Headlines

Go To Pro Hockey Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Angels Rumors

AL West Notes: Rangers, Trout, Davis, Astros, Castro

By and | at

Rangers GM Jon Daniels wouldn’t say that the Royals’ success served as the blueprint for constructing his team’s bullpen, but it’s clear that Texas is counting on big production from its relievers, Jeff Wilson of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram writes.  Texas is optimistic about being able to get strong performances from Shawn Tolleson, Sam Dyson, Jake Diekman, Tom Wilhelmsen, Keone Kela, and Tony Barnette in 2016.  “You can dream it up to be a pretty powerful bullpen, and we have the luxury to shorten the game if we need to,” manager Jeff Banister said. “Our bullpen has an opportunity to be as strong a bullpen as there is in baseball.”

Here’s more from around the AL West…

  • Could the Angels trade Mike Trout?  It’s a far-fetched notion at the moment, though ESPN’s Keith Law off-handedly raised the subject in his recent farm system rankings when he opined that Anaheim might have to consider dealing Trout unless it drafts some good prospects for its beleaguered farm system.  Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register doesn’t think a Trout deal is anywhere near the Halos’ radar screen right now, though if the 2016 season is a disappointment, the Angels may indeed have to unload some Major League talent to get younger.  Even if this scenario happens, however, Garrett Richards or Kole Calhoun are more likely to be shopped than Trout.  Four of five executives and scouts polled by John Perrotto of Today’s Knuckleball wouldn’t trade Trout, and the fifth would only do so for a big package of MLB-ready talent and elite prospects.
  • Perrotto’s piece also contains comments from a scout who feels the Athletics made a “great pickup” in obtaining Khris Davis from the Brewers.  “Power has become so much more scarce in recent years that I’m surprised that Oakland could get a guy like Davis so cheaply,” the scout said.
  • The Astros’ rebuild may be over in the sense they reached the playoffs in 2015, though Evan Drellich of the Houston Chronicle observes that this offseason has given little indication as to how the team will operate in business-as-usual mode rather than as a team that’s still adding pieces.  Houston has had a relatively quiet winter, though two sources tell Drellich that the team made some strong pursuits for major free agents and also had “substantial” extension talks with core players.  GM Jeff Luhnow reiterated that the Astros is ready and willing to spend when the opportunity arises, though they won’t sign or extend players just for the sake of staying active if such deals aren’t a fit.
  • Also within Drellich’s piece, he mentions that the Astros and Jason Castro discussed multi-year contracts prior to the filing of arbitration numbers.  The two sides talked about two-year deals and a three-year deal with an option, though since no agreement was reached before the filing deadline, Houston took a “file-and-trial” stance and went ahead to an arbitration hearing.  (The club won that hearing.)  Castro is entering his last year under contract, and while the backstop’s hitting numbers have declined over the last couple of years, he is still a highly-regarded defender known to have a good relationship with the Astros’ starters.

Minor MLB Transactions: 2/13/16

By | at

Here are today’s minor moves from around the game:

  • The Diamondbacks have outrighted lefty Will Locante, Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic tweets. They designated Locante for assignment last week after he posted a 5.79 ERA, 8.1 K/9 and 7.3 BB/9 in 42 rough innings of relief for Double-A Mobile last year.
  • The Indians have announced that they’ve signed 34-year-old catcher Guillermo Quiroz to a minor-league deal with an invitation to Spring Training. The light-hitting Quiroz has played parts of ten seasons in the Majors, but in the 2015 regular season he only appeared with the Giants’ Triple-A affiliate in Sacramento, where he hit .247/.303/.292 in 99 plate appearances.
  • The Angels have signed catcher Lou Marson and righties Josh Zeid and Cody Satterwhite to minor-league deals, Baseball America’s Matt Eddy tweets. Marson, the former Indians backup, has played sparingly in the last several seasons due to injury. He has a lifetime .219/.309/.299 line in parts of six big-league seasons. The 28-year-old Zeid is perhaps best known as one of the pieces the Phillies sent the Astros in the 2011 Hunter Pence deal. He spent the 2015 season in the Tigers’ Triple-A bullpen, posting a 4.46 ERA, 7.5 K/9 and 5.0 BB/9. The 29-year-old Satterwhite pitched last season in a tough pitching environment at Triple-A Las Vegas, posting a 4.38 ERA, 8.9 K/9 and 3.6 BB/9 in 72 innings of relief.
  • The Blue Jays have re-signed lefty reliever Colt Hynes to a minor-league deal, Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet tweets. Hynes pitched in five games for the Jays last season. He also pitched 47 1/3 innings combined at Double-A and Triple-A, posting a 3.47 ERA, 7.3 K/9 and 3.5 BB/9.

Prospect Notes: Montas, Rankings, Moncada, Angels

By | at

Dodgers pitcher Frankie Montas is out for two to four months after having rib surgery, Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times tweets. Montas was a key to the Dodgers’ end of the seven-player swap that sent Todd Frazier to the White Sox and prospects to the Dodgers and Reds. Now, it appears Montas will miss a portion of the season. Last year, Montas posted a 2.97 ERA, 8.7 K/9 and 3.9 BB/9 in 112 innings with Double-A Birmingham, also pitching 15 innings in his first exposure to the Majors. Here are more notes on prospects.

  • It’s prospect list season, and this week Baseball America and ESPN’s Keith Law (1-50, 51-100; subscription required and recommended) published lists of the top 100 prospects in baseball. Both lists feature the Dodgers’ Corey Seager and the Twins’ Byron Buxton at the top, and there’s plenty more agreement in the top ten, with Lucas Giolito (Nationals), Julio Urias (Dodgers), J.P. Crawford (Phillies), Alex Reyes (Cardinals) and Orlando Arcia (Brewers) all figuring in both top tens. From there, though, there’s plenty of divergence — for example, BA rates Yoan Moncada of the Red Sox the third-best prospect in baseball, whereas Law ranks him at No. 17, noting that Moncada might not have the power that was expected of him when the Red Sox signed him last year. Law still projects Moncada will be an above-average everyday player, however. Law is more bullish on another top Red Sox prospect, Rafael Devers, who he says could produce 30 to 35 home runs per season while playing solid defense at third base.
  • Both BA and Law (again, Insider only) also recently published rankings of the best farm systems by organization. The Braves, Dodgers, Phillies, Brewers, Rangers, Rockies, Twins, Red Sox and Pirates all fare well on both lists, and the Braves, Dodgers and Twins have seven players apiece in Law’s top 100. Both BA’s and Law’s rankings feature the same bottom five — the Tigers, Orioles, Mariners, Marlins and Angels. Law says the Angels have “by far the worst system I’ve ever seen,” noting that the Angels have no one who even came close to placing in his top 100.

Minor MLB Transactions: 2-10-16

By | at

Here are the day’s minor signings from around the league…

  • The Angels have signed right-hander Javy Guerra to a minor league deal, reports Mike DiGiovanna of the Los Angeles Times (on Twitter). The former Dodgers closer served a 50-game suspension last season for a drug of abuse but will look to work his way back into a big league bullpen with the Halos. Last year, Guerra was limited to a total of just 5 1/3 innings between the Majors and minors, due largely to his suspension. However, he tossed 46 1/3 innings of 2.91 ERA ball for the White Sox in 2014 and has high-leverage experience as well, having saved 21 games for the Dodgers as a rookie in 2011. All told, Guerra has a 2.87 ERA with 7.5 K/9, 4.1 BB/9 and a 43.3 percent ground-ball rate in 150 1/3 innings between L.A. and Chicago.
  • Infielder Brandon Hicks has agreed to a minor league deal and an invite to big league Spring Training with the Dodgers, SB Nation’s Eric Stephen tweeted yesterday. The most recent big league action for the 30-year-old Hicks came with the 2014 Giants, when he received 242 plate appearances across 71 games. While Hicks didn’t hit for average whatsoever, he did show some power. That did little to mask his 32 percent strikeout rate, though, and he finished with an overall batting line of .162/.280/.319 with San Francisco. Hicks struggled with the Giants’ Triple-A affiliate last season but is a career .244/.327/.429 hitter in parts of six seasons at that level.

Phillies Acquire Taylor Featherston

By | at

The Phillies have acquired infielder Taylor Featherston from the Angels in exchange for cash or a player to be named later, Philadelphia has announced. He was recently designated for assignment by Los Angeles to clear roster space for the claim of lefty Christian Friedrich.

New Philly GM Matt Klentak was with the Halos when the organization acquired Featherston’s Rule 5 rights and carried him on the active roster for all of 2015 to obtain control. For the Phillies, Featherston could provide a near-term MLB option. After all, Freddy Galvis, Cesar Hernandez, and Andres Blanco hardly constitute the most inspiring up-the-middle unit. More likely, though, he’ll go back for his first crack at Triple-A after skipping the level in the Rule 5 process.

Featherston is viewed as a high-quality defender, and advanced fielding metrics backed that up in his limited action last year. But he’s still got some work to do at the plate. Over his first 169 MLB plate appearances, Featherston carried a lowly .162/.212/.247 triple slash. He has shown some pop and speed previously in the minors, however, and the Phils’ new-look front office obviously feels there’s some upside to take a crack at developing.

Angels Claim Christian Friedrich, Designate Taylor Featherston

By | at

The Angels have claimed left-hander Christian Friedrich off waivers from the Rockies and designated infielder Taylor Featherston for assignment in order to clear a spot on the 40-man roster, per Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register (on Twitter).

Friedrich, 28, was selected 25th overall out of Eastern Kentucky University back in 2008, but he’s struggled for much of his pro career, amassing an ERA north of 5.00 at both the Triple-A level and in the Major Leagues. This past season, Friedrich posted a 5.25 ERA with 6.9 K/9, 3.9 BB/9 and a 47.4 percent ground-ball rate in 58 1/3 innings of work. While Friedrich has struggled throughout his career, he’s held left-handed hitters in check fairly well, limiting same-handed opponents to a .257/.314/.364 batting line. He’s also posted considerably better numbers away from Coors, where he has a 4.61 ERA as compared to a 6.96 mark at home. Because he’s out of options, Freidrich will have to make the Halos’ Opening Day roster — presumably in the bullpen — or again be exposed to waivers.

The DFA of Featherston is a somewhat surprising revelation, if only because the Angels carried the 2014 Rule 5 Draft pick on their Major League roster for the entirety of the 2015 season rather than expose him to waivers and offer him back to his original team. Featherston, in fact, received just 169 plate appearances and batted .162/.212/.247. While he’s a gifted defender, the decision to dedicate a roster spot to him over the course of 162 games only to cut him loose in the offseason figures to irk some Angels fans, especially considering the fact that the club missed a Wild Card playoff berth by a lone game in the standings. Then again, with some turnover in the team’s front office, it certainly seems possible that the new faces atop the baseball operations hierarchy simply didn’t few Featherston as highly as their predecessors.

West Notes: Segura, Lee, Rangers, Angels

By | at

FOX’s Ken Rosenthal writes that a fresh start with the D-backs might do Jean Segura some good. While it’s well known that Segura played through a devastating personal tragedy in 2014 — the unexpected death of his infant son — Rosenthal notes that other issues were also likely weighing on Segura’s mind throughout his tenure with the Brewers. Namely, Segura rejected a seven-year, $40MM contract extension with an option for an eighth season attached to it in the spring of 2014, according to Rosenthal. The decision was driven in part by the fact that Andrelton Simmons, a fellow shortstop in the same service class, had recently signed a seven-year, $58MM contract extension with the Braves. Former Brewers manager Ron Roenicke tells Rosenthal that the contract situation weighed on Segura. “We talked a little about the contract,” said Roenicke. “He told me it was bothering him. After that, (he lost) his son and the rest of the year was really rough for him.” Roenicke is a Segura backer and believes he can succeed, but at this point, it’s worth noting that Segura simply hasn’t hit since June of 2013. After a torrid two-month stretch to open his first full season in Milwaukee, Segura has batted a collective .254/.287/.337 in 1540 plate appearances. Perhaps a change of scenery will do him some good, but that level of production isn’t any better than what Nick Ahmed brings to the table, and Ahmed rated as one of baseball’s premier defenders in 2015.

Here’s more from the game’s Western divisions…

  • Mariners GM Jerry Dipoto tells Jim Bowden of ESPN (link) that new addition Dae-ho Lee, who signed a minor league deal with the team earlier today, will compete to be Adam Lind’s platoon partner at first base. (Jesus Montero and Gaby Sanchez are also in that mix.) Notably, Dipoto tells Bowden that Lee, who was listed at 6’4″ and 286 pounds last season in Japan, is down about 45 pounds. Stories of players being in good shape certainly abound this time of year, but size was a question among some pundits when writing about Lee. Bowden offers a scouting report based on conversations he’s had, writing that Lee has good hands at first but below average range. At the plate, he can draw walks and has power to right-center field, Bowden adds.
  • “We are in the range of where we’ll end up payroll-wise,” Rangers GM Jon Daniels told Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News on Wednesday. As Grant explains, that’s a somewhat diplomatic way of stating that the team doesn’t have the financial flexibility to add a notable free agent such as Dexter Fowler or Yovani Gallardo at this point. Rather, Grant lists Tim Lincecum and Gavin Floyd as a pair of names that might make more sense for the Rangers to pursue as Spring Training approaches and the team looks for added depth. “The fact is,” according to Grant, that Daniels was given a budget and told to stick to it, so barring a late change of course among ownership, the Rangers will be relatively quiet for the remainder of the offseason.
  • By steadfastly refusing to exceed the $189MM luxury tax threshold, Angels owner Arte Moreno is effectively wasting the best years of Mike Trout’s career, opines ESPN’s David Schoenfield. Trout has been worth an average of nine wins above replacement per season in each of his four years at the Major League level, but the Halos have been to the playoffs just once in that time and have zero postseason wins to show for it. Enormous commitments to a declining Albert Pujols and a since-traded Josh Hamilton have left the club with little flexibility, and Anaheim’s paper-thin farm system doesn’t lend much hope for better days in the near future. The Angels finished 12th in the AL in runs scored in 2015, Schoenfield points out, and they’ll be without David Freese and could see an aging Pujols miss time due to offseason foot surgery.

Angels Sign Andrew Brown, Yunesky Maya To Minors Deals

By | at

  • The Angels announced that they’ve signed outfielder Andrew Brown and right-hander Yunesky Maya to minor league contracts. Both players most recently appeared in the Korea Baseball Organization — Brown with the SK Wyverns and Maya with the Doosan Bears. Brown, 31, batted .261/.360/.496 with 28 homers in 539 plate appearances in a strong season with Doosan. He’d previously spent parts of the 2010-14 seasons in the Majors, batting a combined .220/.281/.390 between the Cardinals, Rockies and Mets. Maya, formerly a fairly high-profile international signee with the Nationals, struggled tremendously in the KBO, yielding 62 runs in 68 1/3 innings. He last appeared in the Majors in 2013, though he threw just a third of an inning that season. Prior to that, the Cuban righty posted a 5.52 ERA in 58 2/3 innings from 2010-11. Both players were invited to Major League Spring Training.

Yankees Claim Ronald Torreyes, Designate Lane Adams

By | at

The Yankees announced today that they’ve claimed infielder Ronald Torreyes off waivers from the Angels and designated outfielder Lane Adams for assignment in order to clear a spot for Torreyes on the 40-man roster. This marks the second time that the Yankees have acquired Torreyes, as they acquired him and lefty Tyler Olson from the Dodgers in exchange for cash considerations earlier this month.

Somewhat strangely, the Yankees removed Torreyes from the 40-man roster by designating him for assignment in order to make room for Adams, who today was designated to clear space for Torreyes. The move looks curious on paper, of course, but the team’s hope may simply be that it is able to ultimately sneak one or both of Adams or Torreyes throughout outright waivers in order to keep him in the organization without committing a 40-man roster spot.

Torreyes has undergone one of the largest offseason whirlwinds in recent memory. In the past month alone, he’s been designated for assignment by the Dodgers, traded to the Yankees, designated for assignment by the Yankees, claimed by the Angels, designated for assignment by the Angels and now claimed by the Yankees. That, of course, is in addition to the fact that Torreyes began the 2015 season with Houston before being traded to the Blue Jays and later traded to the Dodgers. All told, he’s been a part of five organizations in the past eight and a half months alone. Torreyes has seen most of his professional defensive work come at second base, though he does have significant experience at shortstop (144 games) and third base (65 games) as well. He’s also seen a bit of time in the corner outfield. This past season, the 23-year-old batted .261/.308/.347 between Double-A and Triple-A in his time with the Astros, Blue Jays and Dodgers organizations.

The fleet-footed Adams, 26, reached Triple-A for the first time this past season, struggling through 37 games there on the heels of a strong Double-A campaign. Overall, the Oklahoma native batted a combined .281/.347/.445 with 16 homers and 31 stolen bases — his third consecutive season with 30 or more steals. Last winter, Baseball America rated him 15th among Royals farmhands, calling him a plus-plus runner and a plus defender with a fringe-average arm and a bit of pull power. Ultimately BA pegged him as a fourth outfielder.

West Notes: Rose, Angels, Lincecum, Mariners

By | at

Former Rangers managing partner Edward “Rusty” Rose has passed away, writes T.R. Sullivan of MLB.com. The 74-year-old was part of the group, including former President George W. Bush, that bought the Rangers in 1989. The Ballpark In Arlington, now Globe Life Park, was constructed during Rose’s tenure. The Bush-Rose group sold the Rangers in 1998 to Tom Hicks. We at MLBTR extend our condolences to Rose’s friends and family.

Here’s more from the West:

  • The Angels farm system lacks high end talent, writes Jeff Fletcher of the OC Register. No Angels were listed among the top 100 or 101 prospects on MLB.com or Baseball Prospectus. They did enter the offseason with one player who would have drawn consideration – Sean Newcomb. He was ranked 21st by MLB.com and 32nd by Baseball Prospectus. The Halos dealt Newcomb as part of the Andrelton Simmons trade. As Fletcher writes, the Angels system probably explains why they didn’t land any top talent at the 2015 trade deadline. For example, Yoenis Cespedes returned Michael Fulmer (53rd per MLB.com) and Luis Cessa. L.A. simply lacked the fire power for a move.
  • Tim Lincecum’s tenure in San Francisco is probably over, figures Andrew Baggarly of the Mercury News. The former ace and free agent is auditioning for a regular major league job. The Giants have a set rotation, meaning Lincecum doesn’t have a clear path to starts. The Marlins and Padres are among the teams currently connected to Lincecum. For Giants and Lincecum fans, Baggarly contributes a nice review of The Freak’s San Fran tenure.
  • The Mariners were thought to be nearing a minor league deal with first baseman Travis Ishikawa, but it’s gone sideways, writes Bob Dutton of the Tacoma News Tribune. Dutton notes that the addition of Gaby Sanchez could be to blame for the Ishikawa deal falling apart.
  • In other news, Dutton expects the club to sign 31-year-old journeyman catcher Steven Lerud to a minor league deal. He would provide depth now that Jesus Sucre is expected to miss extended action with a broken fibula. We’ll of course report on that signing if and when it becomes official.
Show all

MLB Trade Rumors is not affiliated with Major League Baseball, MLB or MLB.com

Do not Sell or Share My Personal Information

hide arrows scroll to top