The Angels have designated lefty specialist Alex Claudio for assignment in order to create room for Jaime Barria, per the team. Barria will start today’s ballgame.
Barria broke out as a 21-year-old way back in 2018 by posting a 3.41 ERA across 129 1/3 innings. He hasn’t been able to replicate that output in the years since, however. He has just two appearances covering six innings this year while making 10 starts in Triple-A. He’s posted a 4.41 ERA in 49 innings with Salt Lake City.
Claudio, meanwhile, seemed like a solid, cheap addition this offseason. The sidewinding southpaw has been tagged for a 5.41 ERA/5.09 FIP in 41 appearances covering 32 2/3 innings. Signed to a $1.125MM contract, he’ll be a low-cost pickup for anyone looking to make a claim.
Lefties have uncharacteristically shelled Claudio this season with a .364 wOBA and .275/.333/.522 triple slash line. In his career, lefties have just a .258 wOBA against Claudio with a 21.2 percent strikeout rate and 4.4 percent walk rate. His strikeout rate is up against lefties, but he’s also walking more hitters than usual, regardless of their handedness.
Jamie Berria got called up in July
They had to make a roster move on July twenty-five
And then there’s Claud
Aye, Claudio.
Bea Arthur approves
Please tell me Barria is taking Heaney spot in the rotation. Trade Heaney for a relief pitcher. Kendrick for Heaney is still one of the worst trades in Angels history.
Heaney hasnt been bad stastistically, just stressful.
I would like to breakdown Heaney’s starts, how many were good. How many were bad, and what his ERA would be if the bullpen didn’t allow inherited runners to score.
For example, there was a game where he didn’t allow a run, was leading 2-0 when he left the game with two men on base and by the time the half inning was over, the Angels were down 3-2.
No offense, but that’s not a very detailed breakdown. I get that this guy was supposed to be something. The truth of the matter is, he’s been in the league since ‘14 with a career 4.57 era and has never won more than 9 games in a season. He shows flashes but the only thing he has been consistent at is being inconsistent. I believe they can get a solid back end guy for him. It’s time to cut the cord. If he pans out with someone else, good for him, but he’s beautiful trade bait right now.
Brought up to give Ohtani an extra day off between starts
Heaney is a pitcher who will go on a 4 or 5 game stretch where he goes 6 or 7 innings and look good. Then follow that up with 4 or 5 game stretch where he can’t even go 5 innings. That’s fine if he is a number 5 starter. But he is considered the Angels #2 starter. Despite Cobb and Sandoval both having better year than him.
Heaney is a pitcher who will go on a 4 or 5 game stretch where he goes 6 or 7 innings and look good. Then follow that up with 4 or 5 game stretch where he can’t even go 5 innings. That’s fine if he is a number 5 starter. But he is considered the Angels #2 starter. Despite Cobb and Sandoval both having better year than him.
Sounds like you just described 28 teams 3rd starter.
It’s amazing to me people who watch baseball today in 2021 that are that out of touch with reality. Like I dunno if it’s because they’re so focused on their hometown team that they don’t know about the problems within the game as whole I dunno.
Every year around the trade deadline there’s a bunch of dopes on here saying our team has to trade for a number 1 or a ace SP!!!!! Yeah dummy all gms would like to none of those guys are available and if they were the price us way higher than you think because 29 other teams are trying to trade for said ace because ace SP basically doesn’t exist anymore imbecile. Yeah good thinking buffoon trading for a ace why didn’t every gm think of that. Go ask every gm that got fired if they attempted to acquire a ace or in their tenure. Just stfu.
@iverbure where did I say anything trading for an ace? I said trade for a relief pitcher. Out of touch? Not hardly. What I described isn’t a third pitcher on a playoff team. Heaney would be lucky if he ever becomes a number 3 starter on a playoff team. Heaney wouldn’t even be in the starting rotation, on the Trolley Dodgers, Giants, or Padres.
Easy there, guy. Holy cow.
Barria was brought up to occupy the sixth spot in the rotation. He pitched really well today: Seven innings, four hits and two runs.
Dodgers will pickup Claudio
Any move to ditch dead weight pitching is a move in the right direction.
oh, is he a dead weight now? ha!
Prov was reasonable. He didn’t see or agree why I was against this signing.
I saw what this signing meant. This signing scared the hell out of me. My fears were well founded.
Halo-yes…actually I didn’t understand why you were upset about the timing of the signing. I was indifferent to Claudio himself. We all agree we need a bull pen that is effective.
He isn’t? His numbers stink.
Time to let Barria sink or swim. Give him a rotation spot and let’s see what he can do. AAA 1.8 HR/9 is not very encouraging, but it is a homer prone park in Salt Lake. His H/9 @ 9.9 is not bad considering the PCL. His K/9 is only 6.2 and his career 35.7 GB rate is a bit low & could combine to be a problem. He has shown good efforts in the past. Give him more than just a 1 off start. He is still only 25.
Update… today… Barria was a swimmer.
Best of luck to Claudio and happy to see Barria get another shot. He showed some flashes of belonging on a major league roster at times and we can always use arms with upside.
Unrelated to the article, but I hope the Angels sign Andrew Chafin this off-season. With the Cubs selling and, hopefully, the Angels realizing they need established arms, I would be thrilled if they traded for Chafin. Unsure what type of return to the Cubs would seek.
one thing perry surprised me was drafting glenn albanese in 15th round. he has a high potential. hope the angels system doesn’t bust him up!
What do you people who insulted me for my opinion regarding Claudio have to say now?
Not the people who disagreed with me, which was virtually everyone, but the many who insulted me.
Perry screwed up this season by not addressing this teams most fixable glaring weakness. What a dumb off-season.
they all decided to forget about it.
I don’t care about the people who disagreed, but the personal insults were flying.
i got plenty myself.
Maybe they’ll see it next year. You need to add good pitchers before you add dregs that are guaranteed rosters spots. You need to add good pitchers before you add dregs like Guerra who are practically guaranteed roster spots.
If they learned something about baseball, good for them. But Perry should have already known this.
My boy, it’s an anonymous message board, if you’re looking to talk to humans go to your Starbucks. This here is the Animal Farm.
“Animal Farm, Animal Farm
Never through me shall thou come to harm”
The Claudio signing, in a vacuum, is reasonable. $1m for a decent lefty reliever? Fine, whatever, teams make these depth signings all the time. That’s not the issue. Claudio by himself did not sink this bullpen. The issue is that he was basically their only real addition, along with other bargain basement deals with Watson and Cishek. They really didn’t do anything to solve the bullpen. It’s the same logic behind adding Quintana and Cobb. Those are fine additions if they’re paired with adding a legit ace-type pitcher. They didn’t do that, and it’s come back to bite them, as it always does.
Something else that people have forgotten when it comes to the bullpen is the sudden and unexpected retirement of Buttrey. That hurt. That, and Mayers’ regression might actually be the biggest reasons their bullpen has struggled.
Claudio took up a spot that should have been used to acquire a better bullpen arm. That spot, along with Guerra did sink the bullpen. How are you people still missing this?
Guaranteed spots limit your ability to add quality pitchers
Even after you’ve seen the effects of how such moves can ruin a bullpen you still don’t get it.
If this team was depending on Buttery, this team was in trouble. He couldn’t even make this pen after spring training. He’s had a partial good season. Buttrey was part of the problem. Another bad pitcher taking up a spot.
Because we see the bigger picture that there’s more going on here than just one pitcher. If you want to blame this entire season on one depth bullpen signing and then criticize anyone that tries to see more than just that, that’s fine, but it’s also inaccurate. I’ll choose to continue to see these acquisitions in the appropriate context.
You don’t see the bigger picture, that’s the problem. The angels had a lot of questions in their bullpen and very few answers. You can’t answer those question by guaranteeing slots to pitchers who cannot possibly provide answers.
You don’t see the big picture, you have tunnel vision. Even after the obvious happened, you still don’t see beyond your tunnel vision.
You probably never will.
So I have tunnel vision even though I used several examples of bullpen issues, including Claudio, versus the one you keep harping on? Sounds good, man!
Yes you do. The bigger picture is wasting bullpen slots. The Angels should have used those slots for pitchers who had a chance,
I explained this when they guaranteed Claudio one of those spots. I explained this when the Angels practically guaranteed Guerra one of theses spots.
They were both awful signings.
Ok, so you didn’t get it then, but if you still don’t get it you are down right myopic.
The bigger picture is this had nothing to do with Claudio, the bigger picture is wasting those slots.
The curious case of Hunter Strickland. He started of the season well in Tampe Bay. The Angels trade for him and he proceeds stink up the joint. He then goes to Milwaukee and remembers how to pitch again.
Exactly. This season’s failures are on Perry. Filled the holes in SP and bullpen with cheap, unreliable pitchers that have cost this team at least a dozen or more wins this season.
Perry definitely made seceral errors in filling out the roster. Also, Maddon has his fingerprints all over the roster that opened the season. Claudio pitched for him with the Cubs as did Guerra. For some reason they signed pitchers way past their prime or guys who never had a prime.
Unfortunately, the Angels are going to need several different pen pieces and two starters at the least. Hopefully they learned from this season.
I came here just to see what you would post. in agreement with you
Halo11 – You were right, I was wrong, I’m sorry. (My wife taught me that.)
Your position was perfectly reasonable. I saw a GM using a valuable slot for a pitcher who was not going to help us. I wondered why he would waste a spot without filling obvious holes.
You saw another bullpen arm, and thought arms are a good thing.
Arms are a good thing, but this pen had arms, they didn’t have good arms and they didn’t have a lot of spots available to find good arms.
I disagreed with you, but never insulted you. I will happily say now: you were right, and I was wrong. You nailed this entire thing.
I never mind when people disagree with me. On this thread there is someone saying I didn’t see the big picture.
That’s not disagreeing with me, that’s just BS.
They are wrong, just ignore them. Let your previous predictions speak for themselves. I come here to see your opinion because I value it.
Claudio is French toast. Kyle Seager says hi
Good. Now call up Detmers and DFA Guerra.
Halo-yes…actually I didn’t understand why you were upset about the timing of the signing. I was indifferent to Claudio himself. We all agree we need a bull pen that is effective.
Had they signed a dreg like Claudio after acquiring a 7th and 8th inning guy, I would have been indifferent as well.
Good move. Alex Claudio has been awful. Jaime Barria needs a chance—pitched pretty good a couple of years ago—hopefully he will rise to the occasion just as Sandoval and Suarez. I hope Steve Chisek is DFA’d next.
“Done to death by slanderous tongues was the Hero that here lies”
Claudio, “Much Ado About Nothing”
The Angels finally have a young starter who can give them good innings and get this, stays off the DL?!
Naturally they waste his talent. Minor leaguers on Artes team are bashing him. Doesnt look good for anyone of the Angels minor league talent to come through and be happy in the future either. Shame
The Angels starting pitching has kept them in most games, great improvement is not needed. Improvement yes, but that’s not the major issue. The major issue for years has been the bullpen.
They typically have a horrible bullpen to start the year and drop out of contention until they figure it out.
The can survive with mediocre starters. They can not survive with a horrible bullpen.
They haven’t been contenders once they traded for Josh Hamilton and signed Pujols.
Huh.. the Angels had the best record in baseball the year they signed Hamilton.
Claudio like every other “lefty specialist” has been ruined by the three batter rule. The days of a Jesse Orosco or a Terry Mulholland pitching well into their middle/late 40’s facing one or two batters in a game are over as long as this rule exists
He wasn’t very good the years prior to the three batter minimum. He hasn’t been any good for five years.
There are pitchers greatly affected by this, but Claudio isn’t good enough to be affected by this.
Barria was a solid innings eater and contributer in 2018 and the back half of 2020 when given consistent starts. Unfortunately, the Angels have not been high on him so he has largely received random spot starts other than those two occasions.
Keep Barria in the rotation for the duration of the year and see what he can do. Rodriguez should be next in line followed shortly thereafter by Detmers. Starting pitchers, especially Ohtani, will not be throwing 170-200 innings this year. The Angels are going to need 9 or 10 starters to eat up the 900-1000 innings a team would like from its starters.
Did anyone see Patrick Sandoval last night? I don’t wanna jinx it, but we may have what one may call a “pitcher” in our midst. I know most of you are unfamiliar since it has been a while. Legend has it that in the time of many moons ago the Angels used to build their teams around this pitcher guys. The Angels used to have 4 or 5 of these pitcher fellows per team. I and I alone can confirm that the legend is true. I seen it with my own eyes.
Ohtani hit HR number 35 today. He is only 4 behind the Angels franchise record for lefthand hitter, which is 39 by Reggie Jackson. He may have a shot at the Angels record of 47 by Troy Glaus.
Oh and also Detmers had an outstanding outing in his Triple A debut last night.
He’s been good for a long time. Had he not had Covid last year, he might have made an impression last year and the Angels might have used him in the rotation over Quintana and used that 8 million on relief pitching.
That would have saved the Angels last year and this year.
I’m not worried about the starters nearly as much as I’m worried about the bullpen.m
The Angels starters of the future – Ohtani, Canning, Sandoval, Suarez, Rodriguez, Detmers and Barria – are beginning to show real promise. And its my understanding that the Angels have drafted dozens of arms the past several years giving them the makings of a largely home grown bullpen sooner rather than later.
Supplement the rotation and bullpen with a key arm or two and the Angels future may be brighter than we think.
Mr. NL West. I could not agree more. But they need to get those bullpen arms.
Mmmmmm yeeea Patty has been no secret if you’ve been paying attention lol blogs.fangraphs.com/patrick-sandovals-changeup-is-…
Quintana and Guerra next to make room for Chris Rodriguez and Reid Deitmers in the bullpen???
Go get Yimi Garcia from the Marlins or Kendall Graveman from Mariners and Kimbrel from the cubs, call up Rodriguez, Deitmers, Bachman and let’s see if we can make a run. Sandoval, Suarez, and Barria in the rotation. Trout and Rendón need to get back, sigh. Total pipe dream lol.