12:21pm: Bradley and the Angels have agreed to a deal, tweets MLB Network’s Jon Heyman. He’ll earn $3.75MM on a one-year contract, tweets Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic.
9:38am: The Angels are close to finalizing an agreement with free-agent reliever Archie Bradley, tweets Sam Blum of The Athletic. The right-hander is headed to Arizona (where the Halos have their Spring Training facility) at the moment, Blum adds. Bradley is a client of BBI Sports Group.
Drafted by the D-backs with the No. 7 overall pick back in 2011, the now-29-year-old Bradley struggled as a starter early in his career with Arizona before seeing his career take off in 2017 when he moved to the bullpen. Bradley logged a minuscule 1.73 ERA through 73 frames that season and has since been entrenched as a quality reliever with the D-backs, Reds and — last season — the Phillies.
The 2021 season was Bradley’s first in Philadelphia. After being acquired by the Reds at the 2020 trade deadline and pitching well in his brief stint there, Bradley was non-tendered in a surprising cost-cutting move by Cincinnati. He inked a one-year, $6MM with the Phillies that exceeded the salary he’d been projected to receive in arbitration with the Reds. Bradley had a solid season in Philly, notching a 3.71 ERA over the life of 51 innings, but the year wasn’t without its red flags.
Bradley missed time with a pair of oblique strains last season, and when he was healthy, he posted his lowest strikeout rate (17.9%), lowest average fastball velocity (94.2 mph) and second-highest walk rate (9.8%) since moving to the bullpen back in 2017. It was still an effective year overall, of course, and the pair of injuries quite likely had an adverse impact on him. With the Phillies, Bradley also threw his sinker at a career-high 18.2% (double the rate of the 2020 season), which resulted in a 55.7% ground-ball rate — his best since moving from the rotation to the bullpen. In that sense, it seems there was a conscious decision to trade some whiffs for some grounders (a curious approach considering Philadelphia’s woeful infield defense last year).
If Bradley resumes throwing his four-seamer more heavily in 2022, there’s good reason to expect that his strikeout rate might creep back up a bit. And if he continues to favor his sinker more than in seasons past, he’ll at least be moving to a club that boasts a better defensive group around the infield. Each of Anthony Rendon, David Fletcher and the newly signed Matt Duffy are known for quality glovework.
Bradley has experience closing games, but the move to Anaheim will reunite him with former Reds teammate Raisel Iglesias, who he’ll surely precede as a setup man. Iglesias and Bradley were both cut loose by Cincinnati following that 2020 season — Iglesias in a salary dump trade, Bradley via the aforementioned non-tender — and will now again work together to hold late-inning leads. The Halos re-signed Iglesias to a four-year, $58MM contract earlier this winter after the Cuban-born righty enjoyed a career year in 2021. That duo, along with righty Mike Mayers and lefty Aaron Loup (signed to a two-year, $17MM deal this winter) will be counted among the primary late-inning options for skipper Joe Maddon.
Bradley’s deal boost the Angels’ actual payroll up to a projected $179.5MM — only narrowly shy of last year’s $182MM record Opening Day payroll. The Halos’ luxury-tax payroll (which is based upon the combined annual value of their contractual obligations) now jumps north of $195MM — well shy of the new $230MM luxury tax threshold.
Actual good and significant signing if they get him.
I wouldn’t say significant. Better than nothing, sure.
For a team with the rotational depth issues they have, solidifying an already solid bullpen is pretty integral to their playoff hopes.
Mediocre Bradley will not move the needle for them
A potential 1 WAR guy out of the bullpen for a team that probably doesn’t even *have* replacement level depth ready in the farm does matter. No one is saying they just got Scherzer or something here. We’re just saying quality arms matter to a team that wants to compete and doesn’t have enough arms
Bradley’s k/9 absolutely tanked last season which is a huge red flag. I would not use him in high leverage situations at all. Especially with runners on
Medicocre? Come on, that’s absurd. This is a quality arm and character guy. This definitely improves their pen and creates time and space for their younger players to keep developing.
Good signing of he can stay healthy.
“Hey Archie, where’s meathead?”
“Stifle it, Edith”
Nice. I wanted another bullpen arm (don’t we all?)
Now please get a shortstop.
CC?
@Kyle No thanks. Not that CC isn’t a great player, but CC will take long term mega deal. A long term deal for a SS with back issues and questionable integrity seems risky. I’d rather that type money be used to retain Ohtani.. Angels have a lot of SS talent on the horizon. Personally I believe Kyren Paris will be the guy that emerges from the group, but he is another year or two away.
I wanted to make a trade for Ha Seong Kim of the Padres, but with Tatis getting hurt that will never happen. .
Paris is a great kid but he’s probably 3 years out. Just got his first taste at high a last year.
Story is a .240/.330/.440 type hitter away from Coors but with his glove could still be a 4 WAR player here. If his market has cratered, he’d be a nice fit.
Other than that, maybe sign Villar for second and move Fletcher to short.
MLB is a playoff league. First get there, then fortify your team by the trading deadline to compete. Consequently, in-season transactions have become more important than the off-season.
The Brewers had holes at SS and 1B going into the 2021 season. They fixed them as players became available for trade. The Angels don’t need to fix every perceived hole going into 2022. There will be opportunities during the season that don’t currently exist.
I think people get TOO FIXATED on Story’s Home/Road splits, fearing his road splits will be his overall split on a new team.
The splits with his next team will be completely different.
They will probably much closer, but it doesn’t mean his road or overall splits will be .240/.330/.440 or worse…his home splits could be .280/.350/.480 and road split could be around .265/.340/.450. Not terrible and not impossible.
Archie has a great beard and a great Twitter presence. He did not work out well for the Phillies, but I expect a bounceback year.
How did he not work out well for the Phillies, for the time he wasn’t injured?
he wasnt exactly that impressive
He started off poorly. He had an ERA over 7 in May. That is the bad thing about pitching 1 inning, at a time. it takes forever to get a few bad games early, but he was able to get it down under 3 by late August. I didn’t see him pitch in Philly, but he was great in Cincinnati.
Looks like we are collecting 2020 Cincy relievers, Iglesias, Lorenzen, and Bradley.
He only pitched 7 2/3 innings for the reds
Because he got shelved often. He was put in the closer role briefly and blew saves in almost every opportunity. He had a brief stretch where he was solid in the 7th inning role, but it didn’t last long.
I don’t think the Phillies are complaining about 51 innings of above average production out of the pen. He wasn’t elite but he worked out pretty well for them.
If you take his overall numbers they were solid. If you look at moments where he was given an opportunity to step up, he crumbled. I love Archie. I’m betting on him to bounceback, but to consider his Phillies tenure solid is missing the big picture.
Thanks for that insight.
If healthy, Iglesias and Loup will be tasked with the high leverage spots. That should leave Bradley in the mix with Warren and Meyers for 6th and 7th inning duties.
If he can give us 51 above average innings in that role it will be a huge boost over what guys like Slegers and Claudio gave us last year.
@JJ Don’t forget Buttrey. He’s still the wildcard, but hopefully has something left to offer.
Loup is not the 8th inning guy. Loup is the inning situational guy. It may the 7th it may be the 8th,
If two LH hitters are coming up in the 7th, he’s going to get the ball in the 7th.
I know. Gotten to know Ty pretty well over the years. Really pulling for him.
That’s why I referenced leverage rather than innings.
Two on, one out, that Loup. Clean inning, bottom of the order, one of those guys.
Halo11…Loup is more than just a situational LH hitter guy, in 2021 in 65 appearances he faced 1-2 batters exactly 14 times on the mound. That’s 51 games he played where he faced 3+ batters many times he faced 4+ in a game.
In 65 app, 24 times he faced 4+ hitters in a game. He’s much more than just a situational LHP.
Obviously with the 3 batter minimum rule, he is going to face 3 or more batters fairly often.
He had a 4.31 ERA in innings 8-9 and overall a .264/.344/.464/.808 batting line against when the Phillies were leading
He was more vulture than anything else
did he pitch 51 innings? yes. were they all productive? no not in the least. with all the issues in the pen in philly last year, Archie was arguably the biggest disappointment. he’d look good in a low leverage role and then fall apart when they gave him important innings. he was essentially the right handed equivalent of Jose Alvarado, which isn’t great. fully expect him to bounce back if he’s healthy and in his traditional set up role
If you look at Angels rotation its not a playoff team at all. They need to bring in some real starters instead of band aid starters.
ARC,
You had to write the same post twice?
If you look at the Yankees rotation, they are not a playoff team either.
Or with Sale out, that’s not a playoff rotation either.
How about Tampa Bay? Or most of the AL contenders.
There are going to be a number of AL teams that make the playoffs, that don’t have a playoff rotation.
Mullets
Set up man for Raisel Iglesias?
The Angels won’t have a setup man. They will have two late inning options. If the 7th is LH heavy, Loup will come in. If the 8th is left handed heavy, that will be Loups inning.
Loup can get out both lefties and righties, but you can also match him up.
This is a really good move for Agent P.
was honestly hoping boston got him, oh i forgot, we arent spending money this year.
As an Angels fan I can relate.
You don’t need to spend money to win, if you don’t believe me, look at the rays last year and look up their payroll.
Cmon man, the Rays are an outlier as far as real success without spending much money. The odds are big time in favor of higher payroll teams.
Royals 2014 and 2015.
The Dodgers, Mets, Yankees, and Red Sox disagree.
I’m thrilled. I’m not expecting all three late inning options to work, but they might.
If something doesn’t work out, then there is enough talent in the pen that something else will likely work out.
I’m so damn happy right now.
MLB is now a playoff league and the key is the bullpen. A team is only as good as its weakest link there.
The Angels have their best GM since Bill Stoneman.
With the Dodgers to the north, Padres to the south, and the Mariners to the north all making splashy moves, the Angels seem to be out of the spotlight. That’s fine. The GM is methodically making that team better. All you need is health.
Rare to see. Good to see.
The Angels added two bullets to the pen who usually have good season when healthy. In all, three bullpen signings.
I don’t think they have ever done that. Not once.
So they are giving the pen a chance, instead of the typical hope and pray method of building a pen. Yes, I’m happy.
They say Halo11Fan heart grew 3 sizes this day.
It’s not that hard to make me happy. It’s amazing it took this long.
I was happy with the Syndergaard signing, it doesn’t matter if it works out. It’s only one year and it was a nice try.
I was happy with the Loup signing.
I’m CERTAINLY happy they didn’t trade Marsh or Adell.
Iglesias was only a good signing if they backed him up with two more pitchers… THEY DID!!!!!
That’s FIVE GOOD MOVES..
Now get a shortstop.
Add Warren to the mix and if he is even close to last year, then you have 4 guys at the end. He did excellent against lefties.
There are enough good arms in the pen that are a coin flip away from being good.
Last year they went into the season with more BP arms who were more likely to be bad than good.
And look for Luke Murphy to emerge soon. As soon as this year.
He was the best closer in the SEC. Can’t be too long of a path from there to here.
The Angels have bullets in the gun. Last year they had a lot of blanks.
You are right about Murphy, and there are several other college arms drafted that could be quick to the majors. Bachman will be a bullpen piece at the end of the season for sure– throwing his 100MPH +..
Bet you are, @Halo11.
Bout time lol
This guy has not been that great at all in his career and his k per 9 took a big drop last season. I would avoid at all costs unless he’s cheap. A minor league Callup has a chance to at least match his production
Yes, if he’s not throwing well in the next two are three weeks, then he can’t be a late inning RP. The Angels will have to go to someone else.
But if he is throwing well, I like his odds.
Cool, but can he pitch? Wait a second…
not bad.
They are accumulating all the arms from the Reds lousy bullpen of 2020.
tepera for 8th!
People wont believe this I’m actually writing this. The Angels have enough bullpen depth. If one of the top three doesn’t work out, they are arms that can take over. If they do work out, then it’s a great bullpen.
Iglesias
Bradley
Loup
Mayers
Warren
Quijada
Wantz
Buttrey
Naughton
Barria
@Halo11Fan Perry wants to know if you want an autograph.
Yesterday, not so much.
Today I do.
Now get a shortstop.
I hope they get a SS, but according to this article I read yesterday, they are looking at rotation and RP.
mlb.com/news/angels-gm-perry-minasian-on-improving…
none of the bottom seven are actually good. but then, if the top 3 can lock up some innings, that’s pretty good, too. however. tepera would present different pitching style
winonesooner
My philosophy is simple. Bullpens are volatile. Set the top three. Have a collection of good arms who are coin flips. Just a little more likely to be good than bad. Stay away from pitchers who are more likely to be bad than good, and let your manager manage to find the right combination.
Those three bullets changes everything. If the Angels want to add another RP, fine by me. But this bullpen has a chance. Typically, the Angels bullpens are hope and pray.
I’m thrilled.
i say set the top 4. especially with bradley’s oblique in jury history.
Halo11 thank you for your input. I agree with literally everything you have said here. Can you go to the Athletic and explain this to the doom and gloom commenters there?
Come on now, a team like the Dodgers has bullpen depth. The Angels have bodies..
dodgers got to build up the minor leagues when it was really bad under the parking lot attendant.
Who is comparing the Angels to the Dodgers? Not me.
I’m comparing the Angels pen of 2022 to almost all the Angel pens post Scott Shields.
and the dodgers just can’t beat the pesky angels!
You can add Tepera to this group now!
Is he still in the robbery game, out prowling around?
I remember when Dback fans were hell bent that this guy was gonna be a hall of fame starter.
It looks like the Angels are going with a really good lineup and a really good pen. Rather than spending $20-30 mil/yr on a starting pitcher who can get hurt (which the Angels have had a massive problem with these last 6 years), they are structuring it so the starters only need to get through 5-6 innings and then hand it off to a great pen.
It reminds me of 2002 when if we had a lead going into the 7th we’d hand it off to Donnelly, Shields and Percy and the game was in the bag.
It might work.
@AnglsFan I agree. I wouldn’t put this bullpen near the Donnelly, Shields, Frankie Rodriguez, Percy pen, but it is the best we have had since then. This team is way better offensively if they can stay healthy.
Both the rotation and bullpen has some depth now.
Well, I think theyre betting on Detmers and Suarez to take steps forward. Also, Bachman will probably be up late summer.
I think Suarez did take step forward last year. He knows how to pitch, but he is limited by his stuff. Don’t expect him to win 15 games. I would estimate around 10 wins.
We need Sandoval to stay healthy. That is a big if. He is the one that has potential to take a step forward this year.
If Detmers could pitch like Suarez or if Suarez had Detmers stuff, we would be looking at potential ace. As it is, Detmers is still learning. He is probably a year from being a solid #3.
Angels starting to look like contenders…
…for one of the top draft slots next year.
I suspect this means Tepera isn’t signing with the Angels, but imagine how strong their BP would be if he did. That said, if Archie is healthy, he, Loup, Iglesias and the gang should provide some good late inning options for Joe. Now we will find out if Joe can manage a BP.
As a side note, Archie was a huge fan favorite in Arizona and well respected in the clubhouse.
Should be a great fit
FINALLY a quality signing!!
And now This Day In History – March 17:
-On March 17, 461 A.D., Saint Patrick, Christian missionary, bishop and apostle of Ireland, dies at Saul, Downpatrick, Ireland.
-On March 17, 1905, future president Franklin Delano Roosevelt weds his fifth cousin once removed, Eleanor Roosevelt, in New York.
-On March 17, 1969, 70-year-old Golda Meir makes history when she is elected as Israel’s first female prime minister.
-On March 17, 2022, Halo11 is happy about an Angels acquisition for the first time ever.
I’ve been happy a few times.
Let me change that, I’ve been neutral a few times. Seldom have I been happy in recent years.
ANGELS FANS – i know arte’s been difficult. but in the world where he actually trades for an expensive Starting Pitcher AND your SS of the present and future…. how much of Trevor Bauer’s contract is he eating? And what prospects does he give up in exchange for Gavin Lux?
Just PRETEND it would happen…
He wouldn’t touch Bauer honestly , he seems to shy away from those type of bad press baggage . I’d take him tho. As for Lux, they seem pretty keen on keeping their top prospects so I doubt we could get him
Arte are and I are alike in this way.
I don’t want to root for these guys. I don’t want to root for PED users. I don’t want to root for men who treat women badly.
I hope he never brings in those kinds of guys. I like enjoying my team.
Hamilton had a setback. Only harmed himself, Did a mea culpe, And should have been accepted back. I disagreed with Moreno there.
If you read the text exchange between to Bauer and his accuser, it appears to me that she was trying to set him up. She was basically asking for the treatment she received. It is not like this was an attack against unwilling participant..
I get that most of us were raised differently and would never put ourselves in that situation. Bauer is guilty of being a deviant, nothing more. Bauer is probably not the brightest for not seeing that he was being set up for money.
I think saying that she was trying to set him up is unfair. More like a lack of communication between the two of them, and Bauer being too focused on himself to notice that his partner had passed out. People have safe words for a reason and it seems like they didn’t plan well and Bauer wasn’t paying attention to what was going on with her
Let’s go Angels let’s go!
Considering the “beef up the starting pitching” strategy has already sailed, the next best option is to beef up the bullpen. I like Bradley on this squad and think they could use another quality reliever. And don’t forget a SS!
A 2nd year option would have been nice …
A bit inconsistent last year but still a viable option for the late innings.
Angels win ws this year. Bank on it
Obviously I’d be happy if they did, but I dont think they’re close enough..
Hopefully he finds a decent barber in California.
If anything happens to trout and ohtani and production not there , team will be worse than recent oriole teams.
Without this move, or any other, percota has the Angels in the playoffs and fangraphs has them the last team out of the playoffs
If you take away a team’s ace and two two hall of fame hitters I think most teams would struggle.
Of course struggle , but good solid teams lose great players often , myriad of reasons , countless examples ( just last season Braves no Acuna ,Ozuna , Sirotka) but have some depth to still be decent at worst.
I fear Angels skating on very thin ice.
Healthy u gotta like ohtani trout Walsh rendon, jus saying depth worries me here.
Who knows how solid they are. They get killed by injuries every year.
I used to mix up arch and Zach Godley. Tbh I was surprised when it wasn’t Godley that was signed