1:22PM: The Angels officially announced the selection of Kristofak’s contract. Right-hander Jimmy Herget was designated for assignment to make room for Kristofak on the club’s 40-man roster, while righty Jose Cisnero was placed on the 15-day injured list with right shoulder inflammation to clear a spot on the active roster.
Herget spent parts of three seasons in the big leagues with the Angels, pitching to a 3.28 ERA and 3.43 FIP in 92 total appearances. He was among the Halos’ most dominant relievers back in 2022 with a 2.48 ERA and 2.82 FIP in 69 innings, but struggled to a 4.66 ERA and 5.63 FIP in 29 appearances last year and hasn’t appeared in the majors this season. The Angels will have one week to either trade Herget or attempt to pass him through waivers. If Herget clears waivers and is assigned outright to the minor leagues by the club, he’ll have the opportunity to reject that assignment in favor of free agency.
As for Cisnero, the right-hander has struggled mightily in 14 frames with the Angels this season, pitching to a 7.07 ERA and 6.30 FIP so far this season after signing a big league deal with the club back in February. It’s not currently clear how long the 35-year-old veteran will be out of action, though it appears that Kristofak will take over his spot in the bullpen for the time being.
9:57AM: The Angels are set to select the contract of right-hander Zac Kristofak prior to this afternoon’s game against the Twins, according to FanSided’s Robert Murray. Anaheim’s 40-man roster is currently full, meaning they’ll need to make a corresponding move to accommodate Kristofak’s selection to the roster.
Kristofak, 26, was a 14th-round pick by the Angels in the 2019 draft. The righty had his first full season in professional baseball wiped out by the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and struggled at the High-A level upon his return to pitching in 2021 with a 6.14 ERA in 44 innings of work. Since then, however, Kristofak has pitched well while ascending the minor league ladder and swinging between the rotation and the bullpen. He posted a 3.82 ERA in 63 2/3 innings of work in a repeat of the High-A level the following year and was promoted to Double-A ahead of the 2023 season, when he posted a 4.07 ERA in 42 frames.
Kristofak’s 2024 season has been an impressive one, as he’s pitched to a 3.38 ERA across six appearances (three starts) in his first taste of the Triple-A level. The right-hander’s strong results are especially noteworthy considering the fact that he’s pitched in the infamously hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League, which tends to offer a much more difficult environment for pitchers. That being said, Kristofak has struck out just 13% of batters faced to this point in the season, a potential red flag that helps to explain his elevated 5.09 FIP.
That the right-hander is poised to make his big league debut in the coming days is a particularly incredible feat given his harrowing past. Kristofak’s mother was murdered by his father back in 2012, when Kristofak was just 15 years old. The 26-year-old spoke to The Athletic’s Sam Blum about the tragedy back in September, and fans of any team are highly encouraged to read Blum’s piece to learn more about Kristofak’s story.
“Making the big leagues certainly won’t change what happened,” Blum wrote in the article. “But reaching that level — putting on an Angels uniform with Kristofak sewn on the back — will mean something that perhaps only Kristofak and his mother could fully understand.”
Kristofak will now get that opportunity to debut for the Angels, with whom he could be an option both out of the bullpen, where southpaw Jose Suarez has struggled to a 10.13 ERA in 16 frames as the club’s primary long reliever, or perhaps even in the rotation alongside Reid Detmers, Tyler Anderson, Patrick Sandoval, Jose Soriano, and Griffin Canning.
Cut Suarez
Hello Hello Perry Minasian anybody home Cut José Suarez
No one has been home in that position for 15 years.
They should have cut him five games ago when his ERA was only 8.68.
Anyone want to explain how this guy got into 9 games?
Most likely because he was “Cheap, controllable, and could easily get the team off the books” or yadayada
Kenny Rosenberg is averaging 6 innings per start with a whip right at 1 in AAA this year.
Bring him up as a starter, move Soriano back to the bullpen, send Suarez packing.
This bullpen is awful again. Put Soriano in the pen, skip his start with the off day next week and Silseth may be able to start by then. If not then Rosenberg.
Trout to tigers please.what u want
You’d rather have Adell, but he would cost more in a trade.
If Trout wants to go to Detroit we’ll send him to a psychiatrist.
They don’t actually live in the liberal city
Have you ever been to Detroit? Do you have family that live in Detroit? It’s not California liberal, but it’s liberal.
Orange County, California is way more conservative than Detroit.
If you were born in Detroit during the most recent Republican Mayor’s administration, you’re most likely a senior citizen.
You ask what we want in return from Mike Trout we ask nothing in return as we asked nothing in return for Shohei Ohtani
Make it a free seven day trial to Cartoon Network
Trout has a no trade clause so it is up to Trout to want to go to Detroit, so good luck with that.
When it got to 14-4 last night, I turned it off. I’ve had enough Angels drama this week.
I started looking at the Phillies top prospects instead.
My wife cut cable when kids went to highschool. I had MLBTV till last year. I haven’t watched a single game because they don’t seem to have a drive to win. I do, however, look into the stats.
On another matter, move up Adell in the order!
Schanuel is starting to hit, and Washington puts him 9th in theorder. What an idiot!
Try watching Jays games.lol
I did the exact same thing.
I’m so frustrated when Arte Moreno pulled the rug from the sale of the Angels I was so excited that the Angels were up for sale with a new owner, maybe some positive changes like build up the farm system player development. We’re back to the same old thing Moreno using BandAids patching up the 26th men roster. Moreno knows he’s a disliked man in Anaheim have you seen a glimpse of him or give any interviews? He’s like a rat hiding in this rat hole. I love Mike Trout. I think he deserves better. Philadelphia freedom
If the first act of the new owner is to fire Minasian, then great.
But if you were the one who wanted to sign Snell to a Boras contract, which most on this board did, then you can’t talk.
Perry’s worst crime is his inability to hire a good GM.
Minasian’s biggest crime is his inability to judge talent, especially pitching. The Angels have had the same problems for his reign as GM. Terrible bullpens, starting pitchers who rarely go more than five innings, constantly pitch from behind in the count. Again, the infield defense is horrendous. The hitters are beyond bad with RISP. They strikeout too much and are terrible at situational hitting.
In other words, this is a really bad team with little chance of improving for several years. Arte Moreno, the gift that keeps on giving.
Angels’ downfall during Moreno’s ownership involves missed playoff opportunities, roster challenges, stadium issues, and the recent sale attempt selling the Angels Moreno pulling the carpet from potential deal The team’s loyal fan base was hoping for New ownership for a brighter future, but overcoming these obstacles remains a failing organization The teams loyal fans deserve better
Hopefully Suarez will be dfa’d
The naysayers were right.
Trout should have been traded years ago.
Declining fast and zero trade value at this point. Anaheim would have to cover 8 figures just to get a team to take him for no players in exchange.
More like 9 figures. Anaheim would have to cover $100 million+ just to get a team to take him for no players in exchange. Just to get rid of his contract (sort of).
He wants to play for the Angels. You’re not Mike Trout.
Easy for him to claim that when he knows that he’s basically untradable because of the massive amount that Anaheim would have to cover. It means nothing.
As said, you aren’t Mike Trout so go cry about your own team elsewhere.
I know they need someone to fill the roster spot, but the team is in a free fall. 3-11 since they went on that road trip that started in Boston.
Suarez should have been off a major league roster 3 years ago. He’s never been good except for a small window. And as usual, the Angels treat that small window as his new normal instead of the anomaly that it was. His normal is sucky. He should be a hot dog vendor, but not for the Angels.
I would say I’m happy Herget got DFA’d, but I doubt he’s going to get claimed so he’ll just end up back in the minors..
And like everyone else I can’t understand why Suarez is still on the team. Every time I see the score Ina game and the opponent has a bunch of more runs, it’s because Suarez has been pitching, and I think “yep, that tracks”
Suarez is absolutely horrendous and Garcia is only slightly better. They must have someone who can throw strikes and not just hanging over the middle of the plate. I reluctantly admit I was a little bit excited when they hired Washington because anything is an upgrade over Nevin, but if he ever allows Suarez to head to a mound again even at a nearby little field I’m going to lose my mind!
This series against Minnesota has been utterly embarrassing.
The Angels are currently a team without much depth. If they were to get back to .500 by Mid August. I could see them sneaking into the playoffs. It would take above average years from some of the veterans like Drury, Rengifo, Sano, Hicks. It would also take a healthy Trout, Rendon, and Ward to be at the top of the order. Young people players like O’Hoppe, Neto, and Shanuel are still learning and hopefully stay healthy, and only get better with more experience. The starting pitchers just need to stay healthy and grow in experience. Detmers and Anderson so far make a solid 1-2 combination. Canning, Sandoval, and Silseth need to stay heal and get more consistent. They need at least three other guys that can step in if needed. Soriano, Wantz, Rosenburg, and maybe even Caden Dana in late August. Their bullpen is hit and miss. Things will hopefully sort themselves out and even guys like Joyce can come up later in the Year.
I see a very different team in August than the team that is playing now. Hopefully it’s a better team, but they have to be at least .500 to have a chance. If they are 10-15 games below .500 then I see them trading away players that are not signed past this year for prospects. Adell is finally starting to play to his potential. The patient approach is working. Hopefully with Washington’s coaching guidance Adell and Rengifo will be more consistent better players defensively. There are 30 teams trying to win and they all have the what if’s. Arizona proved last year that an 84 win team can make it the the World Series and beat 100+ teams in a playoff series. Coach Washington’s postgame today was very inspiring. There’s no need to finger point and feel sorry for ourselves. We are a team and need to trust one another. It’s easier said than done, but good teams manage to feed off each other and that’s what will be the difference from winning teams and losing. They will have to figure out how to win close games and be more clutch