The Angels announced the signing of veteran outfielder Adam Eaton to a major league contract. To create 40-man roster space, left-hander Dillon Peters has been designated for assignment.
Eaton signed a one-year, $8MM deal with the White Sox over the offseason. He’d generally been a solid performer over his previous four seasons with the Nationals, but it was still a bit of a curious decision given Eaton’s underwhelming 2020 campaign. The left-handed hitter slashed just .226/.285/.384 across 176 plate appearances with Washington last season.
Obviously, the White Sox front office expected he’d be able to bounce back offensively, but that hasn’t yet proven to be the case. While Eaton got off to a strong start to his (second) White Sox tenure, he tailed off rather quickly and has ultimately managed similarly disappointing results as he did last year. He took 219 trips to the dish with Chicago this season, managing just a .201/.298/.344 line with five home runs. Eaton has punched out in a career-worst 25.1% of his plate appearances, his first season with a strikeout percentage higher than the league average. That’s a concerning development for a player whose peak seasons were built upon his ability to put the ball in play to all fields and hit for high batting averages.
The Sox designated Eaton for assignment and granted him his unconditional release earlier this week. They’ll remain on the hook for the bulk of his salary, with the Angels paying Eaton only the league minimum from here on out (just less than $250K after prorating). It’s a no-risk roll of the dice for an Angels team that has had something of a revolving door in right field over the course of the year.
Taylor Ward has played quite well of late and likely has the inside track to the job. Left fielder Justin Upton is currently on the injured list, though, and Eaton’s lefty bat can offer a complement to the series of right-handed hitters (Ward, Upton, Phil Gosselin, Juan Lagares) the club has on hand as corner outfield options. Eaton has a more respectable .235/.316/.404 line against right-handed pitching over the past two seasons, so there’s reason to think he could still offer some value in a platoon role.
Peters hasn’t appeared in the majors this year, spending the campaign at Triple-A Salt Lake. The 28-year-old has tossed 41 1/3 frames of 4.35 ERA ball in that hitter-friendly environment. Peters’ strikeout and walk numbers in Triple-A (26.8% and 7.3%, respectively) are quite strong, but he’s also given up an alarming twelve home runs in eight starts. He has seen big league action with the Marlins and Angels between 2017-20, tossing 132 2/3 innings of 5.83 ERA/5.22 SIERA ball. The Angels will have a week to trade Peters or expose him to waivers.
Rhett Bollinger of MLB.com was first to report Eaton’s deal was a major league contract.
Great fill in till Trout is back
Prepare to be underwhelmed
Good luck bro.
Drat, I wanted the Orioles to sign him
My reasoning was I wanted the Os to sign Pujols because I felt he still could hit and I was right. He has been half decent for the Dodgers. Now I find it ironic that the Angels sign Eaton because I feel he has something left in tbe tank and they didn’t think the same of Pujols
Anyway I wish him luck because if the Angels get some pitching they have a half a shot at making the playoffs
The difference tho is that the Angels had an All Star first baseman who replaced Pujols whereas they are a little thin in the outfield atm.
The Angels have Walsh at first and Ohtani at DH. When was Pujols going to play? The Angels need someone who can play RF.
Out of curiosity, with Pujols not willing to accept a part time gig with the Angels (but apparently okay with the Dodgers), where would Pujols play for the Orioles? From the outside, it seems Mancini and Mountcastle have things buttoned up from the 1B/DH side of the house.
@dirkg
Well the Orioles were not scoring at the time
They would get ducks on the pond and then they would get stranded
It was a big problem back when Pujols was DFA’d and still is now to an extent
Pujols still has power and I felt he could have raked at OPACY
Pujols didn’t want to uproot his family (LA) and play for a contender.
Pujols was a double play rally killer king for us. He lost a lot of games.
No. Your pitching lost the games. He just didn’t rescue them
Our bullpen has cost us mor3 games than our starters.
What? Ok great, its probably league minimum, but the team needs pitching, so they go out and get a bad outfielder? Makes no sense…
The two things aren’t mutually exclusive. If we stay in the playoff hunt, we will absolutely be in the market for starting pitching (and bullpen arms if it was up to me).
Kellin. Did you watch Rengifo and Gosselin try to play outfield.
And Eaton is not a bad outfielder. He’s one out above average.
I havent been able to watch any games in a while.. I was looking at their stats, and I see all but one error, do they take wrong paths to get balls? Also, Gosselin gets on base often enough..
They are horrible. Gosselin and Rengifo cost the Angels a game last week by botching back to back plays. Gosselin ran around like a kid playing Marco Polo on a ball that would not have given a high school player a hard time.
Gosselin can hit but he’s an infielder, and if you find footage of him in left field you’d see why the Angels went and signed Eaton. Gosselin will probably get more time at third and maybe do some platooning with Walsh at 1st since he has better lefty splits.
Halo, its kind of funny that you throw infielders Gosselin and Rengifo under the bus for their outfield play, but defend Adell’s poor defensive play when he is actually an outfielder.
Adell’s star is quickly declining. In his last 137 ABs, he has 3 HRs and a 43/10 K/W. And that’s in the old PCL.
Adell wasn’t ready to debut last year and he won’t be ready this year. He may even need some more time in AA because of his numbers in Salt Lake. I hope he turns things around. He has 81 strike outs this year.
Did I defend his outfield play…. Do you people just make stuff up?
Give Gosselin and Rengifo a year in AAA. They are not close to the athlete Adell is but they too might become adequate. Adell was terrible last year. Those two guys might be worse, and that’s saying something.
Halo, I checked out a couple of old threads and you did not defend Adell’s outfield play as I referenced above. My apologies.
Thank you. I appreciate you looking that up.
Exactly. Rengifo has been awful on both offense and defense. Rather have Gosselin at 3B and Eaton in LF while Upton & Rendon are out.
Adam Eaton is not the defender he was a few years ago. The guy is pretty close to done at this point.
@halofan
So you’re saying he’s above average?
I looked at outs above average for this year, Eaton is plus one.
Because there are starting pitchers lying around all over the place apparently.
kellin – We will get pitchers if Perry believes we are in the hunt for October ball. The good news is we picked up 20 pitchers in the draft this week, many of whom are in college so could be ready soon.
Yep, noticed that. Hopefully some of them will work out.. haven’t had much luck in that dept in a while…
Pitching has been horrible for years for us. Minasian was credited with building a solid BP in Atlanta so I have to believe he will get it done here. I get to Nats games occasionally and have watched him play. He’s a good pick up for us with our RF issues.
Supposedly this was all but a done deal for the Braves. Maybe a signal that the Braves are not going make an effort to salvage what has shaped up to be an unsalable season sans RAJ.
It’s gonna take a miracle for the Braves to do anything but sink like a rock for the rest of the season. Any Braves fans think they’ll deal Freeman?
Nope
No as well – I still hold out hope for the Braves. The NL East is one injury away for any of these teams to win it. AA said they would spend money, let’s see what they do.
Trade freeman lol. This has to be some troll.
I saw rumor and speculation that Eaton COULD sign with Atlanta but nothing like what you are saying. Doesn’t mean I think the Braves are going to be buyers. I would say if you don’t see a significant improvement in the coming couple weeks, the Braves will be sellers..or at least they should.
I doubt they trade Freeman. If they sell, they will sell in an effort for 2022 and that will be all. So Morton and Smyly(if he has restored enough value anyway) and other rentals and that will be about it. If this really is the direction the Braves go in, then they really will drop like a rock. As much as I haven’t been impressed with Smyly and Morton, I don’t want to think how bad it could get without them.
The Braves will be able to sign Eaton when the Angels release him.
Braves were on the edge of the cliff and then ronnie’s injury sent them hurtling to the abyss.
Sounds about right
I’m not the least bit surprised. He’ll get plenty of opportunity to play. When Gosselin and Rengifo are manning the corners it might be the worst outfield during this century. Not just the Angel outfield, but every outfield. I can’t imagine two worse outfielders and that includes Cruz who cost the Rangers a ring.
When Upton comes back, he’ll split time with Ward and to a lesser extent, Upton.
Good move. Especially if Rengifo is sent down.
Which Angels affiliate is he being sent to in order to work on commanding his breaking pitches?
Trout to the Mets is on.
You’re a funny guy…now go back to whipping it.
whipmaster, so so DeGrom and Thor to the Angels? The Mets farm system is gutted, so they can’t trade prospects
Pick someone else. Thor’s injured to often.
Reported.
What do you mean by reported ?
The Angles would be better off giving a shot to a player in AAA.
He can’t hit LHP. His fielding is mediocre at best. He can’t stay healthy. His decline in health has sapped much of his hitting ability thorghout season.
Teams always do themselves a disservice when they try to paper over issues with has been aaa opposed to just letting a younger player who may not be as highly ranked a chance.
The Angels are going to give AAA to Marsh and Adell. It doesn’t help anyone to call them up.
Having an average outfielder playing the corners is a huge help to this team right now,
Call up Lund. If he ends up worse than Eaton, I assure you it won’t be by much, and you tested what you have.
What is the point of having talent you are developing if you have no intention of giving them a shot?
I’m a White Sox fan. Eaton is bad. He was sac bunting by they end of his time in Chicago.
You don’t just start pulling up prospects, wasting options and service time on a whim and hoping the guy works out…
They are waiting for Adell to show that he’s ready for another big league stint and Marsh just came back from a shoulder injury. They have said that they want Adell’s next call up to be his last, so they’re keeping him in AAA until they he makes the improvements they need him to make. Eaton might be DFAd in 2 weeks if Upton and Trout come back.
Doubt it even with upton and trout angels are thin in outfield in right. Ward and larges and gosselin all stink. So if Eaton can put up average production his glove could help tremendously and give time to marsh in triple to develop.
Eaton really can’t hit RHP either, But neither can Rengifo!
So, absent any hitting skill from anybody, at least they are getting defense until they pull the trigger on Marsh or Adell.
Marsh has hit .432/.512/.838 so far in July but in only 43 PA’s. It appears he’s finally healthy, and he’s a legit prospect.
Braves were to cheap !! Liberty is about making money.
Drake LaRoche to be leader of Angels clubhouse, confirmed.
Dave LaRoche’s grandson? If a child in the clubhouse can split a clubhouse then the entire coaching staff needs to be fired.
Talk about silly.
Adam LaRoche’s kid, so I believe so
Silly is insisting his young child needs to be in the locker room and dugout. And if you’re talking trash about the 2015 White Sox, there was a lot more than that, that needed to be corrected… 4th place finish in the division. And the comment about the whole coaching staff needing to be replaced….. well, yeah! Ventura was a terrible manager.
It was silly to have a kid cause a disruption in the clubhouse. It was a complete lack of leadership.
Kid go, kid stay. Adults in position of leadership should have handled it.
And I didn’t bring it up. Blame Anton for bringing up something so ridiculous.
In a separate move, the Angels hire Drake LaRoche as clubhouse leader.
Somewhat ironic that Adam Eaton will be filling a similar role in Anaheim to what his replacement, former Angel Brian Goodwin is doing currently with the White Sox.
I liked Brian Goodwin when he was with the Halos.
Thank you. Head scratch
.
Always liked Eaton and was excited when they signed him to a 1 year deal…unfortunately the current version was nothing like the previous one. He just looks broken down…his legs have declined after injuries and he got old fast.
Maybe a change in scenery might help Adam Eaton
Are they changing his body and skill set with the scenery? Otherwise, unlikely.
They have been proving Taylor Ward is an everyday player in order to trade him. Eaton signing means it could happen soon.
Ward + Rengifo + a non-Adell-Marsh-Detmers prospect for Bryant/Kimbrel.
I too enjoy smoking marijuana.
Delete this before more people see it.
Might need to sit a couple plays out Champ. That trade idea would of gotten you fired for just saying it out loud.
lol, where we gonna play braynt?
lateral move from Rengifo with the bat.
Definite improvement with the glove.
Will be a defensive replacement late in games for Upton when he’s back.
Probably racks up 100 PA this year max.
Have you noticed what Rengifo does with the bat? I don’t want him up in any situation.
Was kinda hoping the Ms would grab him.
The White Sox kept Billy Hamilton over this bum. That should tell you everything you need to know about how bad he is.
He was released for a reason. Although the Angels are desperate for a competent defensive outfielder. Hopefully he can find a new gear in LA.
They’re still desperate
Dang it. I was going to call this. Does dude still have it in the tank?
In a word, no
We will see how those legs hold up during those long flights in the AL West.
The Angels should hire Perry Mason to figure out what the hell Perry Minasian is doing. The Angels need pitching, pitching and more pitching so what do they do? They chew up a 40-man roster spot on a 5th outfielder…makes no sense.
Did you see what they did with every draft pick this year? Selected a pitcher. Maybe one or two will make it in the next couple years..
Yeah– I noticed that too… Well, they do need pitching, so that’s one way to do it … But someone will have to explain to me why they thought Bachman was better than Rocket.
Rocker pitched so-so in 2021. Velo down & HR up. He wanted top 3 money so every team passed on him until Mets
Because Bachman was better than Rocker this year. Pitches appeared to be sharper to. Most of the time it’s,”what have you done for me lately” in the MLB drafts.
Bachman throws over 50 sliders, is a two pitch pitcher, short arms the ball, has arm and hip issues and is more likely to end up a reliever than starter.
That’s why Rocker was rated more highly.
Bachman has two great pitches, keeps the ball on the ground and in the park. You might see him in Anaheim this year.
I’ve got to believe they’ll give Bachman all the chances they can to become a starter first and foremost. You don’t draft a guy 9th over all and not try that 1st, if that’s what he was doing in college.
We agree on that, they’ll give him every chance. This is the highest Angel pick this century and we agree drafting a reliever at this position is insane, but there are many scouts who think he’s an RP, and he looks like an RP to me. Especially once I heard about his sore arm and hip. He has all the signs of being an RP to me. I’m no scout, but any baseball fan can see he doesn’t have the motion of your typical starter,
I love the 20 pitchers in 20 rounds. I don’t love this pick.
For sure on the 20 pitchers thing, but even the alternative Rocker has a question mark or 2. with 2 being the key number, the 2nd best pitcher on his own college team.
Also, if you swap Bundy and Quintana for Sandoval and Suarez the Angels pitchign is pretty good this year. Its not tlaked about enough just how bad those two arms have been
bk, you forgot to put Canning and Heaney on your list of stinking up the joint. 😉
I went to a few Nats games in 2019 and loved watching Eaton play. He is a work horse and I am stoked we snatched him up.
This is not 2019 Adam Eaton… The guy is a bum at this point, and a locker room cancer.
You said that the other day whitesox. How is he bad in the clubhouse? I’ve never heard that.
Look up Dan Bernstein’s article documenting the Drake LaRoche situation in 2016.
audacy.com/670thescore/bernstein-story-todd-frazie…
Yeah, that beef can be seen two ways. I thought there were Puig=like issues when you said that. Eaton is fine and I’m sure he will try to fit in and put that situation behind him. It seems like an isolated beef, unlike Puig.
I would imagine they’ll send Trout to AAA now.
I see more Bob Uecker than Bob Tillman in this post 🙂
I’m not entirely educated on the state of the Angels and it’s system. However this signing certainly sheds some light.
CAN BE PITCH?
The White Sox chose Hamilton, Goodwin and Engle over this guy. How good can he be? I was originally ok with Eaton. Too much money but I really thought he’d be ok platooning. But Engle got hurt and it was the Eaton show in RF . The more he played the more it became clear that he’s toast. But….for very little money, the Angels got someone who knows how to put a uniform on. Good luck .
Up and Adam Eaton breakfast. Better make it Wheaties. Good luck with the Angels.
Love this move.
You must be an A’s fan then?
Angels have been using Gosselin, Rengifo, Rojas, and Wong in the Outfield. At least Eaton gives them an actual Outfielder
I don’t think people understand that the Angels have been without their projected outfield for a big part of the season (i.e., Trout, Upton, Fowler) and Rendon has been on the DL three times. Yet they are (barely) over .500. Yes, they have no bullpen. Their rotation is mediocre at best. Ohtani, Sandoval, and Suarez have been fine. Alex Cobb is keeping them in ballgames. Heaney, Bundy, and Quintana have been awful.
Taking one of the AL Wild Card spots is unlikely, but I do think they will hang in until the very end. Once Trout, Rendon, and Upton return, then their offense will be insane with Ohtani, Walsh, and Fletcher. Adam Eaton cannot be as bad as Juan Lagares and might benefit from batting at the bottom of a stacked lineup.
Now if they trade for a few arms (a starter and a couple relievers), then the Angels might just take off…
The Angels are 15-22 against the AL West and 25-37 against teams with winning records. 39 games left against their division and even 7 games against the Padres and Dodgers (5 of which are in NL parks so depending on how their rotation aligns means no Ohtani in at least three of those games). And 49 games against teams that are currently over .500. While the odds are not insurmountable they are not in their favor either.
angels are dead. best course of action is to lose the rest and pick a top 5. preferably a starting pitcher.
aragon – How are the Angels dead at 5.5 back of the wild card half way through? Their potent line up will be back in action after the break. We need a couple of solid BP pieces and that’s it. Who is your team?
i am simply getting tired of this team trying to win a few more games coming up short for a decade or so. might as well lose the rest and hopefully get a franchise changing player orat least an allstar.
Wait, didn’t we send three players to the all star game this week? Aren’t Trout, Ohtani, and a healthy Rendon franchise changing players? I think so. We need a bull pen, that’s it.
Anyone that believe the Angels are a playoff team this year must be delirious. Eaton might play better than what you have now however on a good team he was not worthy of a spot. There is your answer.
I believe they have a chance so I guess I’m delirious.
The White Sox have two of their starting outfielders out with injury and he still got DFA’D instead of Billy f’n Hamilton… That should tell you what you need to know about what this guy has left. Nothing.
Or the White Sox made a bad decision.
@prov- No, he’s that bad
I’ve seen him play. He may have had a down year as many players have. He has too long of a solid track record to say he is generally bad. Hopefully he turns it around in the second half with a new team.
Relax on this move, it was a can’t lose pick up, and in 6/7 game’s, he’ll be a platoon OF, or for that matter, a straight up back up outfielder.
I would like the Angels to pick up a RP a.s.a.p thou. Sooner the better, you can get a rental for cheap, also when they figure to be hanging around till the end anyways. They can skip getting a starter for now, I know the starters have been terrible, but let the new young guy’s pitch, in Sandoval and Suarez. They seem to be holding there own so far of late. Shoot, give Heaney a couple more starts, then boot him to the pen if he keeps struggling, and call up C-Rod. Let the youth play!
Agreed….maybe they should sniff around the Cubs fire sale for Tepera, Winkler or Chaflin. Probably cost you a 15-30 ranked prospect and someone outside of the top 30.
rentalrp’s are the most sought after and usually the most overvalued. anyone worth mentioning won’t be cheap. you should know that ‘old timer’!
Who you calling old timer there troll? Wrong, and wrong again on the RP rental. You can get a good set up guy for a reasonable price, pretty much for what MSQboxer has above, a 15 to 30 level prospect and maybe a flier.
Despite all the vitriol in the comments, this is a very smart signing. If Eaton has anything left in the tank, this could really help the Halos in their time of need. No one is predicting All Star level performance from Eaton but if he can put bat to ball and get on base at a decent clip (the one thing he has been known for throughout his career) and catch the balls hit right at him, that’s more than the Angels have been getting. If that doesn’t happen, Eaton has cost the Angels next to nothing. Why not take a shot?
I am not expecting much to come from this pickup at all. Maybe if it was a few years ago. Eaton appears to be in rapid decline.
I am excited about the draft and the end half of the season though. I like the pick of Bachman. We have a lot of holes to fill in our rotation and bullpen next year. Finding a player that is major league ready was a key factor. With a plus plus fastball and a plus plus slider, he can be in the Angel’s bullpen right now. With the cavalry set to arrive soon in the form of Trout, Upton, and Rendon, this lineup will score a lot of runs. I am looking forward to see if Sandoval and Suarez can keep it up and be stretched deeper into games more consistently.
All the big names and superstars on the Angels roster, but it may come down to Sandoval, Suarez, Rodriguez, Detmers and Bachman. Just the way Perry drew it up in the preseason.
For sure West, you could throw in 2nd half better “health” in there to. Also, throw Ohtani on your list of young pitchers and you might have the Angels rotation next year.maybe swap Canning for Bachman thou. 😉
I dont understand the love for Canning. He’s at best a #5 starter.. and he seems to love giving up the long ball..
I’ll take that if he could be a good #5 pitcher, but he’s not even that this year. Nobody had him being an potential ace, maybe a solid #3 ceiling. He’s the one struggling pitcher on the Angels this year that I haven’t given up on. he’s still fairly young. He just needs to find a way to get that 1 key out, to stop the bleeding on some rallys against him. In most starts, he just has that 1 blow up inning. I believe He can turn it around, he hasn’t thrown all that many big league innings.