The Angels announced the signing of lefty reliever Drew Pomeranz to a one-year deal. It’s reportedly a $4MM guarantee for the CAA client. The Angels had five openings on the 40-man roster and are now up to 37 between this and their signing of right-hander Jordan Romano.
Pomeranz earned a big league deal after a comeback season with the Cubs. The 37-year-old southpaw had not appeared in an MLB game between 2022-24, as a brief stint on the Giants MLB roster in ’24 didn’t result in any game action. He began this past season on a minor league contract with the Mariners. Pomeranz posted big strikeout numbers against Triple-A opposition to convince the Cubs to add him to the MLB bullpen. He exercised an upward mobility clause in his contract to head to Chicago in mid-April.
It worked out quite nicely. Pomeranz tossed 49 2/3 innings of 2.17 ERA ball across 57 appearances. That included a remarkable stretch to begin the season, as he didn’t allow a single earned run in his first 26 outings. He hit a rough patch in July but rebounded with a 2.21 mark in 20 1/3 innings from the beginning of August through season’s end. Pomeranz fanned 28.1% of opposing hitters against a 7.4% walk percentage. While the Cubs didn’t use him in a ton of high-leverage situations, he recorded 14 holds while giving up the lead just twice.
Pomeranz leaned very heavily on his four-seam fastball. He threw the pitch three quarters of the time to right-handers and at an 84% clip against southpaws. It’s not going to blow hitters away on speed alone. His 92.7 MPH average velocity is middling. Pomeranz ranked near the top of the league in fastball spin, which allowed the pitch to play above its velocity at the top of the strike zone. That could put him in danger of home run issues, but it also led to a lot of harmless fly balls and a decent swinging strike rate. His only secondary pitch is an 83-84 MPH knuckle-curve that played more as a ground-ball offering.
The Angels need to do a lot of heavy lifting in the bullpen. Closer Kenley Jansen is headed to Detroit on an $11MM deal. They’re moving Reid Detmers back to the rotation, taking their top setup man out of the mix. Pomeranz pairs with Brock Burke to give rookie manager Kurt Suzuki a couple solid options from the left side. Burke has had neutral platoon numbers over the course of his career. Pomeranz doesn’t need to be in a specialist role but is probably the superior option against teams’ best left-handed bats. He held southpaws to a .176/.238/.203 line with a massive 35% strikeout rate in 80 plate appearances this year.
Their right-handed options are weaker even if they finally get a healthy season out of Robert Stephenson. They should continue to look for leverage arms from the right side. Their agreement with Pomeranz and $2MM rebound flier on Romano push their projected payroll to $172MM, according to RosterResource. They carried a $193MM payroll to begin the 2025 season. There’s a decent amount of space but a lot of work to be done. The Angels need another starter, at least one multi-positional infielder, and a center fielder. That’s on top of whatever moves are yet to come in the bullpen.
Pomeranz is the third free agent lefty reliever to come off the board today. Now former teammate Caleb Thielbar is headed back to the Cubs, while Caleb Ferguson agreed to terms with the Reds. Sean Newcomb, Danny Coulombe, Justin Wilson and Taylor Rogers are among those who remain unsigned.
Ari Alexander of Boston 7 News first reported that Pomeranz and the Angels had a one-year deal. Jeff Fletcher of The Orange County Register was first on the $4MM guarantee. Image courtesy of Patrick Gorski, Imagn Images.
For their sake, hopefully he isn’t another Robert Stephenson.
That’s 2026 Cy Young winner Robert Stephenson to you
@Fever-Make that Rolaids Relief Pitcher of the year.
I hope he goes off this year. That $2m club option on him in 27 would probably be worth another useful prospect.
You mean $22 million fir a handful of innings isn’t a good deal?
Yeah, he’ll definitely be a stud when he’s older and coming off even more injuries.
@halosheavenJJ. He looked solid in his 3 innings of work. Lol. Hopefully he can stay healthy.
could do much worse for a 1 year lefty!
Dude still plays?!
A 36 yr old reliever isn’t that odd…. But I agree it does seem like he’s been around a he11 of a lot longer than he has
@GiantsFan81
That was my first thought too!
He was out of the majors for a couple of years and had a renaissance with the Cubs. I was a little surprised that the Cubs didn’t try to bring him back, they signed Hoby Milner instead.
So we release him in spring training, he’s great, and now we actually sign him to play.
Damn it Jed. You fumbled this one.
For 4m, this wasn’t that expensive. This is a really cheap price that Hoyer could have matched.
Agreed. Matz would have worked too. He signed Hoby Milner for the same money Pomeranz got. Milner is a negative war pitcher.
The lefty the Mariners could have used last year in the playoffs…….. oh wait.
Last year had to have been a total fluke. Nobody saw that kind of success happening. He literally resurrected himself from the dead after not pitching for three seasons. An absolute statistical anomaly like being struck by lightning and then winning the lotto. Mariners had every reason not to worry about letting him go. Geez man.
We both forgot to add /s
Dipoto won the honor of best executive this year, and no one can predict all. I am actually glad Drew was let go, so he could get his chance to show what he had left. He probably would’ve just hung out in AAA with the Mariners and no one would say anything about it.
angels just signing anyone
Theyre attempting to build a bullpen. That has in game value if you surprise and actually win games, but can also get you prospects in return at the deadline if youre losing.
Very little downside to the 2 signings today. Worst case, they spend $6mill on guys who dont do anything. Pretty much every team has dead weight.
Half their roster feels like it’s high-risk, mid-reward.
Taking all the gambles away from the Twins. Who also need to build a bullpen
I would have loved for the Jays to have gotten him for that price.
I’m surprised he didn’t get an offer from a better team. Maybe he did, but he’s got a lot of value.
That’s it! Guess noone trust him to stay healthy
Drew keeps on ticking. Angels patching together that pen. Who closes though?
He did well with the Cubs, wish Hoyer had brought him back.
Injured past.
Passed on him in Spring Training.
Now 37.
Has a left arm and breathes oxygen.
Yep, checks out.
@nukeg. He didn’t give up a run for like 12-14 innings until the wheels came off. Who knows he might’ve had rust from being out of the league so long.
He just has to do roids, like I do
Boiler Alert !
Not that bad!
Worth a gamble. Hope it works out.
Hmmmm…..Angels calling Marcus Stroman on line 2….
(just Sayin’)….
Well, Drew Pomeranz, it was great having you as a cub. Enjoy having a bad season with the angels and then retiring! (Though I do wish him the best)
This dude is Rendon part 2.
Little bit less risk with this one, I’d say.
I would have taken him in our bullpen. Would be nice to have a few lefties there instead of just one.
Pitched well last year but missed 22, 23, and 24. That’s so Angels.
This is such an Angels signing. And wow that picture.
The Unction going down at Disney world
Love the signings. Love the new pitching and hitting coaches. Angels are loaded with talent. Enough already. Go big at the trade deadline.
There will always be mediocre players in their 30’s that are willing to sign a modest contract to play for the Angels and live in Laguna or Newport Beach, while scoring wife points while doing so.
Best beer belly in baseball
HEY BIG SPENDER
Step right up, folks Arte’s cracking open the vault!
Today, the Angels signed two bullpen bouncers with serious swagger:
Jordan Romano – next closer?
Drew Pomeranz – left-handed veteran
Forget bargain bins
this is a full-blown fireworks show.
Tickets still available
Okay then
Angels doing a great job of signing best RPs of 2020
Angels need an outfielder, infielder, and middle of the order hitter to make pitchers pay if they walk Trout.
As it stands right now, the Angels haven’t done nearly enough. A couple one-year deals and somehow we’re supposed to believe this team is gearing up to contend?
Fans keep saying, “Chill, it’s still early.” But early for what? We’ve been “linked” to every free agent on the board, and yet they keep signing elsewhere while we’re left holding the bag. Again.
And let’s be real: half the guys we have signed are coming off injuries. This isn’t a retool—it’s a rehab assignment center
And here’s the kicker: other teams are landing solid players on one-year deals the exact kind of contracts the Angels like offering. So what’s the excuse? We’re not making bids We’re just not getting it done. Not pursuing. Not serious.
Arte Moreno Sell the Team
Bravo – We hear the same stuff every year and people still believe it. Moreno will say he’s in on every free agent who could make a difference and find an excuse as to why they signed elsewhere. We need an eight game improvement just to get back to .500 baseball. If the four or five pitchers we’ve acquired can stay healthy, we might be there. But CF and 3B are still big holes as is our line up. Pitching is first, but hitting in the low .200s as a team won’t get us to the playoffs.
Remember when the Angels signed Pomeranz to a MiLB deal in 2024 but was cut near end of spring training?
Fast forward two seasons, now Perry signs him to $4M.
Does gut-bloat not affect pitching?
Two relievers in one day! The Angels sure do want a good bullpen!
I’d like to see Justin Wilson back in Boston, he had a good year. Rumors continue to swirl around Coloumbe too, if they sign either it will be their 1st FA signing of the off season, if you can believe that. Smh.
When is he due?
Do they both go straight to the IL after they sign there contract?
Couldn’t they Photoshop some abs into that pic? Looks like Poppin’ Fresh!!
Great. DFA’ed before the All Star break
Who wants odds???
Can we please send somebody with some legitimacy not some player who is taking angels money just so he can stay in the show?
I remember him pitching well for the Padres and the majority of Yankee fans wanted him. Redsox gave up their #4 prospect in 2016. He had one good year in Boston. The craziest thing is that prospect was Anderson Espinoza, who aside from never becoming anything is still only 27 years old. I always put the youngest 5 star players on my MLB The Show team and he was one of the youngest at like 17 or 18.
Nice picture used for DrewPom: I didn’t realize he started to wear his fanny pack on the front side, tucked in. Smart- good place for the spider tac
I got a kick out of Foster Griffen’s picture.
He is walking off looking very dejected, with the manager and players probably discussing how they are going to pitch out of the mess created in the background.
Eight years ago, Arte Moreno wasn’t building a team he was pulling lottery-scratchers at a gas station.
Josh Hamilton: $125M lottery ticket with a known relapse risk. Arte bet on redemption, lost on reality.
Albert Pujols: A legend, yes but a 10-year deal 240M lottery ticket for a 32-year-old? That’s not strategy. That’s Powerball fever.
Anthony Rendon: A $245M lottery ticket that came with a warning label: “ baseball is not a game. It’s a job.” Arte scratched it anyway.
Meanwhile, the Angels’ player development system was a ghost town. No investment in scouting. Player development No infrastructure. No pipeline. Just hope and hype.
And now? Arte’s been MIA. No pressers. No vision. Just silence while the team drifts.
You can’t win a World Series with scratchers. You build it—brick by brick, prospect by prospect. But Arte never bought bricks. He bought dreams. give the Angels fans what we need sell the team give someone else a chance.
Typical Angel move. They’ve been repeating this reclamation pitcher project strategy for the last 10 years. I guess they think that if they keep doing it, that one year it’ll have to hit, right? Kind of like dumping coins into a slot machine.