Angels righty Matt Harvey has suffered a setback that will delay his return to the majors, skipper Brad Ausmus told reporters including Maria Torres of the Los Angeles Times (Twitter link). Harvey has been on the injured list for just over two weeks.
It had been hoped that Harvey would get a breather, let the back issue heal up, and return to the majors after a limited rehab assignment. But his first (and thus far only) rehab stint did not go as planned.
Harvey took the mound for Triple-A Salt Lake City on Saturday, lasting only 2 2/3 innings before he was pulled. Before departing, he was tagged for eight earned runs on eight hits and two walks.
That’s obviously not the kind of showing he and the team were hoping for. Today’s news adds injury to insult.
When Harvey hit the IL, he was toting a 7.50 ERA in ten starts. Indeed, it seemed possible that the brutal results were as much a cause for the placement as the injury. (Harvey said he hadn’t experienced any symptoms since the IL placement.)
It isn’t clear just yet what the next steps are for Harvey. Ausmus acknowledged some concern in the veteran hurler. The Halos are now without both Harvey and fellow free agent signee Trevor Cahill, who’s dealing with a similarly nebulous blend of injury (elbow soreness) and performance issues.
Bout time for him to retire already
Why not just designate or release the guy if he was so immature about being injured in the first place?
Dark times for the Dark Knight :-(
Boy oh boy did he take their GM to the cleaners…Was Sandy doing his Analytics magic for them when they signed Harvey?
It was a 1 year flier. Dont be dramatic. It clearly didnt work.
1-year and 11 MILLION DOLLARS! If his name was Tom Harvey he would be pitching in the Mexican league by now.
1-year/11 isn’t all that much in today’s baseball.
It really is if said person hasn’t been good for nearly four or five years at this point
Oh yes it when you are clearly WASHED-UP!…Did the Angels scout him when he was in Cinci and New York?
The guy put up 1.6fWAR last year (worth about $13M in value). To expect that he might build upon that as he became further removed from his injuries was a justifiable risk.
These things often times don’t pan out. But it wasn’t a bad deal. Too risky for me, but it pales in comparison to some of the truly bad moves that were made this off-season.
A good young core from your minor league system cures all.
Who did you want the Angels to sign? Most of the free agent pitchers took GMs to the cleaners and most were for multi-year deals for a lot more money. People are looking at these signings in a vacuum without any perspective.
Dallas Keuchel didn’t sign for much more than this guy
Keuchel signed for twice as much, it’s just pro rated.
And Keuchel WASN’T signing in the off-season for anything close to what he got. Remember, he was asking for 5-6 years at $25M/year. That’s a whole heck of a lot different than Harvey at $11M.
Time for one last chance to be a reliever.If not, get him out of here
move him to the 60 day list
The setback was his performance, not his health.
He needs to be down in A-ball learning how to pitch again with diminished stuff.
He’s more concerned with being cool than being good at baseball
Hopefully he figures it out just in time to be DFAed
Angels need to make a few moves to try and get into the wild card. They are only 4 games out. A couple pitchers and a decent bat… they can make a difference. Maybe try and get Madbum… Imagine him in a one game playoff against the Yankees. They will get Simmons back… Maybe get Pablo to play third?
The last thing the Angels need to do is trade off any of their top prospects for a rental. And they don’t need another infielder, especially Pablo. His numbers are awful (K’s up, BB’s down). HIS BABIP is inflated His ISO is the highest of his career – by a wide margin.
Generally speaking, betting on 33 YO’s who have turned in an amazing (for them) performance over 50 games is a bad, bad idea.
Enjoy Cozart when he comes back.
What prospects are you worried about losing? Jones? Marsh? Maitan?
our youngsters and perennial minor leaguers are playing well given chances to play in the bigs. we don’t need any additional infielders.
Well you definitely need some arms.
we have some not many that are going to come up in ’20. canning has been pitching well. ohtani comes back. we’ll be in better shape than some other teams.
“a one game playoff against the Yankees”. You actually think the Angels are making the playoffs?
If you read the post, I said they should try and make a wildcard spot. They are only 4 games out. But imagine the Rangers or whoever is the lesser wildcard, getting Bumgarner… they would put fear into the Yankees in a one game playoff.
Fish and Game has notified that Melchez has bagged his limit of bad ideas. The Angels are not just a player or two away from a Wild Card. They would have to climb over TEX and OAK in their own division, much less be better than the 3rd best team in AL East—don’t be surprised to see Red Sox, Yankees, and Rays being winner of East plus both Wild Cards.
The Angels team currently has Pujols as its one and only authentic 1B, because Simmons and Cozart are out for extended periods, and Fletcher is resting a sore shoulder; hence, Tovar (!) is starting SS.
Upton will return, but he’s streaky and will need a lot of PA to get his timing back. Ohtani is getting there, too. But this is not a team which is one bat away from the playoffs. The team is better than its record, but the offense has disappeared too often to be a post-season contender.
Harvey and Cahill were signed because, together, they cost as much as Keuchel’s demands for a 2019 salary, with a 5-year guarantee. Odds were that one of the two would provide a level of success, but of course we know differently now. And since each was 1-year deal, the pitchers are motivated to exceed for a better payday in 2020 (so the theory states), but if they fail, there is no long-term attachment.
On the other hand, Eovaldi, who was considering the Angels before signing back with Red Sox, is negative-WAR in first year of deal paying $68M/4, Happ signed for half that but is in his mid-30s, and Corbin, who has been excellent with Nats, signed a 6 yr deal with AAV of $23.3M—a year longer than Keuchel’s demands, and which balloons to $35M in the final season. None of those deals make much sense to a team still in rebuilding process (maybe Happ does).
The point here is not to flail furiously and make desperate deals (Pablo Sandoval? Seriously?!?), but to realize that chrysalis requires both time and patience, and this team is building for the 2020s.
It’s not even the half way point yet and you’re counting out a team that’s 4 games back? This team has Trout and Otani in their prime. Career years from Simmons, Goodwin, Fletcher and La Stella. Pujols in his twilight. A decent pen… two decent starters. The time to strike is now. Sandoval doesn’t need to carry a team… he’s an added bat on the bench and that can play some third or first if needed. Better than Cozart and Bour. Get a solid number one and maybe a couple decent starters that can eat innings and the Angels offense will do the rest.
Yogi Berra once said “it aint over til it’s over” I guess you follow the belief that “Eeeh, it’s too hard… I can’t do it… sob sob sob”
I’m sure, in your head, that all sounded reasonable.
This team has not shown the offensive strength or consistency to overcome inconsistent pitching, or even to support solid pitching. While LaStella, Goodwin, etc are playing well, they’re also playing above historical output and one should expect some regression as the season wears on.
Likewise, Simmons figures to be missing for at least another month, and Cozart clearly hasn’t healed from his offseason surgery. While it is nice to see Calhoun putting up offensive numbers worthy of sitting next to his defense stats, there are too many question marks, ones which aren’t answered by Bumgarner and Sandoval, especially with the level of talent to be dealt away to get Bumgarner for the balance of 2019.
If you’re paying attention to what’s been going on with the team for the last three years, there has been a process of strengthening the minors system decimated by Dipoto, Eppler drafted Adell, Canning, Adams, and Knowles, (among many), and is loading up for a pipeline of young talent for the next decade.
2019 is a year of transition leading to 2020, when Adell is due to arrive, Canning begins his second season, Ohtani returns to the mound, and Middleton starts the season in the bullpen (though he should return to team later this season from TJ surgery, there is still a period of adjustment for the player). There are possibilities like adding Cole to the rotation, or Rendon for 3B.
Trout stayed for a reason, and the reason is he’s seen the roadmap, and believes in the plan. There is no reason to make changes on the fly to 2019 based on the hallucination that this team is going to finish with a record greater than the Red Sox, Yankees, or Rays.
FYI… Trout stayed for the $428 mil.
I don’t think you spend $11 mil on a starting pitcher and $8.5 mil for a reliever in a “transition” year. The year before they signed Upton and Cozart for over $30 mil a year. They wanted to contend, but the pitcher’s arms fell off.
Like I said, 4 games back with just under 100 games to play is not that hard. They could trade some of their prospects for a couple starters. It’s a buyers market with all the teams tanking.
If I were a player, I would want my front office to try and win if we were 4 games back.
Yes, because no other team would possibly pay Trout that much money in free agency after the 2020 season. Congratulations on such brilliant analysis.
As for the expenditures for pitching: A team absolutely makes that kind of signing when the plan is to use in-house talent, but it isn’t yet ready. I doubt the team wanted Canning this season, until the wheels came off Heaney and it became a necessity. Likewise, the smart observer knows Ohtani is back in the rotation next season, so loading up on long-term deals for SP is counterproductive.
I think Eppler plans on Buttrey and Middleton as set-up and closer for 2020 (which is which is TBA), but is bringing Buttrey along more slowly as a 7th inning role, learning to deal with higher leverage along the way. Allen was another roll of the dice, a possible rebound who could be flipped at the deadline, and veteran mentor for a bullpen short on experience. When you look at the signing prices of FA relievers (including Kimbrel’s original expectations), Allen is not big-ticket.
Finally, it is up to the players to “try and win”, not the front office. So far, the team effort has been tepid.
If the front office is throwing in the season, well, the players might as well too. BTW, who says no to $428 mil? Especially when the culture there is “we don’t expect to win. so have fun.”
I give you credit: when you miss the point, you go all out. The comment about Trout signing the recent Angels deal completely misunderstands why he stayed.
It’s universally acknowledged that had he gone into a competitive free-agent bidding situation after 2020, the amount that he signed for with the Angels would be tiny compared to the deal he would’ve signed then. Considering bids from Phillies, Yankees, Dodgers, Cubs, and others, the figure would’ve been pushed into the stratosphere.
He stayed because he understands the plan for the team for the next decade, and he wants to be a part of it. *He said this.* If he didn’t believe in the plan, he’d collect his $34M this year and next and be gone.
Really, this is as difficult to understand as you choose to make it.
“It’s universally acknowledged that had he gone into a competitive free-agent bidding situation after 2020, the amount that he signed for with the Angels would be tiny compared to the deal he would’ve signed then. ”
What universe was this? Tiny? Really? The guy signed the richest contract ever. Could he have gotten more… Oh, I believe so, even as a 29 year old inching toward the wrong side of 30, teams would have paid. “Pushed into the stratosphere”? LOL
Come back to this universe for a second… he signed because he has it easy in LA. Great weather, fans love him, he’s not asked to do a bunch of “Rah Rah. We’re the greatest” like Lebron had to. He’s just a guy that goes out, plays ball and goes home at night. If they don’t win, well, it’s someone else’s fault. Or, they’re 4 game out, no one expects them to win. It’s okay… he’ll get his trophy when it’s all said and done. The team won’t but he’ll get his. That’s what it’s all about, right? MVP?
Maybe Trout saw many of today’s players that turned down guaranteed money today in hopes of maybe making much more in the future… OUCH?
And besides… he’s got more money than he will ever spend now. Does it really matter if he got a couple mil more?
Fletcher can play anywhere on the IF, and the LF with high quality. He has the lowest K rate in MLB. All the Angels need is some solid SPing…
stop the pain — dump horrible Harv’.
So his performance was the set back?
I would have rather signed Kenny Powers than Matt Harvey…
How about Nathan Eovalde? Or however you spell his name. Would rather have that Seattle pitcher? How about all that money for Corbin? It’s a one year deal, it could have been much much worse.
they tried to sign him, but he chose to stay put. he has been terrible with a 6.O ERA
Thank God
Matt Harvey suffers a setback… what? He’s back on the Mets?
With those type of numbers Eppler is probably offering him 2 for $30 mil
I would say this this whole season is considered a setback.
Could have got Corbin for a similar AAV instead of wasting money on Cahill/Harvey
Why didn’t the Angels pick up Keuchel?
If the question is, “why didn’t they sign him last Winter?”, it’s for the same reason as every other team: Unrealistic demands.
If the question is, “why didn’t they sign his after the draft?”, the answer he gave is he wanted to pitch for a contender, which the Angels clearly are not. Keuchel thinks if he gets into postseason and pitches well, his big payday will be next Winter. That’s not going to happen in Anaheim in 2019.
If you had signed Kuechel before the draft you would miss out on seeing Jack Kochanowicz in an Angels uni.
Perfect, now keep him as far away from Angels Stadium as possible and bring up Barria.
What.
A.
Shame.
Harvey is making more money this year than most Olympic gold medalists earn in twenty . He has also been privileged to be on a pennant winner and play in a World Series , something recently retired and seven active MVP winners , including teammate Mike Trout ( I don’t include PED phony Braun ) have yet to experience . The man has nothing to complain about . If he wants to continue in the major leagues , accepting a middle reliever assignment for 10 % of what he’s taking now would demonstrate real maturity . If Ollie Perez can do it , why can’t Matt ?