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AL West Notes: Trout, Rangers, Rodgers, Waldichuk

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Mike Trout was hitting .179/.264/.462 when a bone bruise in his left knee sent him to the injured list on May 2, but since being activated from the IL, Trout has been closer to his old superstar form in batting .287/.432/.483 over his last 183 plate appearances.  It might not be a coincidence that Trout has excelled since exclusively acting as a designated hitter since his return, as the Angels have been cautiously managing his leg health in the wake of both the bone bruise, and a variety of other leg injuries over the years.  Trout did take part in some right field drills prior to Friday’s game and came away feeling good, though he told MLB.com’s Rhett Bollinger and other reporters that the team doesn’t yet have a timetable set in regards to an in-game return to right field.

Both Trout and interim manager Ray Montgomery are eager to see Trout return to right field, with Montgomery noting that freeing up the DH spot would allow more players to get partial rest days.  Time will tell when Trout is entirely physically ready to go, though there must be some slight sense of “if it ain’t broke….” within the Angels’ decision process.  Trout has been so hammered by injuries in recent years that if regular DH duty allows him to stay in the lineup and post big numbers, the Halos surely have to be considering whether limiting Trout to just cameo appearances in the outfield could be the best course of action going forward.

More from the AL West….

  • The Rangers had interest in Kyle Finnegan when the reliever was a free agent last winter, and the club has had interest in Pirates closer David Bednar dating back to at least last season’s trade deadline, Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News writes.  These two relievers could therefore be particular names to watch as Texas looks for help at the back of its bullpen, along with a few other closer candidates that Grant cite as possible deadline candidates.  Texas is an even 49-49 entering today’s play, so it remains to be seen if the Rangers could buy or sell at the deadline.  Speculatively, a trade for Bednar would help for both this season and as a jump start on the 2026 plans, as Bednar is arbitration-controlled for one more year.  Finnegan, meanwhile, is just a rental since he signed a one-year contract with the Nationals in the offseason.
  • Brendan Rodgers suffered a concussion and a nasal fracture after a scary collision with teammate Edwin Diaz in a game with Triple-A Sugar Land yesterday.  As a result, the Astros told the Athletic’s Chandler Rome and other reporters that Rodgers has been returned from the minor league rehab assignment that only just began with yesterday’s abbreviated Triple-A outing.  Rodgers was placed on the big league 10-day IL just over a month ago due to an oblique strain, and while the start of his rehab assignment indicated that he was getting close to a return, his timeline is now completely up in the air as he deals from these new injuries.  Over 128 plate appearances for Houston, Rodgers has hit only .191/.266/.278.
  • Ken Waldichuk has reached the end of his 30-day rehab window, so the Athletics activated the southpaw from the 60-day injured list and optioned him to Triple-A Las Vegas.  Waldichuk underwent Tommy John surgery in May 2024, and he clearly isn’t yet ready for the bigs based the results during his rehab assignment.  Over 15 1/3 minor league innings, Waldichuk has struggled to a 7.63 ERA and almost as many walks (16) as strikeouts (17).  Should he get on track, Waldichuk could emerge as an option for the A’s rotation or bullpen in August.

Angels To Sign No. 2 Overall Pick Tyler Bremner

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The Angels have agreed to terms on a $7,689,525 bonus with No. 2 overall draft pick Tyler Bremner, reports Carlos Collazo of Baseball America. That’s more than $2.5MM under the slot value of that second overall pick. They’ve reallocated that chunk of savings to sign over-slot deals with third-round pick Johnny Slawinski, fifth-round pick CJ Gray and 13th-round pick Xavier Mitchell, per Collazo. Slawinski signed for a $2.4975MM bonus — nearly $1.5MM over slot. Gray’s $1.2475MM bonus clocks in $728K over slot. Mitchell’s $872,500 bonus is akin to third-round money.

Bremner, 21, was a surprise pick at No. 2. The UC Santa Barbara product was widely considered a first-round talent but projected to go later down the board. The Halos tend to lean toward polished, quick-to-the-majors college players with their top picks, however, and Bremner largely fits that bill. Plus, the savings on this pick allowed them to make sizable commitments to high school picks like Slawinski, Gray and Mitchell.

Bremner’s junior season in college ball was sharp. He pitched to a 3.49 ERA, fanned 35.6% of his opponents and walked only 6.1% of the batters he faced. FanGraphs ranked him seventh in this year’s draft class, while Bremner ranked 11th at Baseball America, 16th per The Athletic’s Keith Law and 18th both at MLB.com and at ESPN. He draws praise for a mid-90s heater with good sink and a plus changeup that’s effective against both righties and lefties. The general consensus is that he needs work on his slider or perhaps the incorporation of another new pitch, but he’s viewed as a fairly likely mid-rotation arm with the upside to develop into more than that, depending on the development of a third pitch.

Each of Slawinski, Gray and Mitchell ranked within the top 118 prospects on Baseball America’s Top 500 list and within the top 178 talents at MLB.com’s top 200. All three are prep pitchers with considerable ceilings — Slawinski and Mitchell from the left side. Slawinski had been committed to Texas A&M, while Gray was committed to NC State and Mitchell to Texas.

Draft Signings: Braves, Angels

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The Cardinals announced a deal with fifth overall pick Liam Doyle this morning. A few other notable recent draft signings (all first reported by Baseball America’s Carlos Collazo):

  • The Braves reached underslot deals with first and second round picks Tate Southisene and Alex Lodise. Southisene signed for roughly $2.62MM against a near-$4MM slot value; Lodise signed for $1.3MM, around $200K below slot. That enabled the Braves to go above slot for fourth and fifth round picks Briggs McKenzie and Conor Essenburg. McKenzie received a near-$3MM bonus that’ll be the highest in Atlanta’s class. Baseball America ranked the 6’2″ lefty as the #46 prospect in the class pre-draft, putting him more as a top of the second round talent. The Braves were able to slide him to the fourth because of the bonus money. Southisene, a right-handed hitting prep infielder, placed 43rd on BA’s rankings.
  • The Angels agreed to a $2.0772MM deal with second-rounder Chase Shores, Collazo reports. That’s essentially slot value for the #47 pick. Shores, an LSU product, is a 6’8″ right-handed pitcher who posted a 5.09 ERA over 63 2/3 innings in his draft year. He recorded 70 strikeouts and issued 31 walks. Baseball America had him 86th on their rankings, praising his fastball-slider combination but raising questions about his changeup and control. ESPN’s Kiley McDaniel had him as the #68 player in the class. Based on the Angels history, it seems likely that they’ll try to fast-track Shores to the big leagues as a reliever.

Angels Option Jack Kochanowicz

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The Angels announced they’ve optioned right-hander Jack Kochanowicz to Triple-A Salt Lake. Jake Eder is up to provide an extra bullpen arm for this weekend’s series against the Diamondbacks.

This is the first change that the Angels have made to their rotation all season. The quintet of Yusei Kikuchi, José Soriano, Tyler Anderson, Kyle Hendricks and Kochanowicz has combined to start all 93 games. That reflects both remarkable health and a lack of upper minors alternatives. Kikuchi is the only member of the starting five with a sub-4.00 ERA or an above-average strikeout rate. Soriano has allowed an even four earned runs per nine with huge ground-ball numbers. Anderson and Hendricks are soft-tossing fifth starter types.

Kochanowicz has been one of the least effective starters in MLB. He carries a 6.03 ERA with a well below-average 15.6% strikeout rate and an elevated 11% walk percentage. The 6’7″ righty is one of six pitchers with at least 15 starts while allowing over six earned runs per nine. Only Randy Vásquez, Erick Fedde and Antonio Senzatela have a worse strikeout/walk rate differential.

The 24-year-old Kochanowicz hasn’t tossed a quality start since the middle of May. He had his worst outing of the season against Texas last night. He surrendered eight runs on as many hits and three walks without escaping the third inning. He’ll spend at least the next 15 days in Triple-A unless he’s recalled in the corresponding move for an injured list placement.

Anderson, Kikuchi and Soriano are lined up for this weekend’s series. They’ll be able to reset their rotation coming out of the All-Star Break. They won’t need to tab a new fifth starter until July 22. Caden Dana and Victor Mederos are on the 40-man roster and working out of the rotation at Salt Lake. Neither is having a great season. Mederos has a better ERA with superior control, while Dana has shown slightly better swing-and-miss ability. Chase Silseth is also on the 40-man but has been on the minor league injured list since May and recently started a rehab assignment at the complex. Sam Aldegheri was just optioned back to Double-A this week.

Sam Blum of The Athletic suggests the Angels might stretch Carson Fulmer out as a starter. He worked 5 1/3 innings of long relief behind Kochanowicz last night. Fulmer had a 3.98 earned run average in 54 1/3 Triple-A frames — mostly as a reliever — before being called up this week. He owns a 5.38 ERA across 115 career big league outings. Reid Detmers has worked out of the bullpen all season, mostly one inning at a time. The Halos haven’t ruled out moving him back to the rotation at some point, but he’s their best setup option in a thin relief group. He’d also need to build back to a traditional starting workload over multiple appearances.

As explored in this afternoon’s Trade Deadline Outlook, the Angels could pursue a starter. Despite a thin roster, they’re within four games of a Wild Card spot in a cluttered American League. They’ve resisted selling at prior deadlines, so it wouldn’t be a surprise if they’re at least soft buyers while they’re within range of the playoff picture.

Trade Deadline Outlook: Los Angeles Angels

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The Angels have hung around the Wild Card mix, exceeding most expectations. Their -57 run differential is fourth-worst in the American League, but they're within two games of .500 and only three games out of a playoff spot. While this still doesn't look like a good team, they may have played well enough to convince the front office to add in hopes of snapping the game's longest active postseason drought.

Record: 45-48 (3.4% playoff odds, per FanGraphs)

Other series entries: Rockies, Giants, Phillies, Pirates, Astros, Marlins, Athletics, Orioles, White Sox, Nationals, Cubs, Rays, Dodgers, Braves, Yankees

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Potential needs: Infielder, mid-rotation starter, high-leverage relief, left-handed bat

The Angels are not going to add a full-time designated hitter, where they have Mike Trout playing every day. Zach Neto and Nolan Schanuel have shortstop and first base secured, respectively. They're probably not going to add a catcher, though they could give more frequent playing time to Travis d'Arnaud in place of the struggling Logan O'Hoppe.

Beyond that, there are a lot of different ways to deepen the position player mix. The outfield is superficially set. Taylor Ward, Jo Adell and Jorge Soler are playing every day from left to right. Ward leads the team with 21 home runs, while Adell has been on a tear lately and is the team's most productive hitter overall. Soler is having a poor season, though, and there's an arguable redundancy to the Angels' current outfield.

All three players hit right-handed (as does Trout, who will be eased back into outfield work following the All-Star break, per Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register). Each of Ward, Adell and Soler are power bats with questionable on-base skills. Adell is a below-average defensive center fielder. He's playing there out of necessity and fits better in a corner. Maybe that's not something that can be addressed this summer, but they'd ideally have a better defender in center and find room for Adell in left or right field.

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J.D. Davis Signs With NPB’s Seibu Lions

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Veteran infielder J.D. Davis has signed with the Seibu Lions of Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball, per an announcement from the club. Davis, a client of ALIGND Sports, will play out the remainder of the 2025 season in Japan.

Davis, 32, has spent the year in the Angels organization. They released him on June 30, presumably to allow him to finalize this opportunity. Davis appeared in five big league games and went 1-for-9. He’s spent the bulk of the year in Triple-A Salt Lake, slashing .294/.371/.524 with 10 homers, 11 doubles, a triple, a 10% walk rate and a 26.3% strikeout rate.

A former third-round pick of the Astros in 2014, Davis has amassed more than six years of major league service time. From 2019-23, he was a productive part-time player with the Mets and Giants, batting a combined .268/.352/.443 with 63 home runs in 1804 plate appearances. His production since that time has evaporated, albeit in minimal playing time. Davis hit just .218/.293/.336 last year in 157 plate appearances between the A’s and Yankees. He also struggled badly in 136 Triple-A plate appearances between the Orioles and A’s.

All told, Davis heads to Japan with a career .257/.339/.423 batting line in 2151 major league plate appearances. A strong showing overseas could garner him some renewed interest in the big leagues or perhaps open him up for an extension or another free-agent deal that would come with a more substantial guarantee than he could expect in North America, where he’s been relegated to minor league deals over the past calendar year.

Angels Select Carson Fulmer

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The Angels announced today that they have selected the contract of right-hander Carson Fulmer. To open an active roster spot, left-hander Sam Aldegheri has been optioned to Double-A Rocket City. Righty Hunter Strickland has been transferred to the 60-day injured list to open a 40-man spot.

Fulmer, 31, will be making his season debut when he gets into a game. He pitched for the Angels in 2023 and 2024, tossing 96 2/3 innings with an earned run average of 4.00. He struck out 20.8% of batters faced, gave out walks at a 10.5% clip and got grounders on 42.3% of balls in play.

He was outrighted off the roster at the end of the season and elected free agency. He signed a minor league deal with the Pirates and started the year in the Triple-A rotation. He didn’t have much success there, with a 5.34 ERA through six starts. He was then moved to the bullpen and tossed 14 innings with a 3.21 ERA. He was released by the Pirates and returned to the Angels on a minor league deal just over a month ago. Since then, he has tossed 11 2/3 Triple-A innings with a 1.54 ERA, giving him a combined 3.98 ERA on the year overall.

The Halos got blown out by the Rangers yesterday, eventually losing 13-1. Starter José Soriano only lasted four innings. Aldegheri came in and soaked up another two frames, but it took him 64 pitches to get those six outs. He likely wasn’t going to be available for a few days, so the Angels have brought up Fulmer as a fresh arm. Fulmer is out of options and would need to be removed from the 40-man roster if they want to bump him off the active roster at any point.

As for Strickland, he hit the 15-day IL a couple of days ago due to right shoulder inflammation. This transfer means he is ineligible to return until early September. He tells Rhett Bollinger of MLB.com that he has a significant strain but it won’t require surgery and he hopes to be back in September.

Photo courtesy of Denny Medley, Imagn Images

Nationals Sign Luis Garcia

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July 8th: The Nationals have now officially announced the signing of Garcia. Right-hander Eduardo Salazar has been optioned to Triple-A Rochester as the corresponding active roster move. Righty Trevor Williams has been transferred to the 60-day injured list to open a 40-man spot. Williams was just placed on the 15-day IL a few days ago due to an elbow sprain. It appears the Nats don’t expect him to return before September. Washington also recalled catcher Drew Millas and placed catcher Keibert Ruiz on the seven-day concussion-related IL.

July 6th: The Nationals have signed right-hander Luis Garcia to a Major League contract, the Washington Post’s Andrew Golden reports.  The deal will become official when the 38-year-old Garcia passes a physical.

It didn’t take long for Garcia to find a new landing spot, as the Dodgers only just released the veteran reliever on Friday.  Garcia signed a minor league deal with Los Angeles last winter and broke camp with the team, but his struggled during his time on the big league roster.  Garcia posted a 5.27 ERA and 12.7% walk rate over 27 1/3 innings, and spent about a month on the injured list recovering from an adductor strain.

There have been plenty of ups and downs for Garcia over his 13 MLB seasons, which isn’t surprising for a grounder specialist who relies a lot of batted-ball luck.  His most sustained stretch of success came fairly recently, as Garcia posted a 3.62 ERA, 23.4% strikeout rate, and 7.4% walk rate across 154 relief innings for the Cardinals and Padres from 2021-23.  Those results led to a one-year, $4.25MM free agent deal with the Angels during the 2023-24 offseason, and Garcia continued to pitch decently well before his production dipped after a deadline trade to the Red Sox.

Washington has one of the league’s worst bullpens, so there’s not much risk for the Nats in taking a flier to see if Garcia can bounce back from his rough showing in L.A.  If he really pitches well between now and the July 31 trade deadline, the Nationals could even look to quickly flip Garcia elsewhere for a low-level minor leaguer.

Once Garcia gets into a game with his new club, he will have pitched with eight different teams at the big league level over the course of his long career.  This is actually the second Dodgers-to-Nationals trip Garcia has taken — after beginning his career as an international prospect in Los Angeles’ farm system, the Dodgers dealt Garcia to the Nats way back in August 2009.  Garcia didn’t see any big league action during his year-plus in the Washington organization, and didn’t end up making his MLB debut until he was a 26-year-old pitching with the Phillies in 2013.  (By coincidence, Garcia pitched against the Nats in his first Major League game.)

Angels, Brandon Drury Agree To Minor League Deal

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The Angels reunited with Brandon Drury on a minor league contract last week, according to the MLB.com transaction tracker. The veteran infielder has been assigned to the Arizona Complex League. He’ll presumably head to Triple-A Salt Lake after a few tune-up games in rookie ball.

Drury’s most recent MLB action came with the Halos. The Angels signed him to a two-year, $17MM free agent deal during the 2022-23 offseason. Drury had a strong first season in Orange County, hitting .262/.306/.497 with 26 homers. His numbers plummeted in year two. Drury was one of the least productive players in MLB, posting a .169/.242/.228 slash over 97 games in 2024.

The former Silver Slugger award winner was limited to minor league offers on the heels of that disappointing showing. He landed with the White Sox and raked in Spring Training. That seemingly positioned him to break camp, but Drury broke his thumb late in March. Chicago released him before re-signing him to a minor league deal in April. Drury hit .179 in 10 Triple-A games before going on the minor league injured list on May 8. The Sox released him again a week later.

Drury has not played in more than two months. That explains the Angels’ decision to send him to the complex for a few games before he reports to Salt Lake. It’s a decent landing spot. He’s not only familiar with the organization but has a solid path to playing time if he hits the ground running once he resumes facing minor league pitching.

Christian Moore went on the injured list last week. The Halos are using Luis Rengifo and 26-year-old rookie Chad Stevens between second and third base. Yoán Moncada is on a rehab assignment at the complex and figures to resume his everyday third base role once he’s healthy. Moore hit .189 in 20 games before his injury, while Rengifo has had a terrible season. The switch-hitting Rengifo had a decent June, so perhaps he’s begun to find his stride, but he’s a poor defender who is batting .226/.268/.307 over 307 plate appearances on the year.

Angels Select Chad Stevens

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The Angels announced today that they have selected the contract of infielder Chad Stevens. He’ll take the active roster spot of infielder Christian Moore, who has been placed on the 10-day injured list due to a left thumb sprain. The 40-man roster already had a vacancy due to right-hander Héctor Neris being designated for assignment recently. The Halos also announced today that Neris has been released.

Moore just got his first big league call a few weeks ago. He has taken 64 plate appearances thus far. He has struck out in 31.3% of them but also drawn walks at a 12.5% pace and hit three home runs. He tells Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register that he hopes he’s only out of action for a couple of weeks. If that comes to pass, he might not actually miss too many games, with the All-Star break just over a week away.

For now, Stevens will draw into the club’s infield mix. Now 26, Stevens was an 11th-round pick of the Astros in 2021. He was released in May of last year and signed with the Angels. He’s never really been a top prospect but is having a good season. In 72 games for Triple-A Salt Lake this year, he has 14 home runs and a .307/.383/.542 batting line. Even in the inflated offensive environment of the Pacific Coast League, that translates to a 125 wRC+. In addition to that offense, Stevens has swiped nine bags and has lined up defensively at all four infield spots and left field.

In addition to Moore, the Angels also have Yoán Moncada, Anthony Rendon and Chris Taylor on the injured list. Zach Neto has been banged up a bit and Jorge Soler just came off the IL. Neto is playing shortstop with Luis Rengifo at third and Nolan Schanuel at first. The Halos have Stevens at second tonight and perhaps he’ll get some run there for a while, though Kevin Newman is another possibility.

As for Neris, once he was designated for assignment, it was basically assured that he would hit the open market. He has a 7.80 earned run average this year, meaning there wouldn’t be much trade interest. As a veteran with years of experience, he has the right to reject outright assignments. The Halos have skipped that formality and sent him more directly to free agency.

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