Angels Sign Alex Claudio
The Angels have signed left-hander Alex Claudio to a one-year deal worth $1.125MM, the club announced. Claudio hit the open market after he was non-tendered by the Brewers earlier this month.
Between this signing and the Angels’ acquisition of Raisel Iglesias, the bullpen has been an early focus for newly-hired general manager Perry Minasian. Left-handed relief was a particular need for the team, and that need that now been addressed with Claudio, who has held left-handed batters to a minuscule .202/.246/.310 slash line over 487 plate appearances during his career.
Claudio, who turns 29 next month, is a groundball specialist who doesn’t miss a lot of bats, as evidenced by his career 60.6% grounder rate and 6.27 K/9. Something of a lefty specialist over his career, Claudio adjusted reasonably well to the three-batter rule last season, as he limited righty batters to a .268/.348/.390 slash line. The increased exposure to right-handed hitters could explain why Claudio’s grounder rate dropped to only 46.6% over 19 innings last season, though that could also just be an anomaly of the 2020 season’s small sample size.
Lacking the big velocity or strikeout totals of most relievers, Claudio was non-tendered by Milwaukee in each of the last two offseasons (he was projected to earn between $2MM-$2.3MM in arbitration this winter), despite some pretty solid numbers throughout his career. Over 311 2/3 innings for the Rangers and Brewers since the start of the 2014 season, Claudio has a 3.44 ERA, and he has also been one of the sport’s most durable relievers in recent years. Claudio amassed 213 innings over 219 appearances in 2017-19, including a league-high 83 games pitched in 2019.
Quick Hits: Suzuki, Angels, Diamondbacks, Cubs
The Angels are interested in free agent catcher Kurt Suzuki, reports Ken Rosenthal of the Athletic. Los Angeles was in on James McCann before he agreed to terms with the Mets, and it seems the front office is still looking to add to the position. The 37-year-old Suzuki has been an average or better hitter for four consecutive seasons, putting up a cumulative .272/.337/.475 line since the start of 2017. That has helped to offset his subpar pitch framing and arm behind the plate. Suzuki spent the 2017-18 seasons with the Braves; new Angels GM Perry Minasian was in the Atlanta front office for the second of those years. Currently, Max Stassi and Anthony Bemboom stand as the only backstops on the Angels’ 40-man roster.
Some more from around the sport:
- Also from Rosenthal, the Diamondbacks are prioritizing bullpen help and are in the market for a right-handed hitting outfielder. That lines up rather directly with the types of players Arizona sold off at last summer’s trade deadline. Starling Marté, Archie Bradley and Andrew Chafin were all sent elsewhere after the D-Backs fell out of the playoff picture. (Bradley and Chafin are now free agents, so nothing prohibits the Arizona front office from pursuing reunions with either player if they’re so inclined). After doling out multi-year deals for Madison Bumgarner, Nick Ahmed and David Peralta last offseason, Arizona doesn’t figure to play at the top of the market this winter, Rosenthal feels. That probably rules out a Liam Hendriks pursuit, but there are plenty of lower-cost relievers available on the open market.
- Unsurprisingly, the Cubs are looking to add starting pitching this offseason, president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer told reporters (including Sahadev Sharma of the Athletic). There are some question marks behind Yu Darvish and Kyle Hendricks in the rotation. Alec Mills, Adbert Alzolay and Colin Rea are among a handful of in-house options who could help fill out the back end, but there’s obvious room for an addition or two. Hoyer also pointed out the uncertainty involved with relying on the same five-man rotation throughout 2021 after pitchers’ workloads were curtailed during this past shortened season. Many teams have to rely on eight to ten starters to weather underperformance and/or injuries in a normal season. A 162-game season next year would present its own unique set of workload challenges on top of that typical attrition.
Angels Notes: Watson, Royals, McCann, Rojas
Gene Watson is leaving the Royals for the Angels’ front office, ESPN.com’s Jeff Passan reports (Twitter link). Watson will be a special advisor to new Angels GM Perry Minasian, according to Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register, and The Athletic’s Fabian Ardaya recently chronicled Watson’s longstanding ties to Minasian dating back to Minasian’s childhood.
Watson has spent the last 14 seasons with the Royals, the last three as the team’s senior director of pro scouting and a special assistant to GM Dayton Moore. Watson previously worked as a scout with the Padres, Braves, and Marlins before coming to Kansas City, and his long career as a respected evaluator put him on the radar for general manager openings in the past. Of greatest relevance, Watson interviewed for the Angels’ job before Minasian was hired, and Watson also spoke with the Astros about their GM vacancy last offseason.
More from Anaheim…
- The Angels were known to be suitors for James McCann, who reached an agreement with the Mets today on a four-year deal worth over $40MM. According to Maria Torres of the Los Angeles Times, the Angels weren’t willing to offer McCann more than a three-year contract. Given the large amount of interest McCann was generating in the free agent market, it would be interesting to know if any other teams besides the Mets went beyond a three-year offer, or if it was indeed the fourth year that clinched the signing for New York. It remains to be seen if the Angels will pursue another catcher or if their interest in the position was limited to McCann — in regards to J.T. Realmuto, Torres figures the Halos will spend on pitching rather than direct resources towards a nine-figure deal for Realmuto’s services.
- Longtime Angels broadcaster Victor Rojas was the most surprising name to interview for the team’s GM position, and Rojas discussed his candidacy with Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times. Previously a minor leaguer in the Angels farm system in 1990, the GM of the independent Newark Bears for two seasons, and the son of former big leaguer Cookie Rojas, the younger Rojas carried a unique resume to go along with his 11 years of calling Angels games on television. The interview stemmed from a lengthy memo Rojas wrote after the season detailing how he would address various issues within the organization since, as he told Shaikin, “as an Angels fan, I was getting a little frustrated.”
Reds Trade Raisel Iglesias To Angels
DEC. 10: Infielder Leo Rivas is the PTBNL headed to the Reds, the Angels announced. The 23-year-old Rivas ranked as the Angels’ 25th-best prospect at MLB.com, which writes that the switch hitter has consistently “shown the ability to get on base, run and defend” throughout his minor league career. He owns a .252/.380/.362 line with 87 stolen bases in 1728 plate appearances in the minors. Rivas reached the High-A level in 2019. The Angels, meanwhile, are getting $900K in cash, Mark Feinsand of MLB.com tweets.
DEC. 7: In an out-of-the-blue move, the Angels have acquired closer Raisel Iglesias and cash from the Reds in exchange for right-hander Noe Ramirez and a player to be named later, per announcements from both teams.
It’s the latest indication that the Reds are looking to cut costs. In addition to their surprising decision to non-tender Archie Bradley last week, the Reds have also reportedly been open to moving right-hander Sonny Gray, who is owed two years and $20MM on his contract. Iglesias is signed for $9.125MM this coming season and will be a free agent following the 2021 season.
This is the second notable trade for the Angels under new general manager Perry Minasian, who last week acquired shortstop Jose Iglesias from the Orioles in exchange for a pair of minor league pitchers. Iglesias will give the Halos a more clearly defined closing option after non-tendering a slate of five relievers, including Hansel Robles and Keynan Middleton, last Tuesday.
Iglesias, 31 in January, has been the Reds’ primary closer for the past four seasons. He had something of a down year in 2019 but saw both his velocity and his bottom-line results rebound in 2020. This past season, Iglesias tallied 23 innings of 2.74 ERA ball with a terrific 31-to-5 K/BB ratio, eight saves and a 41.5 percent grounder rate. Since taking over the ninth inning following countryman Aroldis Chapman‘s trade to the Yankees, Iglesias has been highly effective, pitching to a combined 2.95 ERA with 100 saves, 11.0 K/9, 3.0 BB/9, 1.13 HR/9 and a 37.5 percent ground-ball rate.
A return of Ramirez and a PTBNL suggests that from the Reds’ vantage point, this move was primarily a means of jettisoning Iglesias’ salary. Ramirez is two weeks older than Iglesias with a fraction of the track record. He’s pitched to a respectable 3.76 ERA over the past two seasons but done so with more questionable peripherals and primarily in low-leverage spots. Ramirez’s fastball sat at a career-low 88.8 mph in 2020 as his K/9 mark dropped to a career-low 6.0.
To his credit, Ramirez did have a nice year in 2019, when he gave the Angels 67 2/3 innings of 3.99 ERA and 3.72 FIP ball with averages of 10.5 K/9 and 2.7 BB/9. Statcast rated him in the 75th percentile or better in terms of average exit velocity, hard-hit rate, barrel rate, curveball spin and overall swinging-strike rate. It was a solid season, to be sure, but even that career-best year pales in comparison to the best efforts put forth by Iglesias.
Perhaps the Reds are hopeful that Ramirez can regain that form, and it’s certainly worth pointing out that he’s controllable through the 2023 season. However, Ramirez looked like a non-tender candidate just one week ago, and trading an established closer of Iglesias’ stature for a low-leverage reliever in need of a rebound looks like little more than a salary dump. If the PTBNL involved in the deal proves to unexpectedly be a prospect of note, the swap might look better, but the Reds have now jettisoned Iglesias and Bradley from an already problematic bullpen.
With Iglesias out of the picture, the Reds’ projected payroll drops from closer to $130MM to a bit more than $120MM. Lefty Amir Garrett and righty Lucas Sims are the in-house favorites to assume some of Iglesias’ high-leverage spots, particularly with Michael Lorenzen expected to move into the starting rotation. The Reds could still add some arms from outside the organization, but based on their activity to this point in the winter, it doesn’t seem likely that any additions will be especially high-profile in nature.
Free Agent Notes: McCann, Angels, Yankees, Lester, Castro
It appeared earlier Wednesday that catcher James McCann would join the Mets, though an agreement hasn’t materialized yet, and they’re not the only team chasing him at the moment. Robert Murray of FanSided tweets that the Angels are still in contention for McCann, a California native who would seemingly provide an upgrade over their current backstops, Max Stassi and Anthony Bemboom. McCann was just a backup with the White Sox last season, but he logged terrific offensive numbers then and was impressive as a starter in 2019. It could take a four-year deal to land him this winter.
Some more notes on the open market…
- The Yankees haven’t shown interest in re-signing right-hander Masahiro Tanaka, Andy Martino of SNY says (video link). The team is more focused on re-signing second baseman DJ LeMahieu, but it doesn’t seem likely to dole out any other sizable contracts, according to Martino. Tanaka has been a dependable part of the Yankees’ rotation since he emigrated from Japan in 2014, but the club may pass on bringing him back and instead decide to ride with its in-house options to begin 2021. The YES Network’s Michael Kay painted a similar picture recently on his ESPN Radio show (link via NJ.com’s Randy Miller). Kay noted that LeMahieu is the team’s top priority, adding that if a deal comes together, he “might be the last big guy they get.” Reports over the past several months have indicated that the Yankees are unlikely to be aggressive spenders this winter, with LeMahieu serving as a possible exception after two brilliant years in the Bronx.
- Red Sox fans hoping to see a reunion with lefty Jon Lester don’t seem likely to get their wish, as WEEI’s Rob Bradford reports that Boston hasn’t reached out to its former ace this offseason. Right-handers Corey Kluber and Matt Shoemaker are among the names the Red Sox have contacted as they look to stabilize the back of their rotation, per Bradford. Boston also had interest in Charlie Morton before he signed with the Braves, although remaining close to his family’s Florida home was a priority for Morton.
- The Astros and Rangers are among the teams with interest in catcher Jason Castro, Jon Morosi of MLB.com tweets. Castro began his career as a member of the Astros, with whom he played from 2010-16, before joining the Twins in free agency. The 33-year-old has regularly combined passable offense with well-regarded defense (particularly as a pitch framer), though he is coming off a somewhat disappointing campaign at the plate between the Angels and Padres. If he goes back to Houston, the left-handed-hitting Castro could platoon with righty Martin Maldonado. In Texas, he would presumably team with Jose Trevino to comprise the Rangers’ top two backstops.
Blue Jays Notes: Kim, Ryu, Schwarber, Fiers
Korean infielder Ha-Seong Kim appears to be one of many possible Blue Jays targets this offseason, and another Jays star might have done a bit of recruiting, as Daniel Kim of South Korea’s KBS reports (Twitter links) that Kim and Toronto ace Hyun Jin Ryu recently had dinner. Ryu didn’t get into details of the meeting but said in an interview with KBS that he would be “happy to play on a same team with Kim.” Kim requested the meeting himself, and while it’s probably safe to assume playing for the Jays came up at some point, it’s only natural that Kim would want to speak with a veteran player who has already made the move from the KBO to the majors.
Asked about the meeting, Jays assistant GM Joe Sheehan declined to discuss specifics but told Sportsnet’s Shi Davidi (Twitter link) that Ryu “being a big player in the KBO’s history is really good.” The Jays are known to be exploring the infield market and Sheehan gave a favorable review of Kim’s KBO track record when asked by Sportsnet’s Ben Nicholson-Smith (Twitter link).
More from north of the border…
- The Jays, Angels, and Yankees all have interest in former Cubs slugger Kyle Schwarber, 670 The Score’s Bruce Levine reports. Schwarber was non-tendered by the Cubs last week following a season that saw him hit only .188/.308/.393 with 11 home runs over 224 PA. Since Schwarber is a defensively-shaky left fielder, he would seem like a curious fit for all three teams, who already have the left field and DH positions accounted for, barring a trade to open up space. Looking at Toronto specifically, there could be room for Schwarber if Vladimir Guerrero Jr. ends up spending more time at third base, though it still seems like something of an imperfect match.
- The Blue Jays also have interest in right-hander Mike Fiers, according to MLB Network’s Jon Morosi (via Twitter). Fiers posted a 4.58 ERA, 2.31 K/BB rate, and 5.64 K/9 over 59 innings with the Athletics last season. The 35-year-old has been a durable back-of-the-rotation type for much of his career, and would perhaps bring more stability (if not necessarily upside) to a Jays rotation mix that has Ryu in front of Robbie Ray, Ross Stripling, Tanner Roark, and a wealth of younger arms headlined by Nate Pearson.
Angels To Sign Jake Faria To Minor-League Contract
The Angels are set to sign right-hander Jake Faria to a minor-league deal, reports Jon Heyman of MLB Network (Twitter link). Presumably, he’ll receive an invitation to spring training.
Faria looked like a potential long-term rotation piece with the Rays back in 2017. He broke into the league with 86.2 innings of 3.43 ERA/4.12 FIP ball that season. He couldn’t build upon that success the following year, however. Faria’s strikeout and walk rates each went in the wrong direction and he struggled to a 5.40 ERA in 2018. He was bumped into a bullpen role in a 2019 season split between Tampa Bay and Milwaukee but continued to struggle. The Brewers didn’t bring him back to the majors in 2020, releasing him in September.
Recent struggles notwithstanding, there’s little risk for the Angels in giving the 27-year-old another opportunity. Throughout his MLB career, Faria has generated whiffs at nearly a league average rate. His fastball velocity ticked up from 92.2 MPH in 2018 to 93.7 MPH the following season thanks to his bullpen conversion. Faria could plausibly compete for a job as a starter or as a reliever for a Los Angeles club perennially on the hunt for pitching. There’s not a ton of certainty behind Dylan Bundy, Andrew Heaney and Griffin Canning in the rotation. The Angels also non-tendered five relievers earlier this week, so they’ll surely be on the hunt for bullpen help this winter.
In addition to the Angels, Faria drew the attention of one of his former clubs. The Rays had interest in bringing him back on a minor-league deal. It seems a tougher road to crack the major league pitching staff in Tampa Bay, though, likely factoring into Faria’s decision to instead sign with L.A. The right-hander is also a Southern California native, and he’ll now look to return to the majors with his hometown club.
National League Non-Tenders
With revenue losses expected to result in reduced payrolls around baseball, a larger number of players than usual are expected to be let go by their current teams by tonight’s 7pm CT non-tender deadline. Some of these players could end up re-signing with their teams for salaries below what they were projected (by MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz) to earn through the arbitration process, or teams could end up simply opting to explore other options…with many of those options arriving on the market through this same non-tender process.
You can track all of the arbitration and non-tender activity here, and we’ll also run through the list of National League players who have been let go in this post.
- Southpaw Tyler Anderson was cut loose by the Giants, per MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand (via Twitter). The 30-year-old had a high-variability arbitration situation this year after turning in a solid bounceback effort in San Francisco. Anderson ended the season with 59 2/3 innings of 4.37 ERA ball, with 6.2 K/9 against 3.8 BB/9. The club also non-tendered infielder Daniel Robertson, Tim Dierkes of MLBTR tweets, as well as righties Melvin Adon and Rico Garcia, and catcher Chadwick Tromp, per Kerry Crowley of the Bay Area News Group.
Earlier Non-Tenders
- The Cardinals non-tendered righty John Brebbia and outfielder Rangel Ravelo, Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch tweets. Brebbia had played a significant role in the St. Louis pen for his first three MLB campaigns but is still recovering from mid-2020 Tommy John surgery.
- Right-handed reliever Clay Holmes has been non-tendered by the Pirates, Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette was among those to cover on Twitter. The 27-year-old hurler made it into just one MLB contest in 2020 owing to a forearm injury.
- The Marlins have decided not to tender a contract to righty Ryne Stanek, Craig Mish of Sports Grid first tweeted. He joins fellow right-hander Jose Urena in departing via non-tender. (Urena had already been designated for assignment.) Stanek, 29, struggled with the free pass in limited action this year but has been a quality, high-strikeout arm in the past and could be an interesting name to watch on the open market.
- In addition to Shreve, the Mets announced the non-tenders of righties Ariel Jurado, Paul Sewald, and Nick Tropeano.
- The Mets will not tender a contract to left-handed reliever Chasen Shreve, Robert Murray of FanSided tweets. Shreve performed reasonably well in 2020, logging a 3.96 ERA/3.99 FIP with 12.24 K/9 and 4.32 BB/9 in 25 innings, but the Mets will nonetheless move on instead of paying him around $1MM in arbitration.
- The Padres won’t tender a contract to infielder Greg Garcia, reports Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune (Twitter link). Garcia, 31, posted a woeful .200/.279/.250 batting line in 2020, albeit in a tiny sample of 71 plate appearances. In parts of two seasons with the Friars, he slashed .240/.351/.337, but the team opted not to give him a raise on last year’s $1.5MM salary.
- The Reds have non-tendered outfielder Brian Goodwin, he announced on Twitter (hat tip to Mark Sheldon of MLB.com). Goodwin, whom the Reds acquired from the Angels over the summer, slashed .215/.299/.417 with six home runs and five stolen bases over 164 plate appearances between the teams in 2020. He was due to earn a projected $2.7MM to $3.6MM in arbitration.
- The Cubs have told Jose Martinez he isn’t being tendered a contract, ESPN.com’s Jesse Rogers reports (Twitter link). Acquired from the Rays in a deadline deal, Martinez went hitless over 22 plate appearances with Chicago, only reaching base once on a walk. The 32-year-old mashed for the Cardinals from 2016-18, but delivered closer to league-average production in 2019 with St. Louis and with the Rays last season prior to the trade.
Angels Non-Tender Hansel Robles, 4 Others
The Angels have elected not to tender contracts to five players, as Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times reported on Twitter and the club has since announced. Former closer Hansel Robles is the biggest name of the bunch.
Beyond Robles, the Halos dropped a bevy of other hurlers. Southpaw Hoby Milner joins righties Justin Anderson, Matt Andriese, and Keynan Middleton on their way out the door. (Maria Torres of the Los Angeles Times had the first word on Middleton.)
The 30-year-old Robles had provided the Angels with a lot of good innings since arriving in the middle of the 2019 season, but things fell apart in 2020. In his 18 appearances, Robles surrendered 19 earned runs while carrying a 20:10 K/BB ratio and coughing up four long balls.
Middleton, 27, also closed out some games for the Angels earlier in his career. He once seemed like a potential bullpen stalwart, but injuries limited him quite a bit in recent seasons. In the just-completed campaign, he showed that he still has the physical capability of throwing a high-velo, high-spin heater but gave up seven earned runs in a dozen innings of work.
Both Milner and Andriese had their share of opportunities this past season, but didn’t deliver the desired results. The former has still not reached arbitration eligibility, while the latter had projected to earn a reasonably substantial salary. Anderson underwent Tommy John surgery in the middle of the 2020 campaign, so this move came as little surprise.
Angels Acquire Jose Iglesias
The Angels have a new shortstop, as they’ve acquired veteran Jose Iglesias from the Orioles in exchange for minor league right-handers Garrett Stallings and Jean Pinto, per announcements from both clubs. It’s the second straight winter with a notable trade between the two teams. The Halos acquired Dylan Bundy from the O’s last winter.
It’s something of a surprising move — one that rather definitively closes the door on a reunion between the Halos and free-agent shortstop Andrelton Simmons (though most expected Simmons to land elsewhere anyhow). Baltimore general manager Mike Elias has previously spoken of Iglesias’ importance to the roster, calling him a “perfect fit for what we need right now” (link via Nathan Ruiz of the Baltimore Sun). Elias said it was an easy decision to pick up the $3.5MM club option on Iglesias for the 2021 season, although the Orioles waited until the last minute to formally make said decision.
Iglesias, 31 next month, may not be the generational defender that Simmons is, but he’s long been regarded as one of the game’s premier defenders at the position. The knock against him has typically been his offense (or lack thereof), but he flipped the narrative in 2020 by slashing .373/.400/.556 with three homers and 17 doubles. Iglesias shouldn’t be expected to repeat that production, as he benefited greatly from a .407 average on balls in play while landing in just the 12th and 36th percentiles, respectively, in average exit velocity and hard-hit rate.
That said, Iglesias still has some value at the dish. The 2020 season was actually the third of his career in which he’s batted .300 or better, and he’s been one of the more difficult hitters in the game to strike out since making his MLB debut back in 2011. He lacks any real power and doesn’t draw many walks, which often leads to a rather “empty” batting average, but those bat-to-ball skills do allow him to get on base at a respectable clip (career .319).
Iglesias’ BABIP-fueled surge was well-timed, as he wasn’t able to play much at shortstop in 2020 owing to a nagging quadriceps injury that limited his mobility. Assuming he’s healthy in 2021, he’ll give the Angels a shortstop who’s posted 18 Defensive Runs Saved and a 35.4 Ultimate Zone Rating over his past 4672 innings at the shortstop position.
It’s a cost-effective means of addressing a glaring hole on the roster — one that should allow the Angels to maintain a strong infield defense. That the Halos filled such a clear need via a trade bodes poorly for this winter’s crop of free-agent shortstops, however. With Simmons hitting the market, names like Marcus Semien and Didi Gregorius were surely eyeing the Angels as a potential fit. Iglesias’ salary is light enough that the Angels could still add another shortstop and use Iglesias in a utility role, though it seems unlikely that they’d have traded away young talent to acquire a utility man with so many other options on the market. In all likelihood, Iglesias will be tabbed as the starter, leaving Gregorius, Simmons, Semien and other shortstops looking elsewhere for homes in free agency.
In Stallings and Pinto, the Orioles will add another pair of far-off pitching prospects who could add to the organization’s depth down the road. Stallings was the Angels’ fifth-round pick out of the University of Tennessee in 2019 and now slots in 26th among Orioles farmhands over at MLB.com.
Stallings has yet to pitch in a professional game because the Angels shut him down after signing him out of the draft, citing a heavy college workload. MLB.com’s report on him credits him for having a legitimate four-pitch mix, albeit without a plus offering. FanGraphs’ Eric Longenhagen tabs Stallings as a “low-variance, fifth starter prospect.” The 19-year-old Pinto has just 12 pro innings under his belt and didn’t rank inside the Angels’ 30 best prospects, nor does he land on Baltimore’s top 30 list.
Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic first reported the deal (via Twitter).