- The Angels have added lefty John Lamb and catcher Tony Sanchez on minor-league deals, per Matt Eddy of Baseball America (via Twitter). A top prospect not long ago, Lamb has changed hands a few times this winter as he has continued to deal with injury issues. Sanchez also has quite a prospect pedigree, but has failed to gain traction in the upper minors.
Angels Rumors
Angels Non-Tender Gregorio Petit, Cody Ege
- Infielder Gregorio Petit and lefty Cody Ege were non-tendered by the Angels, per a club announcement.
Albert Pujols Undergoes Foot Surgery
Angels slugger Albert Pujols has undergone surgery to “release the plantar fascia on his right foot,” according to a team press release. Per the surgeon, a return to the field may be expected in about four months — which would mean Pujols may be ready to return to action near the start of the ensuing season.
The decision to go under the knife comes as a surprise given the indications given previously, as Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register notes on Twitter. It’s certainly additionally concerning given that Pujols required surgery to address plantar fasciitis in the same foot last fall.
Despite the procedure last year, Pujols did manage to play a full season, though he was also limited to DH duties in 123 of the games in which he played — nearly doubling his previous high. The Halos do have C.J. Cron available at first, where he spent much of 2016.
The procedure raises yet more questions about Pujols, a surefire Hall-of-Famer who just doesn’t produce like he used to. While there’s still plenty of pop in the bat — he has hit 71 home runs in the past two seasons — Pujols is no longer reaching base at even an average clip; since the start of 2015, he owns a .256/.315/.469 batting line that is steadily above league average, but hardly a major boon given his increasing defensive limitations and poorly rated baserunning.
All things considered, the $140MM owed to Pujols over the next five seasons seems as onerous as any commitment in the game. Even if he’s able to stay on the field and maintain (or slightly improve upon) his recent output, that’s an enormous sum of money for the kind of player he now is, particularly given the flood of one-dimensional sluggers available for much lesser obligations on the open market.
Angels Acquire Brooks Pounders From Royals
The Royals announced that they’ve traded right-hander Brooks Pounders to the Angels in exchange for minor league righty Jared Ruxer. The move opens a spot on the Royals’ 40-man roster to make a selection in next week’s Rule 5 Draft, as MLB.com’s Jeffrey Flanagan points out (on Twitter).
Pounders, 26, made his Major League debut this season but allowed 13 runs on 19 hits and three walks in 12 2/3 innings of work. He did pick up 13 strikeouts and average 92.6 mph on his fastball, and Pounders delivered solid results in his time at the Triple-A level. In 80 1/3 innings with Kansas City’s top affiliate in Omaha (seven starts, 24 relief appearances), Pounders notched a 3.14 ERA with 10.1 K/9, 4.1 BB/9 and a 38.5 percent ground-ball rate. He’ll give the Halos a depth piece that has minor league options remaining to help out in the ’pen in the coming season.
Ruxer, meanwhile, was the Angels’ 12th-round pick in 2014. He split the 2016 season between the Class-A Midwest League and the Class-A Advanced California League, pitching to a combined 3.08 ERA with 8.0 K/9, 2.5 BB/9 and a 45.7 percent ground-ball rate in 111 innings (19 starts, 10 relief appearances). Flanagan tweets that Ruxer had Tommy John surgery in his final season at Louisville in 2014 before being drafted, but Ruxer’s solid season certainly makes it seem as though he’s recovered nicely from the injury.
Angels Sign Justin Miller
- Though we missed it at the time, it’s worth noting that the Angels reached agreement on a minor-league contract with righty Justin Miller, as Matt Eddy of Baseball America reported. The 29-year-old has thrown 88 1/3 innings over the past three seasons, with a 4.99 ERA that doesn’t inspire much hope. But he turned in a promising 2015 campaign and still managed 9.5 K/9 in his forty appearances last year with the Rockies.
Angels Had Preliminary Talks With Stephen Drew
- The Angels have had some preliminary talks with free agent second baseman Stephen Drew, reports Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register (on Twitter). They haven’t had any sort of advanced talks with Drew’s camp though, and Fletcher characterizes him as one of several possibilities that is under consideration while noting that the Halos aren’t close to anything with any second base option. Drew logged a pair of brutal seasons at the plate in 2014-15 but hit well with the Nationals in 2016 when he batted .266/.339/.524 with eight homers in a very limited role. Drew picked up just 17 plate appearances against lefties last year and received only 165 PAs on the season as a whole.
Angels Sign Ryan LaMarre, Designate Gregorio Petit
The Angels have announced the signing of a one-year, major league deal with outfielder Ryan LaMarre. He’ll receive $50K above whatever the league minimum salary ends up being, per SB Nation’s Chris Cotillo (via Twitter). The club designated infielder Gregorio Petit for assignment to clear roster space.
[RELATED: Updated Angels Depth Chart]
LaMarre, who just turned 28, saw brief action in each of the last two seasons at the major league level with the Reds and Red Sox. He quietly produced his best season as a pro at Triple-A last year with the Boston organization, batting .303/.369/.445 over 358 plate appearances.
The former second-round pick, a right-handed hitter, also swatted ten home runs and swiped 17 bases for Pawtucket. He’s capable of playing center field, increasing his function as a possible fourth outfielder.
Petit, meanwhile, saw his most extensive major league action last year with the Halos. Over 223 plate appearances, he slashed .245/.299/.348. Soon to turn 32, the journeyman has spent time at second, short, third, and (briefly) the corner outfield in parts of five MLB campaigns.
Reds Claim Juan Graterol, Gabriel Guerrero Off Waivers
The Reds have claimed catcher Juan Graterol off waivers from the Angels and claimed outfielder Gabriel Guerrero off waivers from the Diamondbacks, the team announced today. In order to clear room on the 40-man roster, the Reds have designated right-hander Keyvius Sampson and catcher Ramon Cabrera for assignment.
The 22-year-old Guerrero is the nephew of former Major League superstar Vladimir Guerrero and long rated as one of the top prospects in the Mariners’ system before being traded to Arizona in last year’s Mark Trumbo/Welington Castillo trade. Guerrero posted strong numbers as recently as 2014 in Class-A Advanced — .307/.347/.467 with 18 homers and 18 steals in 530 plate appearances — but his production has plummeted upon reaching the upper levels of the minors. He hit just .223/.258/.346 between his two organizations’ Double-A affiliates in 2015 and struggled similarly this year, hitting .234/.281/.383 between Double-A and Triple-A.
Graterol, 27, made his Major League debut and tallied 15 PAs with the Halos this past season. The former Royals farmhand spent the 2015 season in the Yankees organization before inking a minors pact with the Halos last offseason. He’s a career .274/.306/.338 hitter in parts of three seasons (95 games) at the Triple-A level and has halted stolen base attempts at a very strong 38 percent clip in the minors. Baseball Prospectus gives him average pitch-framing grades in the minors as well.
Sampson, 25, pitched 39 1/3 innings with the Reds this year across 18 games — two starts, 16 relief appearances — and logged a 4.35 ERA with 9.6 K/9 against 6.2 BB/9. Control has long been an issue for Sampson, who has walked 53 men, hit two batters and also rattled off seven wild pitches in his 91 2/3 big league innings. The former Padres farmhand pitched well in the minors up through Double-A but began to struggle at Triple-A (5.18 ERA in 231 innings) and clearly hasn’t fared much better in the Majors, where he owns a collective 5.60 ERA.
Cabrera, meanwhile, made his big league debut with the Reds in 2015 and played in a career-high 61 games for Cincinnati this season. The 27-year-old received 185 plate appearances due largely to the season-ending injury sustained by Devin Mesoraco and batted .246/.279/.357 with three homers and 10 doubles. He’s a lifetime .274/.327/.343 hitter at the Triple-A level and could end up elsewhere on waivers, though he’s never excelled at throwing out runners (23 percent in the minors) and draws routinely negative framing marks. From that standpoint, it’s not difficult to see why the Reds felt that Graterol was a superior option to function as the third catcher on their 40-man roster, behind Mesoraco and Tucker Barnhart.
Angels Discussed Signing Sean Rodriguez
- The Angels discussed signing Sean Rodriguez before the utilityman agreed to a deal with the Braves yesterday, Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register reports (Twitter link). Fletcher isn’t sure whether the Halos had serious interest or were just considering all options. Rodriguez could have stepped right in to fill the Angels’ hole at second base, or potentially taken over third base if Yunel Escobar had been switched to second. Besides the Halos, the Dodgers, Pirates and Blue Jays were also known to have interest in the versatile Rodriguez.
Brewers Claim Blake Parker, Designate David Goforth
The Brewers have announced that they’ve claimed reliever Blake Parker off waivers from the Angels, who designated him for assignment last weekend. To clear space on their 40-man roster, they’ve designated fellow righty David Goforth for assignment.
The 32-year-old Parker has been a fixture in the transactions pages recently — he began the 2016 season with the Mariners, then headed to the Yankees and then Angels via waiver claims. He hasn’t pitched more than 21 innings in the big leagues in a season since 2013 with the Cubs, but it’s easy to see why a variety of teams have shown interest in him, since he posted an outstanding 2.72 ERA, 12.7 K/9 and 2.5 BB/9 in 39 2/3 innings with Triple-A Tacoma in 2016. He also pitched 17 1/3 innings in the big leagues, posting a 4.67 ERA, 7.8 K/9 and 4.7 BB/9 while registering an average fastball velocity of 92.2 MPH. As the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel’s Tom Haudricourt tweets, Brewers pitching coach Derek Johnson is likely quite familiar with Parker, since Johnson was the Cubs’ minor league pitching coordinator for several years while Parker pitched in the Cubs’ system.
The 28-year-old Goforth struggled in both Triple-A and the big leagues in 2016, allowing 14 runs in 10 2/3 innings in the Brewers bullpen. He held his own in the Majors in his rookie season in 2015, but has since struggled to replicate that modest success — which isn’t a huge surprise, given control problems that have plagued him in parts of four seasons in the high minors.
