- Right-hander Deolis Guerra was outrighted to Triple-A Salt Lake by the Angels after clearing waivers, according to Alden Gonzalez of MLB.com (on Twitter). The 27-year-old Guerra yielded four runs in 5 1/3 innings of relief for the Halos before being designated for assignment. Guerra doesn’t have much of a track record in the Majors, but he’s been dominant at the Triple-A level from 2015-16 between the Halos and Pirates, pitching to a 1.08 ERA in 41 2/3 innings of relief.
Angels Rumors
Minor MLB Transactions: 6/1/16
Here are the day’s minor moves:
- Just 24 hours after sending Brendan Ryan outright to Triple-A, the Angels have once again selected his contract, the club announced today. The team selected the contract of Javy Guerra, another recently outrighted veteran, from Salt Lake as well. Pennington and left-hander Chris Jones hit the disabled list today, creating an opening in the infield and in the bullpen. Ryan, of course, didn’t even have time to get a game in at Triple-A following his outright, but Guerra rattled off five innings of dominant relief following his recent outright. In that time, he yielded just one hit and struck out seven hitters without issuing a walk.
Earlier Moves
- The Angels outrighted infielder Brendan Ryan to Triple-A after he cleared waivers, the club has announced yesterday. Ryan, 34, got into 11 games with the Halos, failing to reach base and recording six whiffs in a dozen plate appearances. Of course, he’s never done much damage with the bat: over ten seasons in the majors, Ryan owns only a .233/.293/.314 batting line. But the veteran has always been valued highly for his glovework, and he could have a new opportunity before long, as Cliff Pennington seems likely to return to the DL.
- Righty Gus Schlosser is headed to the Dodgers on a minor league deal, as Mike Ashmore of MyCentralJersey.com reports. Schlosser dominated the Atlantic League this year with the Somerset Patriots, earning him a return to the affiliated ranks. The 27-year-old cracked the majors in 2014 with the Braves, allowing 7.64 earned per nine over 17 2/3 innings with eight strikeouts and six walks. He spent last year at the Double-A level in the Rockies organization.
Cliff Pennington Likely Headed Back To DL
- The Angels appear to have lost infielder Cliff Pennington to an aggravation of his own left hamstring injury, as Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register reports, with a DL stint seemingly likely. That could means that Kaleb Cowart or Brendan Ryan will be headed back to the big league club, though the former was just sent down and the latter requires a 40-man spot.
Angels Designate Deolis Guerra, Activate Huston Street
The Angels announced a series of pitching moves today, including designating righty Deolis Guerra for assignment. Los Angeles also optioned right-hander Mike Morin, replacing those two arms with closer Huston Street — who had been on the DL — and lefty Chris Jones, who gets his first MLB call-up.
Guerra, 27, has been hit hard in two brief stints in the majors over the past two seasons. All told, he’s allowed 16 earned runs in just 22 big league frames, with a more promising 21:3 K/BB ratio. Guerra has been rather dominant at the Triple-A level of late, however.
Los Angeles will be glad to welcome back Street, who last pitched on April 23rd and has been rehabbing an oblique injury. The 32-year-old had been as effective as ever in the early going: despite recording only four strikeouts in his 7 2/3 innings of work before hitting the DL, Street had allowed only one earned run on four hits while picking up a handful of saves. Fill-in ninth-inning man Joe Smith had permitted seven earned runs over his 12 1/3 innings in May, though he also converted five of six save opportunities in the last month.
The 25-year-old Morin has shown promise at times — he carried a 2.90 ERA over 59 frames in 2014 and racked up 10.4 K/9 against just 2.3 BB/9 in 35 1/3 innings last year — but his results have lagged of late. On the year, he’s been touched for a 5.48 ERA in 21 1/3 frames, with 7.6 K/9 against 2.1 BB/9.
Jones hasn’t exactly had the best of years at Triple-A since being acquired from the Orioles late this spring. He’s generally been effective there in the past, but currently owns a 6.32 ERA over 47 innings with 5.9 K/9 against 2.7 BB/9.
C.J. Wilson On Setback
- As was reported earlier today, Angels southpaw C.J. Wilson had a setback in his recovery from a shoulder injury. The 35-year-old has since opened up about it, telling reporters – including Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register (Twitter link) – that he felt “awful” during his Saturday bullpen session. Wilson will next undergo an MRI, per Fletcher.
C.J. Wilson Suffers Setback
- It appeared Angels southpaw C.J. Wilson was making progress in his recovery from a shoulder injury, but he suffered a setback Saturday and had to be shut down, reports Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register. The Angels diagnosed Wilson with biceps tendinitis and will send him for further tests before determining what comes next. Wilson, who’s making $20MM this season in a contract year, hasn’t taken the hill for the Halos since last July because of elbow and shoulder issues.
Cafardo: Angels Could Move Hector Santiago At Trade Deadline
- Angels left-hander Hector Santiago is a name to watch around the trade deadline if the Halos drop out of the race, though he’ll likely need to start faring better if the team wants to move him. Santiago, who’s collecting $5MM and has a year of arbitration eligibility remaining, has thrown 55 innings of 4.58 ERA ball this year to accompany a 7.04 K/9 and 3.44 BB/9.
[SOURCE LINK]
- Angels left-hander Hector Santiago is a name to watch around the trade deadline if the Halos drop out of the race, though he’ll likely need to start faring better if the team wants to move him. Santiago, who’s collecting $5MM and has a year of arbitration eligibility remaining, has thrown 55 innings of 4.58 ERA ball this year to accompany a 7.04 K/9 and 3.44 BB/9.
Quick Hits: Mets-Dodgers, Cutch, Lincecum, Brantley
The Mets and Dodgers are locked in an unusual feud, reports FOX Sports’ Ken Rosenthal. New York contacted Major League Baseball on Friday after finding out that Los Angeles wanted to mark prearranged defensive positions in the Citi Field outfield, according to Rosenthal. The league is cognizant of the fact that the Dodgers used a laser rangefinder before the game to mark positions, but that’s only a violation of MLB rules if it’s done during the game. Further, given that the Dodgers actually informed the Mets’ grounds crew of their plans, there wasn’t any subterfuge on LA’s part. Nevertheless, the grounds crew notified their superiors after the Dodgers told them their outfielders would dig holes in the grass with their cleats if the markers were taken out, leading to this battle between the two sides.
The Dodgers, by the way, evened the teams’ three-game weekend series Saturday in a 9-1 rout. Notably, the game featured third-inning ejections of Mets starter Noah Syndergaard and manager Terry Collins after the ace threw behind LA second baseman Chase Utley. A hated rival thanks to both his time with the division-rival Phillies and, more recently, his slide that broke the leg of then-Met Ruben Tejada in last year’s NLDS, Utley went on to belt two homers and drive in five runs.
More from around the majors:
- Pirates center fielder Andrew McCutchen has struck out in a career-worst 23.4 percent of plate appearances this year, which concerns the five-time All-Star. “I’m a guy that has a good feel for the zone, and when I get good pitches to hit, normally I hit them. But more times than not lately, I’ve been getting them and I’ve been missing them,” he said (via Dave Sessions of MLB.com). “I’m getting to two strikes more and having to battle. When I’m on and I’m feeling good, I get a pitch to hit, I hit it.” As McCutchen mentioned, he has been missing more pitches this year – his swinging strike and contact rates (13.3 percent and 72.2 percent, respectively) are easily at personal-worst levels. It’s no surprise, then, that McCutchen’s numbers have declined this season, though his production (.258/.341/.463 line with nine home runs in 214 PAs) is still well above average.
- Right-hander Tim Lincecum is on track to make his Angels debut June 12 against Cleveland, reports Pedro Moura of the Los Angeles Times. The two-time Cy Young Award winner threw 75 pitches in an extended spring training game Saturday and regularly clocked in at 89 mph with his fastball – up from 87 mph last season. “Now that my velo’s just a couple ticks up from where it was last year, I feel like that can make a huge difference,” said Lincecum, who admitted that he’s “not going to blow the doors off” opposing hitters. Lincecum regularly did that during his heyday with the Giants, but his velocity decreased over the years and his numbers declined significantly.
- Indians left fielder Michael Brantley went on the disabled list nearly two weeks ago with shoulder inflammation, but there’s currently no timetable for his return, according to The Associated Press. Brantley missed most of April after undergoing offseason shoulder surgery and then appeared in a mere 11 games before heading back on the DL. Brantley said Saturday that he doesn’t think he rushed his previous return. “I was ready. We talked about it. We had a great process laid out. Everything went smoothly. It was just a bump in the road.”
- In his latest mock draft (Insider required), ESPN’s Keith Law has the Phillies taking Florida left-hander A.J. Puk first overall. Puk is one of five realistic possibilities for the club, per Law, who notes that the majority of scouts and executives he spoke to this week acknowledged there’s still plenty of uncertainty in general going into next month’s draft.
Angels Designate Brendan Ryan For Assignment
7:18pm: The Angels have officially announced Ryan’s designation.
8:17am: The Angels will designate shortstop Brendan Ryan for assignment today, Pedro Moura of the Los Angeles Times tweets. The move will clear space for fellow infielder Cliff Pennington, who is set to return after a brief DL stint due to a hamstring strain.
Ryan signed a minor league deal with the Nationals in February, then headed to the Angels in a small trade earlier this month. With Andrelton Simmons and Pennington on the shelf, the Angels had a need for a shortstop, but even with both those players on the DL, they frequently played Gregorio Petit at short. Overall, Ryan collected 12 plate appearances, during which he failed to reach base.
The 34-year-old Ryan has hit .233/.293/.314 in parts of ten seasons in the big leagues, contributing the vast majority of his value with terrific defense. In addition to the Angels, he’s played for the Cardinals, Mariners and Yankees.
C.J. Wilson Nearing Return
Red Sox right-hander Clay Buchholz is displeased with his demotion to the bullpen, writes Evan Drellich of the Boston Herald. Buchholz declined to talk to reporters for the second straight day and threw in a curse word as he walked away from them Saturday, according to Drellich. Manager John Farrell has left the door open for Buchholz to return to the rotation, saying, “While he might not like the current situation, that’s where we are. If he pitches to his talents and abilities, that role can potentially change.” Buchholz, 31, has been a solid starter for most of his career, but he put up a 6.35 ERA, 5.88 K/9 and 3.91 BB/9 in 56 2/3 innings in that role this year and will try to right the ship as a reliever.
Here’s more on a few other established pitchers:
- The Rays will slowly transition reliever Brad Boxberger back into the closer role when he returns soon from core muscle surgery, manager Kevin Cash said (via Sam Blum of MLB.com). The righty led the American League in saves last year (41), but thanks to the brilliance of fill-in Alex Colome, the Rays haven’t missed him in the ninth inning. Nonetheless, Boxberger’s presence will aid a Rays bullpen that has been mediocre this year. In 137 2/3 innings from 2014-15, Boxberger compiled a 3.03 ERA, 12.55 K/9 (seventh among qualified relievers) and 3.67 BB/9.
- Athletics right-hander Sonny Gray threw a 35-pitch first bullpen session Saturday – his first BP session since going on the disabled list last Sunday with a trapezius injury – per Jane Lee of MLB.com. Gray “feels good,” manager Bob Melvin said afterward, and could return on or shortly after June 5.
- Two big-name Angels, southpaw C.J. Wilson and righty Tim Lincecum, are on similar timelines to make their major league debuts this year, tweets Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register. Wilson, who has been out all season with an injured left shoulder, will make his first of at least two starts with Triple-A Salt Lake City on Monday.
- In case you missed it, the White Sox and Padres are discussing a James Shields trade.
