Headlines

Go To Pro Hockey Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

C.C. Sabathia

AL East Notes: Sabathia, Red Sox Bullpen, Second Basemen

By | at

Per a tweet from Marc Carig of The Athletic, Yankees lefty CC Sabathia has decided to play next year. Though he’d indicated early on in the season that he might retire under certain circumstances, more recent statements from Sabathia had suggested he’d like to play another season. Most notably, he’d said he was taking a start-to-start approach to see how he felt, as his ability to pitch in 2019 would probably be contingent upon the health of his troublesome knee. Sabathia has continued to be a useful pitcher for the Yankees; across the past two seasons he’s taken the mound for 55 starts while posting a serviceable 3.73 ERA. There have been some small signs of decline, such as his dwindling innings per start figures across the past three seasons (Sabathia’s only averaged 5.28 innings across his 28 starts so far in 2018), but it seems reasonable to think that even if the Yankees decided not to bring him back, some team would probably be willing to pay for his services next year. That’s notable, considering Carig’s mention that Sabathia intends to play “even if it means signing with a team other than the Yankees.”

Now for a pair of notes related to the Yankees’ chief AL East rivals…

  • In his latest piece for The Athletic, Eno Sarris takes a deep dive into the statistics in order to answer an interesting question: does Dave Dombrowski have a bullpen problem? Dombrowski, of course, has a track record of success wherever he’s gone throughout the course of his lengthy career (and indeed has helped this year’s Boston team to a stunningly successful campaign). But whether by shortcomings or simply coincidence, the current Red Sox and former Tigers GM has had to answer for poor bullpen production from both of those teams. Notably, Sarris points out that Boston’s bullpen ranks in the bottom 20% of all MLB teams since the club did not acquire a reliever at the August deadline. Of course, it should be noted that one of his first moves as the club’s GM was to acquire Craig Kimbrel, who’s been a fantastic success. And it’s not as though Dombrowski hasn’t made other key moves in the past couple of years to acquire bullpen help; Carson Smith and Tyler Thornburg were headline acquisitions but simply haven’t worked out as fans may have hoped. Overall, Sarris’ piece is quite interesting, and comes with the added benefit of a player-by-player breakdown of the club’s relief corps.
  • Also for The Athletic, Chad Jennings writes about how three infielders in the Red Sox organization have helped shape expectations about second basemen. Brandon Phillips, Ian Kinsler and Dustin Pedroia have all enjoyed paramount success throughout their careers. “We’re all different in our own ways,” Phillips said. “We’re all productive, and the way we approach the game, we all went out there, and we swung that bat. That’s what we do. We swung the bat.” The piece provides some entertaining insight into the pasts of these three players, and is well worth a read in its entirety, particularly for Red Sox fans.

Yankees Select Contract Of George Kontos, Place CC Sabathia On DL

By | at

4:00pm: The Yankees announced that they’ve selected Kontos’ contract and placed lefty CC Sabathia on the 10-day disabled list due to inflammation in his right knee. Jordan Montgomery, who underwent Tommy John surgery earlier this year, was moved to the 60-day DL to open a roster spot for Kontos. Additionally, the Yankees recalled Ronald Torreyes from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre and optioned Luke Voit to Triple-A in his place.

It’s not yet clear who’ll step into Sabathia’s rotation spot, although right-handers Sonny Gray and Chance Adams would appear to be the likeliest choices. Gray was recently demoted to a bullpen role after struggling for much of the season, while Adams made his MLB debut and struggled in a spot start earlier this month.

2:55pm: The Yankees have selected the contract of right-hander George Kontos, tweets George A. King III of the New York Post. A corresponding move has yet to be announced, but Lindsey Adler of The Athletic tweets that Kontos is already in the clubhouse, so a corresponding move should be revealed in short order.

It’s a full-circle promotion for Kontos, whom the Yankees drafted in the fifth round back in 2006. Kontos was taken by the Padres in the 2010 Rule 5 Draft but returned to the Yanks before appearing in the Majors, and he ultimately debuted in the Bronx during the 2011 season. However, Kontos only totaled six innings in pinstripes, as the Yankees flipped him to the Giants in exchange for catcher Chris Stewart the following April.

Kontos went on to cement himself as a quality bullpen option in San Francisco over the next six seasons, working to a 3.05 ERA with 7.3 K/9 against 2.6 BB/9 in 309 innings as a Giant before being somewhat surprisingly let go on waivers last summer. The Pirates picked him up at that point and enjoyed 14 2/3 quality innings out of Kontos down the stretch in 2017 (1.84 ERA), but his strikeout rate, swinging-strike rate and velocity cratered in Pittsburgh earlier this season, leading him to eventually be designated for assignment. Kontos had a stop in the Indians organization as well but was recently flipped to the Yankees in exchange for cash considerations.

All in all, Kontos returns to the Yankees organization with a career 3.12 ERA, 7.2 K/9, 2.6 BB/9, 0.96 HR/9 and a 43.6 percent ground-ball rate in 355 2/3 innings at the big league level. He’ll presumably slide into a middle-relief role, though given the general depth of the New York bullpen, it’s far from a guarantee that he’s ticketed for a lengthy stint in the Bronx.

CC Sabathia Hopes To Pitch In 2019

By | at

Yankees left-hander C.C. Sabathia indicated earlier this season that this could be the last year of his career, but now he seems likely to return in 2019. Sabathia recently told Jon Paul Morosi of MLB.com that he aims to play next year, health permitting.

“I’m [going] start to start,” Sabathia said. “I go out one start and feel like I can pitch five more years. I go out another start and I’m [feeling] done. But if I can stay healthy — if my knee holds up — hopefully I’ll play one more.”

It’s not a given that the big-bodied Sabathia’s knee will continue to cooperate, given that he dealt with serious troubles in that area as recently as last year. The pain in Sabathia’s right knee was so acute last summer that he nearly retired, in fact, before receiving a painkilling injection that helped him finish the season. His ongoing presence was a major positive for the Yankees, whom he helped pitch to the ALCS before they lost in seven games to the eventual world champion Astros.

Thanks in part to Sabathia’s strong finish in 2017, the Yankees re-signed the then-free agent to a one-year, $10MM guarantee in the offseason. The 38-year-old (his birthday is today) has been more than worth the investment so far in his 10th season with the Yankees, having pitched to a 3.51 ERA with 6.93 K/9, 2.61 BB/9 and a 45.3 percent groundball rate through 100 innings (18 starts). Although ERA estimators such as FIP (4.55), xFIP (4.52) and SIERA (4.45) haven’t been enamored of Sabathia’s work, it’s worth pointing out he has managed to defy severe regression by serving as a soft contact artist. Among qualified pitchers, only Milwaukee’s Brent Suter has induced a lower average exit velocity against than Sabathia’s 84.5 mph, per Statcast (via Baseball Savant), which also shows little difference between his wOBA allowed (.316) and xwOBA (.306).

Based on Sabathia’s performance, it seems the Yankees would have interest in retaining him beyond this season if he remains healthy. It’s unclear whether the Yankees will acquire a controllable starter this summer or during the winter, but even if they do, they’d likely still have room for an effective Sabathia in their rotation. He’s arguably New York’s second-best starter right now, after all, trailing ace Luis Severino. The club also has the home run-prone Masahiro Tanaka and the much-maligned Sonny Gray under wraps past this season. Beyond that, there are plenty of unproven young arms in the fold, with the highly touted Justus Sheffield, the struggling Domingo German and the currently injured Jonathan Loaisiga among them.

At the very least, Sabathia’s a superior option to each member of that group at the moment, and returning in 2019 could help him further his Hall of Fame case. The former ace, who was previously with the Indians and Brewers, owns a 3.70 ERA in 3,417 innings and ranks 36th all-time in pitcher fWAR (66.3), 53rd in wins (243) and 55th in pitcher rWAR (61.0).

AL East Notes: Machado, Sabathia, Blue Jays

By | at

With the Orioles having failed to extend Manny Machado in the past, the shortstop noted this weekend (via Peter Schmuck of the Baltimore Sun) that “they never reached out and showed that appreciation like the Angels did to (Mike) Trout. It was a totally different situation.” Machado was referring to the Angels’ decision in 2014 to give the then-22-year-old Trout a six-year, $144.5MM extension – one that canceled out three arbitration-eligible seasons and three free-agent years. Now, Machado says he’s “grateful” he’ll hit free agency this offseason at the age of 26. So, while the Orioles are all but guaranteed to trade Machado to a contender in the next few months, it doesn’t sound as if his next employer will have a legitimate chance to prevent him from reaching the open market with a new contract. Of course, given that Machado is in line to sign one of the majors’ richest deals ever, it’s no surprise he’s eager to test the open market.

Here’s more on a couple other AL East teams:

  • Left-hander CC Sabathia suggested last month that he’d retire at year’s end if the Yankees were to win the World Series. But the 37-year-old now seems more open to returning in 2019 even if the Yankees aren’t the last team standing this season. “If we win the World Series and I pitch well and I’m healthy at the end of the year, then it’s 50-50 that I come back,” Sabathia said (via Marc Carig of The Athletic; subscription required). “It’s not an absolute.” Considering how well he’s pitching, it stands to reason the Yankees would welcome back a healthy Sabathia next year if he decides to keep pitching. In his age 37-season, Sabathia has pitched to a 3.02 ERA/4.04 FIP in 83 1/3 innings, thanks in part to his ability to limit hard contact. Sabathia ranks third among qualified pitchers in average exit velocity against (84.2 mph).
  • The value of Blue Jays first baseman Justin Smoak’s 2019 club option has climbed from $6MM to $7MM, Shi Davidi of Sportsnet tweets. In order for that to happen, Smoak needed to accrue 950 plate appearances from 2017-18. He surpassed that figure Saturday. And Smoak’s option will go from $7MM to $8MM if he amasses 150 more PAs this year (1,100 total from 2017-18), Davidi notes. Whether his salary ends up at $7MM or $8MM, both numbers look like reasonable salaries for Smoak – who’s enjoying his second straight above-average offensive season. Although, Smoak’s .235/.359/.438 line in 315 PAs falls well short of last year’s .270/.355/.529 showing.
  • More on the Blue Jays, whose willingness to eat portions of veterans’ contracts in trades has them in a good position as the July 31 non-waiver deadline nears, Davidi observes. When Toronto sent infielder/outfielder Steve Pearce to Boston this week, it acquired infield prospect Santiago Espinal in part because it ate $1.66MM of Pearce’s remaining salary. With Pearce gone, the Jays still have several other veteran trade candidates, and paying some of their contracts would improve the team’s returns in deals. Notably, the Jays “have the support of the organization to do it,” general manager Ross Atkins said.

C.C. Sabathia Likely To Retire If Yankees Win World Series

By | at

If the Yankees win the World Series this season, C.C. Sabathia will take it as the perfect ending to his 18-year career.  “I want one more parade and pretty sure that will be it,” the veteran southpaw tells George A. King III of the New York Post.  Sabathia also added that he would’ve retired had the Yankees won last year’s World Series, rather than suffer a tough Game Seven loss to the Astros in the ALCS.

Sabathia turns 38 in July, so retirement was coming sooner rather than later for the former AL Cy Young Award winner.  Should the Yankees again fall short in the playoffs, of course, the obvious question would be if Sabathia would be willing to stick around for one more year, since New York’s contention window doesn’t seem to be closing anytime in the foreseeable future.  Health concerns will be paramount for a pitcher who has dealt with significant knee problems during his career (plus smaller but still-notable issues with his elbow, hamstring, groin, and hip), though in terms of performance, Sabathia is still a quality asset on the mound.

This late-career revival seemed unlikely at the height of Sabathia’s injury woes, when his knee injuries limited him to just 46 innings in 2014.  At the time, it seemed as if Sabathia’s career would end after his five-year, $122MM extension with the Yankees was up, though a lack of shoulder-related injuries caused his $25MM option for 2017 to vest, and he managed to return as a solid, innings-eater at the back of New York’s rotation.  He posted a 4.12 ERA, 7.4 K/9, and 2.48 K/BB rate over 495 2/3 innings from 2015-17, topping it off with a 2.37 ERA over 19 postseason frames last October.

There seemed little doubt of a reunion between Sabathia and the Yankees last winter, and sure enough, the left-hander rejoined the team on a one-year, $10MM contract.  Thus far, Sabathia actually has the lowest ERA (1.39) of any New York hurler with more than two innings pitched, though he has received quite a bit of BABIP (.211) and strand rate (81.4%) luck thus far.  Even ERA predictors, however, still paint a respectable picture (3.60 FIP, 4.42 xFIP, 4.20 SIERA) of the veteran’s performance this season.  Sabathia’s strong start has been particularly helpful for a Yankees rotation that has seen Sonny Gray struggle badly, and Jordan Montgomery head to the DL with a flexor strain.

Yankees Place C.C. Sabathia, Brandon Drury On 10-Day DL

By | at

The Yankees have placed left-hander C.C. Sabathia and infielder Brandon Drury on the 10-day disabled list, the team announced.  Sabathia has been sidelined with a right hip strain, while Drury is suffering from severe migraines.  Right-handers Domingo German and Luis Cessa were recalled from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre in corresponding moves.  Righty Jonathan Holder was also optioned to Scranton/Wilkes-Barre to create more 25-man roster space for infielder Jace Peterson, who has been signed to a Major League contract and selected from Triple-A.

Some roster-shuffling was expected in the wake of the Yankees’ 14-inning marathon with the Orioles on Friday, particularly since the two teams have a quick turn-around for this afternoon’s 12:05PM CT start.  Cessa and German will provide some fresh arms to a New York bullpen that had to work 10 innings last night after Sabathia’s start was limited to just four innings due to his injury.

He told reporters (including MLB.com’s Bryan Hoch) that “It was sore, and I never felt that spot before, ever, throwing a baseball.”  An MRI revealed no serious damage, however, and since the Yankees are off on Monday, Sabathia could end up missing just one start if he spends only the minimum 10 days on the DL.  Given Sabathia’s lengthy injury history, the DL placement could be something of a precautionary move on New York’s part, particularly since a roster spot was needed for an extra reliever.

Drury also had an early exit from last night’s game, leaving in the sixth inning due to migraines and impaired vision.  Such injuries are often difficult to attach to a timeframe, though it’s possible Drury could also be facing a minimal DL stint.

The Yankees have been hit hard by injuries in the early going, with Sabathia and Drury joining Greg Bird, Aaron Hicks, Jacoby Ellsbury, Clint Frazier, Ben Heller, and Billy McKinney on an already-crowded disabled list.  If that array of names wasn’t lengthy enough, Gary Sanchez and Tyler Wade also left Friday’s game due to a calf cramp and flu-like symptoms, respectively, though there isn’t yet any word on their status.  Sanchez obviously wasn’t going to start today anyway after catching 13-plus innings yesterday, though Austin Romine is the only other available catcher on New York’s active roster.

Cessa or German could potentially make a spot start in Sabathia’s place, while Drury’s spot will be filled more directly by Peterson, who originally signed a minor league deal with the Yankees in January.  That original minors pact would have guaranteed Peterson $900K if he reached the big leagues (it’s fair to assume that his new MLB contract contains similar terms).  The four-year veteran has a .234/.319/.331 slash line over 1278 career plate appearances with the Padres and Braves.  Peterson’s left-handed bat allows him to platoon with righty-swingers Ronald Torreyes and Miguel Andujar at third base, plus he could also see some action at second base depending on Wade’s status.

Yankees Re-Sign CC Sabathia

By | at

The Yankees have officially agreed to terms with left-hander CC Sabathia on a one-year contract worth a reported $10MM. Sabathia, a client of Roc Nation Sports, can also earn $500K apiece upon reaching 155, 165, 175, and 185 innings. He will have full no-trade protection by operation of ten-and-five rights.

CC Sabathia

Sabathia has spent the past nine seasons with the Yankees, and he’ll return to a rotation that also includes Luis Severino, Masahiro Tanaka, Sonny Gray and Jordan Montgomery. It’s not a surprise that he’s returning to the Bronx; MLBTR predicted he’d re-sign with the Bombers, and Joel Sherman of the NY Post reports (via Sabathia’s agent, Kyle Thousand) that the Yankees “always wanted Sabathia back and he did not want to leave.” He also mentions that the Yankees would like to add one more starter, likely through a trade. Sherman adds in a subsequent tweet that while there were competitive offers for the lefty that made Sabathia take his time, he feels there is “unfinished business to attend to” with the Yanks.

[Related: Updated New York Yankees depth chart]

Sabathia had a respectable 2017 campaign, posting a 3.69 ERA that was his best mark since 2012. He induced soft contact off the bats of opposing hitters 24.1% of the time while posting a 2.40 K/BB ratio and 49.9% ground ball rate. Sabathia’s solid 2017 performance continued into the postseason, where he allowed just five earned runs in 19 innings across four starts, striking out a batter per inning. Perhaps some of his success this past season can be attributed to less exposure to hitters the third time through the order; Sabathia averaged fewer than 5 2/3 innings per start during the regular season and below 5 during the playoffs.

Sabathia was a first round pick of the Indians all the way back in 1998. He was excellent in his seven full seasons for Cleveland, including his Cy Young-winning performance in 2007. The Indians traded their prized lefty to the Brewers in 2008 in exchange for Matt LaPorta, Rob Bryson and a player-to-be-named-later that ended up being Michael Brantley. He hit the open market following an excellent stretch run in Milwaukee and signed a then-record-setting seven-year, $161MM pact with the Yankees, and has called New York his home ever since (he signed an extension with the club back in October of 2011). His five excellent starts in the 2009 postseason went a long way in helping the Bombers win a world championship that year; he managed a sparkling 1.98 ERA across 36 1/3 innings.

Mark Feinsand of MLB.com (Twitter links) reported the agreement. Jon Heyman of Fan Rag added details on the incentives (via Twitter). 

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Pitching Market Chatter: Phils, Yanks, Greinke, Cole, Archer, Duffy, CC, Jays

By and | at

With a pair of relief signings being wrapped up, the Phillies seem to feel good about that aspect of their roster. Per MLB.com’s Todd Zolecki, via Twitter, the team will turn its gaze to improving the rotation. Both they and the Yankees checked in with the Diamondbacks regarding right-hander Zack Greinke, Robert Murray of FanRag writes. Greinke ending up with either club is unlikely, however, sources informed Murray. With the Rangers also having shown interest in Greinke, we now know at least three teams have inquired about the expensive 34-year-old this offseason.

Greinke is the latest hurler to land on the radar of the Yankees, who have also eyed Pirates righty Gerrit Cole. Consequently, the Bucs “are gathering names of young, controllable” Yankees they could acquire in a Cole deal, though there’s “nothing close,” Bill Brink of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports (on Twitter). Notably, Brink adds that the Yankees are also “looking at” Rays righty Chris Archer. The 29-year-old has drawn significant interest this winter, but it’s unclear whether the Rays will move him.

Plenty more pitching rumors…

  • The Royals are giving serious consideration to dealing southpaw Danny Duffy, who’s “extremely popular” on the trade market, Jon Heyman of FanRag tweets. Duffy suggested on Twitter that he doesn’t want to go anywhere, for what it’s worth. “Bury me a Royal,” he declared.
  • As the Blue Jays look for pitching reinforcements, they are giving real consideration to veteran CC Sabathia, as Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet.ca writes. Though manager John Gibbons suggested his own priority is to add bats, he also said he’d welcome the addition of the veteran Sabathia — who has a lengthy history with the Jays’ current front office leadership stemming from their time in Cleveland together.
  • Teams have given up on trying to acquire Reds closer Raisel Iglesias, Heyman reports on Twitter. The Reds understandably want an enormous haul back for the 27-year-old star, who’s under affordable control for the foreseeable future.
  • The Twins and Rays have chatted about veteran righty Jake Odorizzi, per Mike Berardino of the St. Paul Pioneer-Press (via Twitter), who adds that Tampa Bay was not interested in Minnesota’s initial offer.
  • Although they’re at the beginning of a full, cost-cutting rebuild, the Marlins aren’t feeling any urgency to deal righty Dan Straily, per Joe Frisaro of MLB.com (Twitter link). Miami’s de facto ace will play his first of three arbitration-eligible seasons in 2018. He’s projected to earn a $4.6MM salary, which even the Marlins can afford.
  • The Mets are not likely to sign another free agent reliever, at least in the near term, according to GM Sandy Alderson and as MLB.com’s Anthony DiComo tweets. Instead, after landing Anthony Swarzak, the organization expects to begin looking to fill its other needs.
  • Brewers GM David Stearns discussed his organization’s situation with reporters including MLB.com’s Adam McCalvy (Twitter links). He said the team was willing to go to two years to get Swarzak, but wasn’t willing to match the dollar amount he ultimately took. The club still has open payroll capacity, which Stearns says he’ll put to good use. “We have spending power this offseason,” he said. “I’m confident we are going to find places to use that effectively.”
  • Before the Astros agreed to a deal with Joe Smith on Wednesday, Brian McTaggart of MLB.com hinted on Twitter that the team could have interest in free agent righty Hector Rondon. Whether that still stands remains to be seen, but the Astros are already chock-full of righty relievers as it is.

AL East Notes: Sabathia, JDM, Frazier, Orioles

By | at

The Blue Jays met with C.C. Sabathia today, George A. King III of the New York Post reports (via Twitter).  Toronto joins the Yankees and Angels as teams that have checked in on Sabathia to bolster the back of their rotations, eating innings and still delivering effective results at age 37.  The Jays have a lot of uncertainty with the fifth spot in their rotation, and maybe even beyond that given the blister and fingernail problems that plagued Aaron Sanchez last season.  There was some good news on that front today, however, as Sportsnet.ca’s Shi Davidi reports that Sanchez played catch for the first time in three months and reported no issues with his finger.

More from the AL East…

  • The Red Sox are focusing 90 percent of their offseason attention on J.D. Martinez, a source tells NBC Sports Boston’s Evan Drellich.  Martinez has been heavily rumored as a top Sox target, given his past ties to Dave Dombrowski, the lack of qualifying offer compensation tied to his signing, and the simple fact that he is the best power hitter on the market this winter.  Dombrowski told reporters (including the Boston Globe’s Nick Cafardo) today that he had a specific name in mind to bolster the middle of Boston’s lineup, though no hints were given.
  • After Chase Headley was dealt earlier today, speculation immediately arose that the Yankees could look to re-sign Todd Frazier.  MLB.com’s Bryan Hoch reported that Yankees GM Brian Cashman has been speaking with Frazier’s agent, though things don’t “appear hot at the moment” between the two sides, as per FanRag Sports’ Jon Heyman.  As the New York Post’s Joel Sherman observes, one of the stumbling blocks is that Frazier is naturally looking for a multi-year deal, whereas the Yankees don’t want to lock up third base with prospect Miguel Andujar in the fold and a possible pursuit of Manny Machado coming next winter.
  • The Orioles are getting interest in outfield prospects Austin Hays, Cedric Mullins and DJ Stewart, executive VP Dan Duquette told MASNsports.com’s Steve Melewski.  It isn’t known if the O’s are open to dealing any of these youngsters, though Duquette did say that “in our quest for pitching we have found that clubs like our outfielders,” which at least seems to hint that other clubs could be offering the Orioles some much-needed arms for the prospects.  Of the trio, it would surprising to see Hays dealt for anything less than a big return, as he is considered the top prospect in Baltimore’s system and would become a contributor at the MLB level as early as next season.

Angels Held Talks With C.C. Sabathia

By | at

The Angels have spoken to free agent hurler C.C. Sabathia, George A. King III of the New York Post reports (Twitter link).  The Halos made one big rotation addition earlier this week by landing Shohei Ohtani, but Sabathia would bring more veteran stability to a pitching staff that is full of question marks after two injury-ravaged seasons.

Of course, Sabathia himself comes with significant health questions, as it wasn’t long ago that it seemed as if the southpaw’s persistent right knee problems were threatening to end his career.  Despite this lingering injury and other DL stints for hamstring and groin issues over the last two years, Sabathia enjoyed a late-career resurgence as a productive innings-eater at the back of the Yankees’ rotation.  Sabathia posted a 3.81 ERA, 7.5 K/9 and 2.37 K/BB rate over 328 1/3 innings in 2016-17, accumulating 4.5 fWAR over that stretch.

The Yankees were also recently in touch with Sabathia, who has previously stated that he would prefer to remain in the Bronx.  That desire probably only grew stronger in the wake of the Yankees’ acquisition of Giancarlo Stanton, though with the team now boasting an outfielder surplus to go with their wealth of prospects, New York has the means to acquire a starter with more long-term potential than Sabathia if it chooses.

If Sabathia did choose to return to his home state of California, he’d join an Angels rotation that includes Ohtani, Garrett Richards, Matt Shoemaker, Tyler Skaggs and a wealth of other candidates like Andrew Heaney, J.C. Ramirez, Nick Tropeano, or Parker Bridwell.  Any of the latter group of arms could be Triple-A starting depth or moved to the bullpen to fill the Angels’ need for multi-inning relief options.

MLB Trade Rumors is not affiliated with Major League Baseball, MLB or MLB.com

hide arrowsFOX Sports Engage Network scroll to top