The Angels announced that they have selected the contract of left-hander José Quijada. Fellow lefty Jake Eder has been optioned to Triple-A Salt Lake as the corresponding active roster move. Righty Robert Stephenson has been transferred to the 60-day injured list to open a 40-man spot.
The Halos did a bullpen game yesterday, with Eder mopping up six innings, throwing 98 pitches in the process. They optioned Jack Kochanowicz prior to the All-Star break and haven’t found a permanent solution for that rotation hole yet. Eder wasn’t going to be available for a few days, so the club will bring in a fresh arm. They have Yusei Kikuchi, José Soriano, Tyler Anderson and Kyle Hendricks to start the next four games but will need to figure out something for Monday’s game. Perhaps some pre-deadline moves will shake up the roster or they will simply recall Kochanowicz. An optional assignment for a pitcher comes with a 15-day minimum. He was optioned on July 11th, so he’ll be eligible to be recalled in a few days.
Quijada, 29, designated for assignment just prior to Opening Day and outrighted to Triple-A Salt Lake. He didn’t pitch anywhere through the middle of May. He was added to the roster of the Double-A Rocket City Trash Pandas on May 10th. Per Chris Harris of MiLB.com, he had been on the development list prior to that. He told members of the media today, including Rhett Bollinger of MLB.com, that he changed his diet at the club’s Arizona complex and has lost 30 pounds since spring training.
He has been putting up good numbers in Double-A since joining the Trash Pandas. He has logged 26 1/3 innings, allowing 2.73 earned runs per nine. He struck out a huge 37.1% of batters faced, while his 8.6% walk rate and 42.6% ground ball rate were around average.
Those numbers and the improved conditioning are perhaps encouraging, though getting major league hitters out is obviously different than Double-A opponents. He had a decent run with the Angels in 2021 and 2022, tossing 66 1/3 innings over those two seasons with a 4.21 ERA. His 12.9% walk rate was high but he struck out 32.3% of batters faced. The two subsequent years were mostly wiped out by Tommy John surgery.
He will give the Halos a fresh arm for now but is out of options, so he can’t be easily sent back to the farm. That was part of the reason why he was designated for assignment earlier this year. His service clock is between three and five years, which means he has the right to reject outright assignments but has to forfeit his remaining salary commitments when exercising that right. Since he’s making $1.075MM this year, he naturally accepted. If he were bumped off the roster again, it’s possible the same sequence of events would play out.
As for Stephenson, this shouldn’t impact his timeline. The 60-day count is retroactive to his initial placement on the 15-day IL, which was on May 31st due to right biceps inflammation, though he later said it’s due to a stretched nerve. It’s been almost 60 days already, so he’ll eligible for reinstatement once he’s healthy.
Photo courtesy of Kirby Lee, Imagn Images
Wow, that Stephenson contract sure paid dividends!
And bringing up AAAA player Quijada. Can’t wait for him to blow some holds.
It literal feret would be a net upgrade from Eder. Why in a must win game we were trotting out Eder and Fermin is crazy to me.
@Kellin I get the frustration… but it seems anyone that we put out there in relief is blowing leads. I don’t know that we could do worse? I suppose we will find out shortly.
I’m more disappointed in Stephenson’s situation. I want to believe that he could/would be a difference maker.
Placing Stephenson on IL doesn’t reflect his current heathy. He hasn’t pitched since late May.
He literally could be activated in a week.
Old Halo. Because of clauses in this contract, we are basically three months into a three year contract. He was move to the 60 IL for clerical reasons.
He’s throwing a pond could be back shortly.
@halo11fan. I can’t remember what his team option was, but it was reasonable. If he played this season. He looked good for that one inning this year.
Put Stephenson on the Rendon pile and wait for that compost heap to dry up.
I’d like 3 of those, to go! Great name!
Id prefer you send him to the NBA
Quijada in an NBA uniform would make me watch the NBA again.
Stephenson is climbing on the worst contract in Angels history list, which is saying something.
He’s definitely worst than Cody Allen now. On the field, probably worse than Matt Harvey but the whole selling pills thing gives Harvey a lead.
HaloHeavan….ouch! You definitely swung for the fences with the Harvey take.
Imagine what this season would look like had Joyce and Stephenson been able to pitch. But then again the Dodgers have had a lot more injuries to their pitching staff and they have kept their head above water. It helps that they have trillion dollar life preservers too.
Take the $49 million giving to Rendon and Stephenson, add some decent depth around this young core, and we’re a playoff team.
The Dodgers have depth. The Angels don’t. It is that simple.
And screw Harvey for a host of reasons.
I have no problem with you taking swings at Harvey’s expense. He got off somewhat unscathed for his part in that scandal.
Dodgers have survived with a superior offense, but the pitching for both teams are about the same.
Side note: What if I told you that the Angels have a better record than the Dodgers since May 15th?
@Johnnyangel I would say Unfortunately….unless the Angels last 1/3rd of the season mirrored the Dodgers first 1/3rd of the season. It wouldn’t mean a whole lot.
The Angels are beyond fortunate to be where we are.
Until last week the same starting 5 pitchers had made every start and there’s absolutely no depth behind them. Dana and Klassen have taken steps back this year.
I’m enjoying the young core and winning more games, but this barely subpar record is held together with tape and bubble gum.
Except for clearing a roster spot, the Stephenson move is meaningless.
There are no setback on his throwing program and could be back in just over a week.
The first year was virtually free. The Angels are three months into a three year contract. The story about this contract has yet to be written.
Stephenson made $11 million last year on top of the $11 million this year. And he gets $11 million next year.
The injuries gave the Angels a $2.5 million option on him for 2027 when he’ll be 34 but fresh off of not pitching for a few years.
And if he can pick up a baseball, they will exercise that option.
And he could easily be back in two weeks. He’s been throwing since the first week of July and as far as I know, no setbacks.
This story hasn’t come close to being written.
We’re currently over 1.5 years into a 3 year deal. At best, the Angels will get 2 months of production this year and one full season next year for the sum of $33 million. Unless he’s the second coming of Mariano Rivera, that’s not a good deal.
Jj,, once again you are forgetting the team option year at 2.5m, maybe by chouce, but if he indeed pitches well next year, he would be considered a steal at that price for 2027.
Stephenson may as well be Rendon’s brother. He’s not going to pitch. He’s going to collect his $$$
If he can’t stay healthy at this age, 2 more birthdays aren’t going to help.
In a vacuum $2.5 million would be a steal. But he’s likely getting $22 million between this year and last for 1 inning pitched.
So absolutely best case scenario the team gets 2 years and 2 months for $35.5 million with the option.
Again, unless he’s Rivera 2.0 for that time it’s still a bad deal.
And I’d bet the Angels get fewer than 100 innings out of all 4 seasons if the option is exercised.
That’s one way to look at it. Not an an accurate way, but one way.
It’s math.
$11 million last year for 0 innings pitched.
$11 million this year for 1 inning pitched and no activation in sight.
Maximum contribution this year: 2 months. Not likely to happen, but it could.
$11 million next year if he actually pitches would equal $33 million for 1 season and 2 months.
The option 2 years from now when he’s 34 and had even more injuries won’t possibly make up for the money already wasted.
What was your math when Lackey had a similar deal, missed a year, and was paid 5 hundred thousand dollars?
The 2.5 million option makes it a four year deal.
Most people get it, and I doubt anyone looks at it the way you do.
Lackey had actually contributed to the team in his career.
So it’s a 4 year $35.5 million deal and we’ve gotten 1 single inning from it with no more on the horizon.
Zero way to say this is a good deal or likely to ever resemble one.
I’m saying there is about 2 and a half years left. It a little early to call this one of the worst deals ever.
Since he represents 5 percent of the payroll, it’s pretty hard for me to compare this to players that are over 15 percent of the team payroll.
To me, this one doesn’t even register as one of the bad deals.
Yes in the part that it is going to be a bad deal, in the way you look at the entirety of it. But if you get over the money already spent, and just look at it moving forward for 2 plus years. The deal can look pretty good. You can’t take back the money already spent, but the money moving forward can look at lot better for said player.
I’m not even sure I understood that.
Looking at this team now, I don’t think it’s going to be good next year, but in baseball terns, a year and a half is an eternity. With an astute GM and new owner, anything can happen.
If we are good in 2027, this guy could be huge. So, I’ll wait until then.
Haloheaven. Precisely, 11 million is far from free. Besides Stephenson was not hurt when he signed that contract. That little fact should be pointed out.
Take money out of it. You’re entrusting that they have backend bullpen help whish has been unreliable last 1.5. Yrs. Imagine grabbing some of the relievers out there for what they’re paying Stephenson for. Could be a vastly different team/outcome. Their bullpen desperately needs an upgrade
A team that is last in defense, last in preventing walks, 24th in strikeouts, has literally no chance of being a different team without massive adjustments.
Yeah the defense has underperformed but better pitching helps a weak defense
Has it underperformed? They are not good defensive players.
@angelsfan1972. I think he bad medicals. That’s why they did the cheap player option. It wouldn’t been as bad if he pitched this year.
@rexhudler I know he has had issues in the past, but I don’t believe they signed him knowing he had an arm injury.
He pitched all spring training and tried a rehab assignment before being shut down in April last year.
@angelsfan1972. I just remember seeing something about teams passing on him because of bad medicals. People were talking smack on perry. He probably could’ve waited, but that clause makes make wonder if he had a slight tear like ohtani his first season, and it eventually blew
@rexhudler Anything is possible. Not that it matters anymore.
If he recovers decently and gets work in this year, then parlays that into next year. I would think the Angels would cash in on year 4 for that small of an amount.
@Rex Yes, I believe that is why he had that stipulated $2.5 option to offset the possibility. This would offset one year of a 18 month TJS. Angels are more likely to take such chances on such cases since the bullpen has been bad for years.
The Angels have probably spent more draft capital on pitching without any results. This year the drafted several HS pitchers, so it will be 4 or 5 years before we see any results.
The Angels do have some developmental tools now. There have been some positive indications. The ACL Angels won their division in the first time in forever. Ryan Johnson is now in the MLB.com top 100 prospects at #100, though he will be pushed out once the new draft picks are added to the list.
Sammy Netera Jr and Joel Hurtado are 2 in house BP options. I would say Chris Cortez but he’s having a good year in High A his 1st year as a Starter. Of course there’s always the chance Chase Shores makes the team a la Ryan Johnson.
I’ve always liked Quijada. Glad he’s back!
Any reason Sammy Natera Jr is still tossing in the minors? Also, seems as though Ryan Johnson deserves another look but as a starter. Detmers needs to start while waving goodbye to Anderson and Hendricks.