant. Far too early to count on Buxton too who has already posted a great season.
@ jbigz12;
When did Buxton post “a great season”? Or are you referring to his time in the minor leagues?
In 2017 he had a bWAR of 5..2, which is considered an All Start-worthy season; that year he also won the Silver Glove for best defender among all defenders in MLB. I would consider that a great year!
Byron buston is add best billy hamilton. He has all the intangibles to be great accept whats between his ears. He is a fringe 4th outfielder this year will confrim this yet again.
Weiters. 2 seasons above MLB average out of 10. None since 2012. Average WAR is 1.8. Well below MLB average. .251/.315/.410/.725 slash line with a 94 OPS+. Below average. As an O’s fan I suffered through Weiters for far too long. Just glad he went to the Nats before 2017.
He also had a -0.3 WAR season which is considered a ticket to the minors, which is exactly what happened. Considering he was supposed to be a perennial all-star and has a career 80 OPs+ and had a 4 OPS+ last season is not a good sign.
The ultra rose colored glasses from using the bloated rWAR with Buxton doesn’t fly anywhere outside Twins fan forums.
In the real world, Buxton posted a 3.5 fWAR in 2017 and even that was entirely fueled by a luck driven small sample size performance at the end of the year.
Luck as in a 56% bunt hit rate. A .373 BABIP despite a very high 15% pop-up rate and an unsustainable (for him) 20% HR/FB rate.
I’m pretty sure they already remade it. Much like Alex career, it bombed. I hope he can find success out of the pen.
Nice, I was a little bummed to see him go at first. He’s a nice depth piece. I think he was on his way to having an average year until he got hurt. Pitched a gem on Father’s Day haha
This pretty much sealed the deal for Trout to sign an extension.
Dealt with injury after injury. Be nice if he can make it back.
i agree
Yes. He had terrific stuff in AAA back in 2014-15. Although the clock is definitely ticking, it would be good to see him overcome all those injuries and land a spot in the MLB – even out of the pen, although IMO he was always best as a starter.
Angels should see what he can do out of the pen. Given his injury history it seems clear he cannot handle a starter’s workload.
I watched him play quite a bit in the Carolina and Sally leagues when he was in his first year of pro ball in 2012. He was a man amongst boys and was throwing BBs. 96-98 MPH heat from that 3/4 arm slot. Would have preferred to see him come more over the top to take advantage of his height, but he was very effective. After all his injuries, maybe its time to see what he can do coming out of the pen.
Did you make an unintended joke by mixing together bb’s (as in “seeds, etc.) with BB’s (as in walks)? They do often seem to go together with Meyer.
Labrum surgeries are the worst of the worst for a pitcher. There have been some pitchers who’ve come back from them (Michael Pineda), but it’s also cost some of the most elite pitchers in history have been unable to make it work (Johan Santana).
Multiple setbacks during later stages of Meyer’s recovery, including setbacks when he was supposed to be ramping up his pitching does not bode well.
I’ve heard nothing of his velocity before he was shut down, but no other teams seemingly kicked the tires on him and that says a lot.
As I recall (perhaps incorrectly) the velocity was still there, but his control was disintegrating. And I agree – the setbacks are troubling news.
Meyer has a power arm, he would be awesome coming out of the bullpen