Angels right-hander Austin Warren has cleared waivers and been outrighted to Triple-A, per the MLB transaction log. Warren was designated for assignment to create a roster spot for outfielder Brett Phillips, who signed a one-year deal last week.
After a quality rookie year in 2021, Warren, 27 in February, fell away a bit in 2022, working to a 5.63 ERA over 16 frames. That came after he posted a 1.77 ERA over 20 1/3 innings a year prior, posting a quality 6% walk rate and 23.8% strikeout mark.
The strikeouts fell off a cliff last year though, as Warren punched out just 12.9% of the batters he faced in the big leagues, while also seeing a small uptick in free passes. Warren also saw his groundball rate fall from 53.4% in his rookie season to 37.4% in 2022. He fared a lot better at Triple-A last season, tossing 34 innings of 2.12 ERA ball.
Even with a quality sample of work as recently as 2021, the other 29 clubs have passed at the opportunity to take Warren so the Angels will be able to keep him in their organization this year. He still has two option years remaining, so even if the Angels do call upon him again in 2023 they’ll be able to move him back to the minors over the next few seasons.
Really hoped he would pan out.
27, has time and options, glad he snuck through waivers to be stashed at aaa
No need for the past tense. Still plenty of chances in front of him. Angels were hoping he would clear when they made the move, and now he’s back to being a depth piece with upside.
Lewin Diaz is weeping seeing someone clear the waivers.
Drew Hutchinson is glad.
Good. Glad to keep him in the fold.
Glad he’ll remain in the organization.
Glad to see him back in the Angels organization
An non-pedigree mid 20s RP who pitches well in a small sample size and stinks the following year are about as common as rum in a bar. An organization that expects these pitchers to play a meaningful roles after their well pitched small sample size seasons are organizations that will never have are good bullpen. Enter Angels.
Every year that’s exactly what the Angels do. Good rule of thumb is to have pitchers who have been good In at least 2 of the last three years. At least. Preferably coming off a good year. How many of those guys do the Angels have? Is the answer zero? Hope and prayer is not a good bullpen strategy.
Would Tepera and Loup qualify as pitchers coming off quality seasons? I still agree with those signings even though it went horribly last season. Obviously Loup’s 2021 is an outlier but he still had quality seasons before that. I’m hoping they return to form this year. And even Bradley was above average that went horribly. 3 pitchers who all had awful seasons at the same time.
Good question. Last year, they fit the criteria. The Angels had three pitchers that fit the criteria and for the first time in years I thought they would have an adequate bullpen. It didn’t work out, but at least they tried. This year they are not trying, they are hoping.
Halo11- I think Sasha’s point is that Tepera and Loup fit might fit your criteria this year. Of course, minus the Preferably coming off a good year part. I think your formula. is fine but as a team has more options or ability to develop or obtain players this rule diminishes also. At least when accounting for player values. The Angels have been incredibly expanding the player options they have across the board. I find it amazing that they could have very good prospects available sometime in 23 at all the weaknesses, RP, SS, C, SP.
Wait till you see what 7 million got you in Estevez
I believe the Angels will be looking for contributions from their minor league BP arms as they did back in the day with Brendon Donnelly, Scot Shields, K-Rod, etc.
When you have Ohtani and Trout and Rendon and their staff hoping for AA pitchers to be difference makers is insane.
If the Angels have a top 12 bullpen, they make the
playoffs, but if they don’t have a top 6 BP, they won’t go very far. They’ll have to play 9 inning games while the other teams play 6 inning games. And if you understand baseball you know exactly what I’m talking about.
It’s because of Trout, Ohtani and Rendon that the Angels need contributions from cost controlled youngsters. Otherwise, the payroll would be $250+ million and Arte has shown, prior to this season, that he was unwilling to exceed $190M in payroll. Thanks to Perry’s drafts and trades, the Angels have a C, SS and multiple RPs on the cusp of contributing.
RPs are not relatively inexpensive and they don’t need long term commitments, and in the playoffs, are mor3 important to a teams success than a Trout or Ohtani.
I have no idea why this is hard to understand.
If the Angels are in the hunt, they will acquire a BP arm or two at the deadline for the stretch drive and playoffs.
And how many games do they throw away trying to fond the right pieces?
Smart teams have good bullpens.
Smart teams have deep 40-man rosters and manageable payrolls thanks in part to a minor league system that consistently churns out cost-controlled contributors. The Angels, under Perry’s guidance, are headed in that direction after years in the wilderness.
No way one relief pitcher is more valuable than Ohtani or even Trout in the playoffs, especially. any one the Angels would acquire. Not at the level of bats those two are and Ohtani is an ace starter. I think the late innings. high leverage spots are the teams biggest potential for pulling the team down. especially early. The floor seems to be rising on most everywhere else. I would like to see one the good relief pitchers still available as you (I think you meant) kind of said , at a relatively inexpensive cost.
Halo11- At very least I think they should blow less games due to better options to begin with. They should be better across the board and hopefully lower the amount of high leverage innings needed.