The Angels announced a series of moves before Sunday’s matchup against the Royals, the most notable of which was designating closer Jordan Romano for assignment. The club selected left-hander Joey Lucchesi to take his spot. Right-hander Shaun Anderson was also designated for assignment, and righty Jose Fermin was recalled. On the hitting side, catcher Logan O’Hoppe was placed on the 10-day IL with a fractured wrist. Sebastian Rivero had his contract selected to replace O’Hoppe.
Injuries to Ben Joyce, Robert Stephenson, and Kirby Yates thrust Romano into the closer role to begin the year. He initially excelled as the preferred 9th inning option, picking up four saves over six scoreless appearances to open the campaign. Romano permitted just two baserunners during that stretch, both coming via walk.
The wheels came off from there. Romano had a disastrous series against the Yankees that included five earned runs, two blown saves, and only one out recorded. He briefly recovered in two lower-leverage outings, then blew up for four earned runs in a blowout against the Royals on Saturday. Romano was pulled mid-inning for infielder Adam Frazier.
Romano emerged as one of the top closers in the game with the Blue Jays. He piled up 95 saves from 2021 to 2023, earning a pair of All-Star selections. Elbow injuries ruined his 2024 season, and he’s never been the same since then. Romano had an 8.23 ERA for the Phillies last year. He came to the Angels on a modest one-year, $2MM deal. His time with the team is over after just eight innings.
Lucchesi joined the organization in late March after getting released by the Giants. He ended up breaking camp with the Angels. The veteran lefty allowed a pair of earned runs over three appearances. He walked four and struck out two across 2 1/3 innings. Lucchesi was designated for assignment and elected free agency in early April, but returned to the organization on a minor league deal.
Fermin was up and down with the big league club for the majority of 2025. He put together a mid-4.00s ERA with a solid 25.7% strikeout rate across 40 appearances. Fermin has a big fastball, but control has been an issue. The righty posted a hefty 15.1% walk rate in 34 1/3 innings.
Anderson was knocked around for 11 earned runs in nine appearances out of the bullpen. The 31-year-old was similarly ineffective during his time with the club last year. He did not break camp with the team, but was in the majors before the end of March. Lucchesi will likely step into Anderson’s multi-inning role.
O’Hoppe was pulled from Saturday’s contest due to what was initially described as wrist irritation. He took a foul tip off the wrist in the seventh inning, but did stay in to finish the frame. Travis d’Arnaud replaced him in the eighth inning. The veteran d’Arnaud will likely assume the majority of the reps behind the plate, with Rivero backing him up.
Rivero appeared in 11 games for the Angels last season. He’s hit .172 in 107 MLB plate appearances. Before his brief stint with Los Angeles in 2025, Rivero hadn’t been in the big leagues since 2022 with the Royals. Kansas City signed him as an international free agent in 2015. After a slow ascent through the system, he reached the majors as a 22-year-old in 2021. Rivero hasn’t been even a league-average bat since his Rookie ball days, but he’s earned passable marks as a defender in his time as a big leaguer.
Photo courtesy of William Liang, Imagn Images
lol remember after a week they were asking if Romano was back. Dude sucks
Very rude
That’s so Philly
You be nice, DDT.
Just sayin’
As am I.
I find it funny they had to pull him for infielder Adam Frazier to pitch. Romano is pathetic.
He’s accomplished more just today than you will in a lifetime.
Welcome to the Chicago Cubs. Jed will hop all over someone else’s bullpen refuse.
Source?
Experience
Not how it works.
I meant my experience knowing Hoyer and the way he thinks. And maybe Hottovy can even fix him.
Considering that Iowa had to use their #3 catcher to pitch the 10th and 11th innings the other night, signing him to a minor league deal once he clears waivers might not be the worst thing in the world.
But I suspect that Romano expects that he will get a major league deal from a team as bad as the Angels with no playoff chances, like the Mets or the Red Sox.
He cant be worse than the complete meltdown down the Astros are trying to call a bullpen. Besides, not for nothing, but Houston does have a way with pitchers.
Romano had a horrible nite but what kinda manager brings in his CL in the 8th inning down by 7 runs???
Save the good arms for another day.
After the series in New York, the Jordan Romano closer ship sailed.
I’m not saying Romano is great or even good at this point but given the contract and start he had, he should have been given a longer leash.
He’s been utter crap the last three seasons. This is what he is, terrible.
Mop-up work to get him some work. Couldn’t even do that well. And if it wasn’t for Adell’s incredible robbery night he’d have another blown save.
Angels are just a nightmare trainwreck circus of a franchise. They dunno what the f they’re doing. Ever since 02. Wasted atleast 3 HOF careers. Some franchises are just cursed with incompetence at every turn. The mets come to mind. And the angels.
Who’s your team? What genius is in charge of it? Bet you won’t answer.
Wow! Thank you for enlightening us. I never heard that take before. I’m still trying to figure out who the 3rd Hall of Famer you are referencing. Do you have a Mensa membership?
My guess the 3 are Trout, Ohtani and Pujols.
@Salem- if you’d been watching the angels, you would know that’s exactly why they brought him in. The game was lost and he couldn’t do anything to make it worse.
He lost the “closer” role in NY
oh ok
good luck with pomeranz, Zeferjahn and Lucchesi
oh and kirby yates. so far in AAA his era is only 27.00
drew Pomeranz next to be dfa
@eddie
After tonite u might be right
Last week they’d pitch in back to back innings
Now they’ll get cut in back to back days
Let’s see if Lucchesi can be any better. At least Fermin has had some success. D’Arnaud once again the starting catcher this season.
I think Lucchesi answered that question 🤮
Their closer got dfa. Perry making record moves this season
Romano was never supposed to be the closer. That only happened because Yates got hurt and Stephenson can’t recover.
They had other options but Romanos .455 babip is supremely dangerous for a closer. Angels dumb for using him there and he was piss poor. His K rate was misleading. Thanks analytics
If the angels used analytics they wouldn’t be so terrible at literally everything.
They also tried Pomerantz as the closer, and that was a big fat fail, too.
His K rate was the best on the team a few days ago.
@omar he has a WHIP that is over 2.
Oh wait, if you meant Pomerantz, his WHIP is 1.6, not much better, and definitely not good for a closer.
Your point? I didn’t like Romano at all. I’m just pointing out a very good stat in his favor.
Romano Zef and Pomeranz were heavily used in high leverage situations and were all terrible until Zef didnt crap the bed yesterday
Shocking that Romano is DFA’d
Is it ?
For me
And unlike most other Robin Hoods, I speak with a British accent
Well Romano blew a few games already and has been horrible for years. Sometimes spoiled milk doesn’t get better with time.
What does it take to change the essence of a man?
He’s not been good for half the season, so it doesn’t surprise Angels fans.
This sounds like an injury where everyone wants to do anything but take the surgery hit. That rarely works for long, and meanwhile he sucks. If he’d just sat down last year and fixed the elbow again people might still consider him a viable pitcher, compared with this dumpster fire of a month. Good luck Romano, but you need better advisors.
That’s 4 of Perry’s amazing offseason signings that have already been DFA’ed.
Deck chairs on the HMS Titanic. Eventually the ship sinks
Perry signs or trades for two types of players.
Guys to fill the IL
Guys to DFA.
Perry will never get another chance at GM. Him and Reagins worst GMs in history belong to Artie. Regains nuked their farm system and Perry cratered their chances to get over 75 wins
romano is the first player signed to an mlb contract in the offseason the angels have dfa’d this season.
peraza has been nice, grissom has earned some leash, frazier rebounded, and the pitching has been better than expected without grod, yates, joyce.
perry is a wash. messed up the first couple years, but has probably learned a thing or two since then. farm is in better shape than i can remember, mlb team has some glimmers of hope.
pissed about the last 15 years, yet hopeful for the future
Like it matters if it is a mlb or minor league deal? He signed them
He is a trash gm that is clueless. It’s not hard to add to a farm system that was rock bottom to start. It can only
Go up. He is on his 4th manager. The win totals are going down. The team has no direction no identity and no future
ahhhh i see. so which other team are you gonna root for, then? ill look to find a separate one
Please don’t bring back Romano or Anderson. If they do I will get nuts like Michael Keaton in the first Batman film.
Timely reference
Love it
Anderson will be back. Nobody will claim him and he’ll end up back in AAA and recalled again later in the season when another relief pitcher fails.
That’s my fear.
@orange we’ve seen this playbook before and the Angels seem to do the same thing over and over, so we can expect Anderson to be back.
The Angels are very predictable, to those of us that follow them day-to-day for years (decades).
How does anderson keep getting chances, he’s had one good season his whole career. Now the cards bullpen is atrocious, wouldn’t mind them taking a shot at Romano after he clears waivers
I think Anderson throws a ball with less movement than a pitching machine
Perry just loves his cheap reclamation projects.
Who in this bullpen solicits great trust? Detmers and Jansen were pretty good in the bullpen last year, both these decent pieces are out.
The Angels didn’t spend much money this off season. They hoped to get Stephenson back and nickel and dime the rest together. As we see, that hasn’t worked out. I don’t believe anyone should be surprised at the results thus far.
If Maddux couldn’t fix him, it’s off to Asia…
Anyone in Philly could have told Arte and co that Romano was cooked.
Please do not pick him up again Phillies! He was another DD disaster. I don’t care if we have multiple bullpen injuries and horrific pen performances -I’d rather call up guys from A-Ball than suffer through more of the cheeseman’s rancid Limbergian stink. In fact, I’d pay to keep him off the team…
Maybe Perry Held up Ramano’s stats to a mirror and made last years 8.23 look like 3.28 and thought he was a bargain…lol
I don’t know how Anderson got so many shots at making a team. He’s NEVER had a ERA under 5. He was a 40th round pick 40th!!!!!!!with the Nationals and a 3rd with the Red Sox
When your GM spends the offseason accumulating reclamation projects instead of actual mlb players, it’s only a matter of time. Romano and Anderson won’t be the last to ride Minasian’s DFA bus.
Best part of this season is it will Minasian’s last.
Can he spot bullpen talent or not?
It’s the owner, not the GM Du Jour.
And you have Arte Derangement Syndrome. No matter how awful
Minasian is, you can’t tell.
You want to blame Arte for Minasian’s complete inability to draft or obtain bullpen guys? If you do then you have ADS in spades.
I’ve been an Angels fan for about 5 decades now. Been going to games since the 70s.
If you can’t tell that the issue is the owner for over a decade now, I don’t know what to tell you.
This goes from the top down and there’s only so many GMs we can blame or Managers.
I do agree this GM is bad, but until the Angels get a new owner, this losing isn’t changing.
It’s literally that simple and you should KNOW this being an Angels fan because the Owner literally just told you that winning is not a top 5 priority.
One of the first things Minasian did was lose Soriano to the Pirates and use that roster spot to sign Claudio.
If you can’t tell Minasian is a huge problem, then you’re clueless. Multiple organs can be issues at the same time.
Minasian is an idiot. That doesn’t mean Moreno is a good owner. The fact that Minasian is still here is proof Moreno is a bad owner.
Halo,
How and why are you using Soriano as a reference point? He didn’t stick with the Pirates either.
Halo – Literally every Angels pundit on every Angels broadcast, podcast, postcast, etc. has said exactly the same thing I have been saying – the issue is Moreno, not whoever the GM is at the time. So you are very alone in your opinion.
Because it shows you how clueless he was. Claudio was not worth a 40 man roster spot. And who did the Pirates get for Glasnow and Cole?
We are lucky another dumb team gave him back.
He’s a terrible GM. Like Reagins, he’ll never get another GM job.
The M and M boys both suck. It’s not “either or”. It amazes me how anyone defends him.
The issue is both. Why that’s so hard to understand is beyond me. Reagin’s was a terrible GM. Minasian is a terrible GM. His drafts, trade and acquisitions all suck.
Why that’s so hard is so hard to acknowledge is beyond me.
Wait….are you inferring that the Angels could have received and a Glasnow or Cole return for Soriano?
You are making less sense on your Soriano reference. I am lost on why you brought him up at all at this point. Soriano is just now begining to show his potential THREE years later. You sure cannot blame either club for doing what they did three years ago.
The correct word is implying. You’re inferring something that is not close to my point. Of course I’m making little sense to you.
Im implying we are lucky a stupid team with higher priority like the pirates picked him up. Had a smarter team picked him up, we would have lost him. I’m implying the Angels were lucky to get him back.
And for whom did we lose that valuable 40 man roster spot….Claudio and Guerra. Which is incredibly strong evidence Minasian is clueless, especially when it comes to the bullpen. A position that is virtually impossible to dispute, while still maintaining an ounce of intelligence.
Really of all the things you want to haggle over; Infer vs imply?
Really???
The Pirates were not “stupid” for sending him back. He was hurt and his rehab starts obviously showed he needed a lot more work in order to be an MLB contributor. He didn’t make a big league appearance for another 2 years after being returned to the Angels.
Like I have been INFERRING, you picked a very weak example to make your point.
Idk he has “rebuilt” the bullpen every year he has been in control
Imagine, if the angels had gotten a closer, off season. They would be 3 or 4 games over 500. Oh well. Fortunately they are in a division that is up for grabs. Remember the 2002 angels. Could it be a repeat this year of that season. A World Series win in 06. Who is going to believe it, and who cares who wins the World Series anyway. I care nothing about ice hockey, or basketball, etc
Actually I do not care what goes on, at Jupiter. Why over care about earth. Why over care about the angel team. Why over care at all.
The AL West won’t be up for grabs here shortly.
Romano should have been DFA’d after New York.
Wrong.
It’s actually an opinion, so…
I love provolone!
I like a good imported Parmesan Reggiano. Or try a combo of Muenster and Cheddar the next time you make a grilled cheese.
You know what makes a mean grilled cheese? Cheddar, apple slices and mustard.
That sounds amazing. Mustard is my desert island condiment.
At least he has som saves. That’s more than you can say for the two Minasian clowns that pitched yesterday.
And Luchessi screwed up the game. Romano curse
Murphy about to be activated by Atlanta. I smell a “Heim to Angels for cash considerations” coming soon….
Hard to believe anyone was stupid enough to sign him this year after last year in Philly.
The Angels have about 25 million invested in this bullpen, and that’s not counting the 21 draft…perhaps the worst in Angel history where all Minasian did was draft pitchers.
How is that Moreno’s fault? That’s all Minasian.
As bad as this group of arms are, Just about any decent prospect should be brought up for the Pen…Cortez, Natera , etc….Nothing to lose.
Do the Angels have a decent prospect?
A lot of things are Moreno’s fault, but that’s not one of them. To some, Nothing is Minasian’s fault. They take the Kindergartners approach to life…no responsibility for anything.
Anyone you would “consider “ a decent prospect is already in the bigs or struggling in the minors.