The Angels announced that left-hander Sam Aldegheri has been recalled from Triple-A Salt Lake. In a corresponding move, right-hander Nick Sandlin has been designated for assignment. The club’s 40-man roster count drops to 39.
Sandlin, 29, signed a minor league deal with the Halos in the offseason. He was added to the big league roster about three weeks ago. Since then, he has logged 8 2/3 innings but has unfortunately surrendered 11 earned runs in that time. He allowed nine hits, including two home runs. He walked five batters and hit another three while striking out five opponents.
The Angels have bumped him off the roster after those struggles. He has options but he just hit five years of big league service time in recent weeks. By getting to that line, he can no longer be optioned to the minors without his consent, hence the DFA. He can be in DFA limbo for as long as a week. The waiver process takes 48 hours, so the Halos could take five days to field trade interest, but they could also put him on waivers sooner than that.
Sandlin does have some major league success but the past year or so has been rough for him. From 2021 to 2025, he logged 211 2/3 innings in the show with a 3.19 earned run average. His 11.4% walk rate was high but he struck out 27.3% of batters faced. Injuries hobbled him with the Jays last year. He made trips to the injured list for a lat strain and then later for elbow inflammation. He only tossed 16 1/3 innings around those IL stints. The Jays outrighted him in November and Sandlin elected free agency.
The Angels were hoping for a bounceback but couldn’t get it. He started his season with a 1.42 ERA in 6 1/3 Triple-A innings but with poor underlying metrics. That low ERA was mostly a byproduct of a .222 batting average on balls in play and 87.5% strand rate. When he got called up to the majors, his results regressed to an extreme degree.
If Sandlin clears waivers, he would have the right to elect free agency. His recent form has been rough but some clubs may be interested in signing him to a minor league deal, hoping he can get back to his previous form with some regular reps.
Photo courtesy of Jay Biggerstaff, Imagn Images
There a clown shown gm a fat pig don’t know baseball
Wait a second, so hoping past-their-prime relievers on one year deals stay healthy plus going repeated dumpster diving is NOT a proven bullpen strategy??
Good. I’m baffled why this guy pitched as badly as he has for the Angels, compared to his previous years considering who they hired, but that’s the Angels way for you, I guess..
I had hoped that Sandlin could help. He has a decent track record of success. Unfortunately, things never seemed to click. Best to cut ties quickly with bullpen pieces and move on to the next one.
I’m not a huge fan of FIP, but it’s more accurate than ERA, His FIP is pretty darn bad.
Another One!
Its crazy, this team is wildcard good in their starters and hitting, but this could legitmately be a candidate for worst bullpen of the century thus far
Arson Squad!
We aspire to be the arson squad.
Was a minor league deal I thought had a good chance of working out.
If only there was an annual event where teams got to choose college and high school players who might be able to help them in the future. Maybe the Angels could find some decent arms there. Even spend one year picking nothing but 20 of them.
Hey Perry, hope is not a strategy.
What kind of thrown mud never sticks to walls when it’s thrown?
Minasian Mud.
I’ve never seen anyone throw so much mud at walls without having any of it stick.