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Angels Acquire Austin Adams, Designate Deolis Guerra

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The Angels announced today that they’ve acquired right-hander Austin Adams from the Indians in exchange for a player to be named later or cash. Fellow right-hander Deolis Guerra has been designated for assignment in order to clear a spot on the 40-man roster.

Adams, 30, has seen action in the past three seasons with Cleveland and was particularly sharp in 2015 when he pitched to a 3.78 ERA with 6.2 K/9, 3.5 BB/9 and a 46.8 percent ground-ball rate. His numbers took a step back across the board in 2016, though, as Adams allowed an unsightly 20 earned runs on 27 hits and seven walks with 17 strikeouts in 18 1/3 innings — a 9.82 ERA on the year. Overall, the former fifth-round pick has a career 6.29 ERA in 58 2/3 Major League innings.

On a more positive note, Adams has had plenty of success in Triple-A, where he’s spent parts of three seasons. In that time, he’s tossed 103 2/3 innings of relief, logging a 3.47 ERA with 9.5 K/9 against 2.8 BB/9. He’s also averaged better than 96 mph on his fastball in recent seasons. Adams will join an unsettled bullpen mix with the Halos, where Huston Street, Cam Bedrosian, J.C. Ramirez and Andrew Bailey seem like the only right-handers that have spots locked down at this time.

The 27-year-old Guerra had his first extended stint of success in the Majors in 2016, as he logged a 3.21 ERA with 6.1 K/9, 1.2 BB/9 and a 42.2 percent ground-ball rate in 53 1/3 innings with the Halos. Though he showed excellent control, Guerra averaged just over 90 mph on his fastball and didn’t miss many bats in 2016, neither of which helped his cause. His strike-throwing ability could certainly pique the interest of another club, but at this stage of the offseason, but teams have gravitated more and more toward power arms in their bullpens (as this trade/DFA demonstrates), which could allow the Halos to pass Guerra through waivers.

Latest On Matt Wieters

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Matt Wieters suffered a laceration that required stitches to his left (non-throwing) arm earlier this offseason but is fully healthy with Spring Training on the horizon, agent Scott Boras tells Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports.

Rosenthal spoke to Boras about the circumstances that have led to Wieters remaining on the open market, and the agent acknowledged that his client’s poor pitch-framing metrics likely have impacted his free-agent stock. However, Boras also noted that framing numbers are impacted by the velocity of the pitcher, seemingly indicating that they might not be as dependable as some make them out to be. Says Boras:

“…Because the hitters have to commit early, because you have big velo, your command comes from actually learning to throw balls — hitters often swing at ’em. That’s why velo pitchers are very, very effective in the ERA category with a catcher, but their framing statistics are going to be well less than the norm.”

There may well be merit to Boras’ claims that velocity significantly impacts pitch-framing metrics — he’s not the first to suggest as much — but the parallel that’s being drawn seems out of place. The Orioles, as a staff, tied for 18th in overall fastball velocity last season, so it seems somewhat counter-intuitive to point out that higher-velocity arms can lead to dubious framing grades. If softer-tossing arms generally portend superior framing marks for their catchers, one would expect Wieters to have somewhat of an edge over those that caught harder-throwing staffs. Instead, he’s been consistently below-average in that regard for the past several seasons. The O’s have never been one of the 10 hardest-throwing teams in baseball in that time, with the exception of the 2014 campaign, in which Wieters played just 26 games.

ESPN’s Buster Olney wrote today that Wieters’ best chance at landing a notable contract at this point could be to wait until an injury arises in either Spring Training or the World Baseball Classic that could create an opportunity. Wieters has been tied to the Nationals and the Angels all winter long, it seems, but Chelsea Janes of the Washington Post recently appeared on Olney’s Baseball Tonight Podcast (audio link) and explained that the Nats are largely set on Derek Norris entering the season as the starter behind the dish. Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register, meanwhile, wrote earlier this morning that if Wieters does end up with the Halos, it’d likely have to be on a one-year deal at a discount rate.

Boras tells Rosenthal that Wieters’ market has only truly begun to take shape in the past month, but he unsurprisingly offers no indication of a potential asking price. (Rosenthal notes that “even a $50 million deal is probably a stretch,” though I’d contend that’s been the case all offseason.) Wieters would be far from the first Boras client to secure a surprising multi-year deal late in the offseason, so it’s certainly possible that the market for his services is more robust than most reports indicate at present. However, while the majority of theoretical suitors listed by Rosenthal in his column — the Orioles, Nats, Mets, Rockies, Rays, Angels, D-backs and White Sox — all make sense on paper, it’s also difficult to see any from that group breaking the bank on a multi-year deal barring an injury elsewhere on the staff.

Angels Sign Yusmeiro Petit

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4:02pm: Petit’s contract comes with a $2.25MM base salary upon making the Major League roster, MLBTR has learned (Twitter link). He can earn up to an additional $1.25MM via incentives.

2:19pm: The Angels announced that they’ve signed right-hander Yusmeiro Petit to a minor league contract with an invitation to Major League Spring Training.

Petit, a client of Godoy Sports, spent the 2016 season with the Nationals, pitching to a 4.50 ERA with 7.1 K/9, 1.7 BB/9 and a 41.5 percent ground-ball rate in 62 innings. Of Petit’s 36 appearances with the Nats, 35 were out of the ’pen, but he also made one spot start and has a history of working in both the rotation and in relief.

Petit was in the midst of a solid season with the Nats and carried a sub-3.00 ERA into the month of August, but he was used sparingly down the stretch and hit hard when he did take the hill. Of the 31 earned runs he allowed last year, 16 came in his final 10 appearances (12 1/3 innings). Petit’s deal with the Nationals contained a $3MM vesting option for the 2017 campaign, and his sparse usage down the stretch may simply have been a reflection that the Nats didn’t wish to see that option lock in.

[Related: Updated Los Angeles Angels Depth Chart]

The 32-year-old Petit is best known for his work with the Giants, for whom he pitched from 2012-15. In that time, the righty worked out of both the rotation and the bullpen, pitching to a 3.66 ERA in 245 2/3 innings (plus another 12 2/3 innings with two runs allowed in the postseason). At one point during the 2014 season, Petit broke a record that still stands, as he retired 46 consecutive batters across six relief appearances. (Mark Buehrle had previously held the record with 45 straight set down.)

The Halos will head into camp with a projected rotation of Garrett Richards, Matt Shoemaker, Ricky Nolasco, Tyler Skaggs and Jesse Chavez. Others that figure to be in the mix for starts include lefty Nate Smith and righties Alex Meyer and Daniel Wright. Barring an injury, it may be difficult for Petit to get a look there, but GM Billy Eppler tells Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register that Petit will come into camp as a starter (Twitter link). Should that not work out, there could be multiple openings in a murky bullpen picture for the Halos.

The Angels’ bullpen will consist of Huston Street, Cam Bedrosian and Andrew Bailey, to be sure, but the other slots are a bit less defined. Names like JC Ramirez, Jose Alvarez, Deolis Guerra and possibly Meyer (if he’s not starting in Triple-A) could all factor into the mix. Mike Morin, Kirby Yates and Brooks Pounders all represent 40-man options that come with big league experience as well.

Angels Sign Dustin Ackley To Minor League Deal

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FEB. 7: Ackley’s pact features a $2.25MM major league salary and $1.4MM in incentives, per FanRag’s Jon Heyman (via Twitter).

FEB. 4: The Angels have announced the signing of infielder/outfielder Dustin Ackley to a minor league contract. The deal comes with an invitation to spring training for Ackley, a Boras Corporation client.

[RELATED: Updated Angels Depth Chart]

It took Ackley just under three months to land anywhere after the Yankees released him in late November. That came on the heels of a truncated season in which the 28-year-old accrued a meager 70 plate appearances and hit an ugly .148/.243/.148 before undergoing surgery on a torn right shoulder labrum in early June.

Ackley was far more successful in 2015, a year divided between Seattle and New York, as he slashed a still-unremarkable .231/.284/.429 in 264 trips to the plate. All told, Ackley has posted a .241/.304/.367 line over the first 2,347 PAs of his career, which makes the lefty-swinger’s major league tenure a substantial disappointment after the Mariners took him second overall in the 2009 draft. Ackley then ranked as one of Baseball America’s 12 best prospects to conclude both the ’09 and ’10 campaigns.

On the bright side, Ackley has mostly earned plus defensive grades at second base and in left field – his primary positions – and comes with first base experience. Defensive Runs Saved (plus-19) and Ultimate Zone Rating (10.7) have liked his work in 2,514 innings at the keystone, while he’s at plus-2 DRS and 3.7 UZR in 1,588 innings as a left fielder.

In his return to the American League West, Ackley figures to vie for a bench role behind Angels second baseman Danny Espinosa, first base options Luis Valbuena, C.J. Cron and Albert Pujols, and outfielders Mike Trout, Kole Calhoun and Cameron Maybin. The club’s top bench choices entering the spring are light-hitting infielder Cliff Pennington and outfielder Ben Revere, whom the Angels gave a guaranteed $4MM earlier this winter.

Cameron Maybin Changes Agents

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Angels outfielder Cameron Maybin has decided to change his representation, according to ESPN.com’s Jerry Crasnick (via Twitter). He has hired Excel Sports Management as his new agency, per the report.

Maybin, 29, is wrapping up an extension signed earlier in his career, when he was a young Padres regular. He earned $24MM over the five guaranteed years of the deal, along with another $9MM. (His original guarantee was for $25MM, which included a $1MM buyout of the option.) Along the way, Maybin was dealt to the Braves, then to the Tigers, and then on to the Angels.

With one more season before his first foray onto the open market, Maybin has hired one of the sport’s most powerful agencies to guide him. Of course, the most important factor in his market will be his play on the field. Maybin is set to share the Halos’ left field role with Ben Revere, with the allocation of playing time likely dependent upon matchups and their respective performance.

Angels, Bud Norris Agree To Minor League Deal

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3:15pm: Norris would earn $1.75MM with the Halos were he to make the Major League roster, reports Jon Heyman of FanRag Sports (Twitter links). The deal contains incentives that can push the total value of the contract north of $3MM.

12:40pm: The Angels and right-hander Bud Norris have agreed to a minor league contract, reports Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports (via Twitter). The Wasserman client will compete for a rotation gig in Spring Training, Passan adds.

[Related: Updated Los Angeles Angels Depth Chart]

Norris, 31, pitched to a 5.10 ERA with 8.1 K/9, 3.9 BB/9 and a 47.6 percent ground-ball rate through 113 innings between the Braves and Dodgers this past season. Initially signed to a $2.5MM deal by Atlanta in the offseason, Norris suffered through a dreadful April and quickly lost his spot in the Braves’ rotation. However, his time in the bullpen clearly helped him to right the ship, as he pitched to a pristine 2.08 ERA with a 43-to-17 K/BB ratio over his next 47 2/3 innings (which included five starts in a reclaimed rotation role). Fangraphs’ Jeff Sullivan broke down Norris’ run of success in late June, noting that a newly implemented cutter had dramatically improved his performance against lefties. That success proved to be short-lived, however, as Norris struggled to a 6.54 ERA with the Dodgers.

From 2011-14, Norris was a solid mid-rotation arm for the Astros and Royals, pitching to a 4.06 ERA and averaging 30 starts/174 innings per season. The past two seasons, though, have largely been a struggle outside of the previously mentioned two-month run of excellence in Atlanta.

Norris will compete for an opportunity to line up behind presumptive rotation locks Garrett Richards, Matt Shoemaker, Ricky Nolasco and Tyler Skaggs (assuming he is healthy). Current candidates for the fifth slot include right-hander Jesse Chavez, who signed an early $5.75MM deal with the Halos back in November, in addition to lefty Nate Smith and right-handers Alex Meyer and Daniel Wright. Non-roster southpaws Manny Banuelos and John Lamb could eventually get consideration as well, health permitting.

Rays Rumors: Ramirez, First Base, Bullpen

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The Rays’ one-year deal with Colby Rasmus is expected to be announced either today or tomorrow, reports Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times in his latest column. As he notes, the Rays will need to clear a spot on the 40-man roster. While there are some straightforward avenues to doing so — righties Ryan Garton and Eddie Gamboa are possible casualties, as is recently claimed outfielder Jason Coats — Topkin adds that trading right-hander Erasmo Ramirez also represents a potential means of clearing a 40-man spot for Rasmus.

The 26-year-old Ramirez has a 3.76 ERA with 6.7 K/9 against 2.3 BB/9 in 254 innings with Tampa Bay over the past two seasons and agreed to a $3.125MM salary to avoid arbitration earlier this winter. He’s controlled through 2019 via arbitration. Ramirez may not be a premium trade chip, but three years of control over someone that could either serve as a multi-inning reliever or a back-end option in the rotation certainly carries some value in a thin market for arms. The pitching-rich Rays have the depth to part with Ramirez, should an offer to their liking materialize.

The column is stuffed with rumors and informed speculation regarding the Rays’ roster and is well worth a full look, but here are a couple of other highlights…

  • With Brad Miller likely to move to second base, the Rays are poised to pounce on an over-saturated market for first basemen. A right-handed hitter is most likely, and Topkin again connects the Rays to slugger Chris Carter. Mike Napoli will still probably receive a more lucrative contract than the Rays care to offer, he notes. Topkin also lists one intriguing trade option: Angels slugger C.J. Cron. The 27-year-old Cron looks like he’ll lose some playing time with the Halos to the newly signed Luis Valbuena, and Cron would give the Rays an affordable option that’s controlled through 2020. Notably, Topkin adds that the Rays have likely checked in on virtually every available option, and he doesn’t portray a Cron trade as a strong possibility but rather as one of many options.
  • The Rays are “likely” to add a veteran reliever as well, per Topkin. He goes on to note that out-bidding others on a top remaining option seems unlikely but second-tier names like Fernando Salas, Joe Smith, Tom Wilhelmsen and former Ray J.P. Howell make sense in St. Petersburg.
  • As it stands, the Rays currently project to have Alex Colome, Brad Boxberger, Danny Farquhar, Shawn Tolleson and Ramirez in their ’pen as right-handers alongside lefties Xavier Cedeno and Enny Romero. Rule 5 pick Kevin Gadea, too, is in the mix for a spot in the relief corps depending on his spring performance. From my vantage point, the Rays seem fairly well-stocked in terms of right-handed relief (barring a trade of Ramirez), but an upgrade over Romero as the team’s second lefty would be beneficial. Romero struggled to a 5.91 ERA while displaying significant control issues and a susceptibility to home runs last season. The only lefty reliever on the 40-man roster outside of Cedeno and Romero is 21-year-old Jose Alvarado, who hasn’t pitched above Class-A Advanced. Dana Eveland and Justin Marks will both be in camp as non-roster invitees.

Valbuena Likely To Get Significant Playing Time At First Base With Angels

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Newly signed infielder Luis Valbuena, whose two-year deal with the Angels was officially announced yesterday, is likely to spend a good chunk of time playing first base in 2017, general manager Billy Eppler told reporters on a conference call yesterday (via Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register and Bill Shaikin of the L.A. Times). As Fletcher points out, that indicates that C.J. Cron, previously the presumptive starter at first base, will have to fight for playing time in the upcoming season.

“I like the power and the selectivity…” Eppler said of Valbuena, who has posted a .199 isolated power mark (slugging percentage minus batting average) and an 11.5 percent walk rate over the past three seasons. “…He knows he’ll be in the lineup very regularly and the entire time against a right-handed pitcher.”

Eppler’s comments do suggest that there’s the possibility of a platoon between Valbuena and Cron. Valbuena is just a .206/.299/.335 hitter against left-handers in that previously mentioned 2014-16 stretch, but he’s posted a much more robust .253/.344/.473 batting line against right-handers in that same time. Cron, however, isn’t the most natural fit as a platoon partner. While his .252/.289/.409 career batting line against left-handed pitching is better than Valbuena’s output against southpaws, Cron has typically fared better against right-handers since debuting in 2014. (He did carry more traditional platoon splits in the minors, so perhaps there’s some yet-untapped potential against lefties in Cron’s bat.)

Naturally, though, Eppler’s comments will lead to speculation about the possibility of Cron eventually becoming a trade candidate. Eppler said playing time will sort itself out “organically,” (via Fletcher) and Shaikin notes that the GM said he’ll wait until getting through Spring Training before determining whether to trade from his potential first base surplus. The Halos, after all, don’t know exactly what to expect from Albert Pujols, who underwent foot surgery in early December in an effort to alleviate plantar fasciitis.

Recovery time for Pujols was listed at four months in the press release announcing that operation, suggesting that there’s a chance Pujols won’t be ready to begin the season. Eppler cautioned that there’s been no change in Pujols’ recovery that led to the Valbuena addition; rather, Shaikin writes that Eppler said he’s been in contact with Valbuena’s camp since November. However, if Pujols does incur any type of notable setback, the Angels could comfortably rely upon Valbuena, Cron and Jefry Marte to cover the at-bats between first base and designated hitter.

Now is hardly the best time to be marketing Cron (or any player that is limited to first base/DH) anyhow, as the free-agent market still offers plenty of options in that regard. Cron, though, could conceivably present an intriguing option for a team like the Rays (who are rumored to be looking at first basemen such as Chris Carter and Mike Napoli), as he has not yet reached arbitration and be controlled for another four seasons before reaching free agency.

Though he’s not an elite slugger, Cron did take a step forward in 2016, hitting .278/.325/.467 (all career-highs) with 16 home runs in 445 plate appearances. Adjusting for his pitcher-friendly home park, stats like wRC+ (115) and OPS+ (117) pegged him at 15 to 17 percent better than a league-average hitter.

With enough playing time, Cron seemingly has the ability to hit 20 to 25 home runs in a season while providing strong all-around value at the plate. The Angels, though, were set to enter the season with an extremely right-handed lineup, with Kole Calhoun as the only pure lefty penciled into the lineup. Second baseman Danny Espinosa is a switch-hitter but is far better from the right side of the plate, and fourth outfielder Ben Revere would bring a left-handed option to the table as well. Valbuena balances out the lineup and could replace Yunel Escobar at third base in 2018 when he’s a free agent if Cron is retained all season. (Alternatively, the Halos could look to move Escobar at some point and install Valbuena at the hot corner, where he’s spent most of his MLB career, though that’s speculation on my behalf.)

Minor MLB Transactions: 1/24/17

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Here are the day’s notable minor moves, all courtesy of Baseball America’s Matt Eddy unless otherwise noted:

  • The Angels announced today that right-hander Blake Parker has cleared waivers and been outrighted off the team’s 40-man roster. Parker had been designated for assignment on Jan. 19 when the Halos claimed Juan Graterol off waivers. (Graterol has since already been lost on waivers to the Blue Jays.) Like Graterol, Parker has bounced around the league quite a bit this winter, moving from the Yankees, to the Angels, to the Brewers and back to the Angels. After losing his 40-man spot on four different occasions, Parker has cleared waivers. He’ll have the option to elect free agency but would also presumably be invited to big league camp with the Angels this spring. Last season, Parker tossed 17 1/3 innings with the Mariners and Yankees, logging a 4.67 ERA with a 15-to-9 K/BB ratio. The former Cubs righty has spent parts of four seasons in the Majors and owns a 3.87 ERA in 90 2/3 innings.
  • The Orioles announced a list of non-roster invitations today, and while they’ve mostly been previously reported and noted here on MLBTR, their minor league pact with infielder/outfielder Alex Castellanos was a new announcement. Castellanos, 30, saw brief bits of action with the Dodgers in 2012-13 but hasn’t appeared in the Major since. While he’s struggled to a .171/.186/.390 batting line in his 43 big league PAs, Castellanos owns a career .292/.373/.517 line in parts of five Triple-A seasons. He has more than 2700 pro innings in right field plus another 1661 innings as a third baseman. He’s also logged 900+ innings at second base, 500+ innings in center and left as well as 155 innings at first base.

Earlier Updates

  • Former big league righty Barry Enright is heading back to a MLB organization, taking a minors deal with the Padres, as Chris Jackson of MiLB.com reported on Twitter. Enright had been pitching for the Mexican League’s Tijuana Toros (and also spent time with the Hermosillo organization in 2015). He joined MLBTR’s podcast at the outset of that stint, and went on to turn in two productive seasons as a starter in Mexico. In 2016, Enright pitched to a 3.19 ERA with 5.2 K/9 and 1.1 BB/9 over 127 frames. Also signing on with San Diego, per Jackson, is outfielder Nick Buss. The 30-year-old appeared in 36 MLB games last year for the Angels, but hit just .198/.247/.346. He did have a productive year at Triple-A, however, slashing .290/.345/.462 in his 372 plate appearances.
  • Right-hander Yohan Pino, who pitched most recently in Korea, will join the Twins on a minors deal. Pino, 33, didn’t perform well for the KT Wiz, coughing up 31 earned runs on 62 hits over his 39 innings. He has had greater success stateside, however. Pino spent time in the majors in 2014 and 2015 with the Twins and Royals, posting a 4.63 ERA with 7.1 K/9 and 1.9 BB/9 in his 79 2/3 innings.
  • The Diamondbacks have agreed to re-sign third baseman Carlos Rivero to a minor-league deal. Rivero, 28, spent all of 2016 at Arizona’s top affiliate, hitting .277/.316/.484 with 19 home runs over 446 plate appearances. Rivero represents a depth option at the hot corner. He has appeared in just four MLB games in his career; those came in 2014 with the Red Sox.
  • Joining the Braves on a minors pact is outfielder Xavier Avery. The 27-year-old played with the Orioles’ Triple-A affiliate in 2016, slashing .248/.332/.363 over 347 plate appearances. He briefly cracked the majors back in 2012 with Baltimore, but hasn’t made his way back since.

Angels, Eric Young Jr. Agree To Minors Deal

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The Angels and fleet-footed outfielder Eric Young Jr. have agreed to a minor league contract and an invite to Major League Spring Training, reports Mike DiGiovanna of the Los Angeles Times (via Twitter). Young is a client of MVP Sports Group.

The 31-year-old Young spent most of the 2016 season with the Brewers’ Triple-A affiliate, where he batted .263/.338/.339 and swiped 23 bags in 29 attempts over the course of 116 games (329 plate appearances). Young hooked on with the Yankees in September and served as a pinch-runner down the stretch, appearing in six games and scoring two runs despite logging just one plate appearance in the Majors.

Last season was the first since Young’s 2009 debut in which he didn’t appear in at least 30 Major League games. He’s been a regular only once in his career (in 2013 with the Rockies and Mets when he led the National League with 46 steals) but has consistently found work as a bench piece due to his excellent speed. Overall, he’s a .246/.314/.327 hitter in 1684 Major League plate appearances.

Young will bring a depth option to the Angels this spring and, quite likely, early in the year in Triple-A. He’s spent most of his Major League career playing left field but does have about 400 innings in center field as well. He also spent more than 250 innings in right field last season at Triple-A. Young has some experience at second base, too, but it’s been six seasons since he put in significant work there. The Halos likely view him as an outfielder, but with Mike Trout, Kole Calhoun, Cameron Maybin, Ben Revere and Jefry Marte all on the 40-man roster, Young seems likely to be bound for Triple-A if he sticks with the organization.

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