Veteran left-hander Amir Garrett has signed a minor league contract with the Angels, according to the team’s transaction log at MLB.com. The Beverly Hills Sports Council client has been assigned to the Triple-A Salt Lake Bees.
Garrett spent spring training with the Giants as a non-roster invitee. After an up-and-down 2023 season, he was going to need to impress this spring to earn a spot on the Opening Day roster. Instead, he gave up nine runs in 6 1/3 innings of work, allowing 13 hits, seven walks, and two home runs while striking out only three of the 38 batters he faced. He was released last week.
The 31-year-old Garrett spent the 2022-23 seasons in Kansas City, working to a combined 4.39 ERA in 69 2/3 innings of work. The hard-throwing southpaw fanned exactly a quarter of his opponents in each of his two seasons as a Royal, but his longstanding command issues escalated to new heights. He walked 16.9% of his opponents with the Royals — including a sky-high 17.9% mark in 2023. Garrett routinely managed to navigate that highwire act, logging a 3.33 ERA in last year’s 24 1/3 innings, but he was released over the summer and didn’t make it back to the big leagues after signing minor league deals with both the Guardians and the Giants (who re-signed him just before camp opened).
Prior to his time in K.C., Garrett was a mainstay in the Reds’ bullpen. From 2018-20, he notched a 3.60 ERA with 49 holds, a save, a huge 30.2% strikeout rate and a bloated 11.6% walk rate. There’s little doubting Garrett’s raw ability to miss bats. His career 12.6% swinging-strike rate is well above average, and his 15.1% mark during his peak run with Cincinnati borders on elite. At this point, there are 325 1/3 innings of big league work showing his command to be well below average, however. It’s unlikely he’ll ever get to the point where he has plus command, but if he can even get back to the levels he had with the Reds, as opposed to the alarming walk issues he displayed in Kansas City, he could reemerge as a quality setup man.
For the time being, Garrett will serve as depth for an Angels club that dedicated the bulk of its offseason to remaking the bullpen. The Halos signed Robert Stephenson, Matt Moore, Luis Garcia, Jose Cisnero, Adam Cimber and Adam Kolarek to big league deals over the winter (though Kolarek was later outrighted to Triple-A). Anaheim also acquired righty Guillermo Zuñiga from the Cardinals and inked veteran Hunter Strickland to a minor league deal.
Hunter Strickland AND Amir Garrett in SLC? Good to have calming presence’s with cool heads in the depth.
That was my first thought as well. Amir Garrett in SLC?
Hunter and Amir #foreverGiants
There are worse places to pitch than Salt Lake City.
As for the state of this pen, how long can Strickland be down?
Wrong opening day starter, wrong bullpen configuration, wrong lineup construction and bad defense. Not a good Wash debut.
Schanuel should lead off and the best hitter, Trout should bat second.
I am curious about how long Wash will stick with this line up. If putting Rendon at #1 gives Schanuel time to develope and takes the pressure off for a small amount of time….I say got for it.
I don’t blame Was going with Sandy. I mean realistically the only options was put all the names in a hat and see who came up a winner.
I guess he literally has Bees on his bonnet now.
Replacement for Cisneros, the only problem is he’s exactly the same just the left handed version.
Cool. We usually cycle through a couple dozen guys.
@ halosheavenJJ I guess it’s a pomeranz replacement. The starting pitching and bottom of the bullpen reared it’s ugly head yesterday
You can’t chalk this opener up to bad back end BP pitching. It was over when Sandy coughed up 5 runs early vs a very good Burns.
They’ll probably have to weed thru a few back end pen guys anyway. I’ll judge this pen more or less in how they hold leads. They just need to get them first.
Oups, I guess u don’t call the bottom few in your pen, back end guys like the starters. Anyway, Suarez has got to be on a short leash and might be the 1st to go.
@plug I agree it’s the first game against a very good team, and burnes isn’t a joke. Just saying those back end guys that signed 1.5 or less should have quick hooks and hopefully they don’t linger Like a fart in church (loup). If they stink get rid of them and spray some febreeze. Not saying cut them after a bad game but maybe think about it after a month or two.
For sure Rex, there’s 3 guys in that pen I see them having a quick hook with and cut bait, if they struggle a few times early.
Yep. At least I’ve had a funny conversation with Garrett and he signed a ball for my nephew several spring trainings ago.
I’ll always appreciate guys who take time for kids.
New year same strategy.
@ prov False hopes, and aim for .500.
Welp, we lost Ohtani’s bat production and never replaced it. Our pitching is made up of mediocre bounce back hopefuls. I’d aim for 70 wins at this point.
But but but Rendon is starting the year healthy! Mickey Moniak was a first pick overall like 23 years ago! Jo Adell still breathes oxygen. What a team.
A sign of the (Los Angeles) Times, the paper’s Dodgers coverage included the front page game story, three columns, a team roundup, a story on Where’s Urias, and an Ohtani piece about…his new interpreter, while the Angel’s gamer in Baltimore was farmed out to the AP. RIP Louis Gossett Jr.
Who gives a crap about that rag. The best newspaper in LA was the Herald Examiner.
Great Writers
Alan Malamud
Tom Singer and Dick Miller covered the Angels
Doug E. Krikorian
Mel Durslag
Bud Furillo
Jim Murray
Bob Hunter
I bet you were a fan of the great Jim Healy as well
@AngelsFan- The best 15 minutes in LA Radio history. Right!!!! I belong to a Jim Healy Facebook page
He was ahead of his time.
My dad listened to him religiously, I followed suit
“Who goofed? I’ve got to know!”
Jim Healey that’s your lowest shot ever.
I read on Wikipedia that Jim had them put « Is it true » on his grave marker.
His wife’s grave marker has « Yes it is ».
Yankees/Sox
Dodgers/Giants
Garrett/Báez
Angels gonna Angel.
They’re awful.
It’s one loss people of a 162 Get a grip
Angels should see if Greinke would be ok going to bullpen
Ron Washington making two huge mistakes our number four starter Patrick Sandoval as the opening day pitcher mistake number 1 Anthony Randon leading off mistake number 2
I dunno, probably only 1 minor mistake in Rendon. One might like throwing your most experienced SP out there 1st, even thou he might be your 3/4th best. At least now u probably have your best 2 set up to pitch in game 2 n 3. When game 1 would of been tough whomever they threw out there.
Why is Schanuel and his OBP skills not in front of Trout? I get his MLB/MiLB numbers are a small sample size; But he’s a better choice than a 34-year old Hicks and an oft-injured 33-year old Rendon who has 4 stolen bases in his 5 seasons in Anaheim.
What is their game plan? Small ball? They can’t outscore these teams so their pitching will win the games? 62-67 wins.
“we’re going full throttle” West Coast division.
here’s a question i have and I haven’t found an answer anywhere… if you sign a minor league deal and you’re on the opening day roster, you get a full years pay? if you sign a minor league deal after the season starts and the team picks up your contract and put you on the 26 man roster, your pay is prorated just for the time on big league roster? if you’re released from the big leage roster, you’re still paid? if anyone can help I would appreciate it
Here’s the definition of “guaranteed contract” on mlb.com’s glossary:
“Players who obtain Major League contracts are guaranteed the full amount of money promised by those contracts. Conversely, players signed to Minor League contracts must earn a spot on the roster in Spring Training or via an in-season promotion in order to have their contracts guaranteed.”
This suggests that when a player is added to the major league roster, the contract becomes guaranteed. I know some players sign split contracts, which specify different salaries for being on the major league roster vs in the minors, but those seem to be a minority of contracts.
that makes sense… thank you very much