The Angels announced that they have selected the contract of right-hander Shaun Anderson. He’ll take the active roster spot of left-hander Sam Aldegheri, who was optioned to Triple-A Salt Lake after last night’s game. Catcher Travis d’Arnaud was transferred to the 60-day injured list to open a 40-man spot.
Anderson has been bouncing on and off the Halos’ roster for most of the past two years. Since he is out of options, he needs to be removed from the 40-man roster when the Angels want to swap him out for another pitcher. This is the fifth time he has been selected to the roster since the start of 2025. He gives the bullpen a fresh arm and is usually designated for assignment after a few appearances. Each time, he has cleared waivers, elected free agency and then re-signed.
It’s not just the Angels and Anderson who have this kind of arrangement. Carlos Carrasco has been doing a similar thing in Atlanta, ditto Albert Suárez in Baltimore. While those players would probably prefer more stable MLB gigs, the fact that they keep clearing waivers indicates no one is willing to give them that kind of job. In this setup, at least they get sporadic hits of major league pay and service time. The teams, meanwhile, effectively get a 41st man on their 40-man rosters.
Last night, Grayson Rodriguez started for the Angels and only lasted 3 2/3 innings, allowing eight earned runs in the process. Aldegheri came in and pitched 5 1/3 scoreless frames to finish the game, throwing 89 pitches. Since Aldegheri wasn’t going to be available for the next few days, the Angels have added Anderson so that they won’t be short-handed in the bullpen.
Anderson has a 6.35 earned run average in 180 career innings, dating back to his 2019 debut with the Giants. Since the start of 2025, when his run with the Angels began, he has a 7.71 ERA in 28 innings. He’s been throwing four to five innings in his recent minor league appearances, so he gives the club an option for long relief if they need one again in the near future.
As for d’Arnaud, he landed on the 10-day IL on May 7th due to right foot plantar fasciitis. His 60-day count is retroactive to that date, so he’s ineligible to be reinstated until early July. His current status isn’t clear but the Angels evidently don’t expect him back for at least another month.
Photo courtesy of Jay Biggerstaff, Imagn Images
The pitching machine is back
Mullet man is back. At the end of the day it doesn’t matter, but can they not just call someone else up and see how it works. We already know what’s going to happen with Anderson.
No, because 40 man roster.
I know someone around here wants to see half the staff cut, but that’s an over-reaction.
Who does the team give up on? I know that the front office over-values players at times, but I have this feeling that were any of the current players on the roster get DFA’d, another team would pick them up. Lugo, as an example.
Still have a little hope for the silly angels. With four months left and only 7.5 games back of a wild card spot.
Aldegheri gives them over 6 innings of scoreless relief after Grayson Rodriguez’s bad start and his reward is a trip to the minors. I understand the reason is to get a fresh arm, but it’s just seems like a foolish thing to do for a team that is not pitching well at all.
Well over 5. My bad. Still doesn’t seem right. It is like demoting a 5th starter after a great start just because you have a couple off days upcoming and he won’t be needed. But it still cuts into his pay and service time regardless.
Could not agree more
And you bring back a guy that has been DFA’ed like 59 times by the Angles in the last year or so