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Offseason In Review: Los Angeles Angels

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As Shohei Ohtani reached free agency, the Angels declared that they would not rebuild. But after Ohtani moved across town to the Dodgers, the Angels kept things pretty quiet, ignoring the pleas of Mike Trout.

Major League Signings

2024 spending: $29.55MM
Total spending: $51.55MM

Option Decisions

Trades and Claims

Notable Minor League Signings

Extensions

  • None.

Notable Losses

Many people in the baseball world have been looking forward to this offseason for a long time. Shohei Ohtani has spent the past few years achieving things that were never achieved before nor even considered possible. But despite his best efforts, the Angels never made the postseason or even posted a winning record during his time with the club. As the Halos continually disappointed, eyes turned toward the calendar and his impending free agency, with fans dreaming of bringing Ohtani to their own club or perhaps just the idea of watching him playing meaningful games for anyone.

It wasn’t a foregone conclusion that Ohtani would leave, but they were certainly not the favorite. That led to questions about how the club would proceed if Ohtani did end up changing jerseys. As many argued, if the Angels weren’t good enough to win with Ohtani, they certainly wouldn’t be good enough without him. That led to speculation that the club would have to consider blowing up the entire roster and kicking off a massive rebuild.

But that line of thinking was quickly dispelled when general manager Perry Minasian came right out and made it clear. Just a couple of weeks after the World Series ended, he stated that the club would not be rebuilding and would in fact have an “aggressive” offseason.

Before getting to the roster moves, the club had to look for a new manager. Skipper Phil Nevin was sort of a placeholder, as he took over when Joe Maddon was fired in the middle of the 2022 season. Nevin was given a one-year deal to stick around for 2023 but never made it beyond lame duck status. The Halos settled on veteran manager and coach Ron Washington as their new bench boss, and it was at his introductory press conference that Minasian made his aforementioned comments about the club’s plans.

For the early parts of the offseason, a lot of attention was focused on Ohtani, not just from Angels’ fans but from all around the world. Though it played out in somewhat interesting fashion, with Ohtani and his reps seeming to prefer secrecy over any kind of public relations dance, the result ended up being fairly predictable. He took the I-5 from Anaheim to Los Angeles and will be playing with the Dodgers for the next decade.

Although that end result wasn’t surprising, it was a bit eyebrow-raising when it was reported that the Angels had a chance to match the Dodgers’ offer but chose not to. The $700MM price tag is obviously massive but the deal is heavily deferred, with Ohtani only making $2MM per year during the deal and $68MM annually in deferred payments for the following decade. That sort of structure was clearly appealing to clubs, who could bank profits of the marketability of Ohtani and collect interest on it until paying him down the line. The Giants and Blue Jays were reportedly willing to match the same deal that Ohtani signed with the Dodgers, but the Angels said no thanks. Perhaps they got the sense they were just being used to drive up the bidding, but that’s just a guess. Owner Arte Moreno later confirmed that the club did not match Ohtani’s deal but didn’t go into detail about why.

While losing Ohtani cast a shadow over the franchise, there was one small silver lining. Ohtani had rejected a qualifying offer from the Angels, meaning they will receive compensation for him signing elsewhere. The kind of compensation they would receive was up in the air for a while, given the club’s uncertain luxury tax status. They had gone over the competitive balance tax line in 2023 but tried to duck under after falling out of contention and placing several players on waivers in late August. It was eventually reported in early December that the club was successfully in avoiding the tax, which means their compensation pick for Ohtani’s departure will be after the second round of the upcoming draft as opposed to after the fourth.

With Ohtani officially gone and the club planning to be aggressive, as Minasian said, they seemed to cast a wide net in their search for upgrades. They were connected to an eclectic group of free agents including Jeimer Candelario, Blake Snell, Jordan Montgomery, Shota Imanaga, Jordan Hicks, Teoscar Hernandez, J.D. Martinez, Kevin Kiermaier, Harrison Bader, Michael A. Taylor, Tim Anderson, Martin Maldonado and others, as well as trade candidates like Shane Bieber, Corbin Burnes and Tyler Glasnow.

In the end, they didn’t get anything done with anyone from that group, which raises the question of how serious the interest was and of how “aggressive” the Angels truly were. Some of those players lingered on the open market for months and eventually signed deals well below the expectations from the outset of the winter. The Halos had plenty of chances to swoop in and snag a player at a bargain price but didn’t.

The later parts of the offseason were highlighted by the so-called “Boras Four:” Snell, Montgomery, Matt Chapman and Cody Bellinger. Trout was lobbying the club to take advantage of the soft market and was open to the media about his efforts, but the Halos didn’t grant his wishes, even as those players all pivoted to short-term deals with opt-outs.

The Angels certainly could have done so, even without incurring tax penalties. RosterResource currently estimates their CBT number to be $189MM, or $48MM below the lowest CBT threshold. That means the club could have given out a deal with an average annual value of $30MM and still had wiggle room for midseason trade additions, but Moreno said that the club was planning to lower the budget for the start of the post-Ohtani era and that seems to have prevented them from making any big splashes.

In the end, despite the claims that the club would be aggressive, their offseason amounted to making a few bullpen additions. The most notable of those was signing Robert Stephenson to a three-year, $33MM deal. It’s a bit of a risk since he’s been inconsistent in his career, but there’s also a chance he becomes one of the most dominant pitchers in the league.

He certainly looked to be on that path late last year, as he posted a 2.35 earned run average in 42 appearances with the Rays, striking out 42.9% of batters faced while walking just 5.7% of them. But his overall body of work is less impressive, as his career ERA currently sits at 4.64. He’s also dealt with a number of injuries over the years and is on the IL right now, not yet having made his debut as an Angel.

In addition to Stephenson, the Halos also brought back Matt Moore and signed Luis Garcia, Jose Cisnero and Adam Cimber on one-year deals. No one in that group is super exciting as an individual, but they collectively improve the depth in a bullpen that has been a problem for the Halos in the past.

On the position player side of things, the most significant additions came with no real cost at all. Aaron Hicks is still being paid by the Yankees as part of the extension he signed with that club many years ago, since they released him last year. That means the Angels will only have to pay him the prorated league minimum for any time he spends on the roster. He seemed to bounce back in a part-time role with the Orioles last year, so he’s a fine pickup for the Angels. If he’s productive at all, it’s a big win, and he can be jettisoned for no real cost if he struggles.

The same is largely true for Miguel Sano, who settled for a minor league deal over the winter. He spent an up-and-down seven years as a middle-of-the-order presence in Minnesota, but knee injuries wiped out most of his 2022 season and he didn’t play anywhere last year. He lost a bunch of weight and is now healthy enough to have cracked the Opening Day roster for the Angels, so he will also be a nice pickup for the club if he can carve out any kind of useful role this year.

While each move the Angels made may seem fairly sensible in a vacuum, the sum total of the moves is something of a confusing muddle. The club has spent decade in a middling zone of not being good enough to win but also having too much talent to rebuild. The loss of Ohtani arguably could have pushed them towards the latter. They clearly did not want to lean that way, but they also didn’t really push themselves in the other direction either.

It seems they are now in a sort of wait-and-see season. Instead of going outside the organization for star players, they will give playing time to younger players like Reid Detmers, Nolan Schanuel, Logan O’Hoppe, Zach Neto, Mickey Moniak, Jo Adell, Chase Silseth and others as they see what they have. Sam Blum of The Athletic recently interviewed Minasian and the GM said that the reason they didn’t end up signing notable free agents was that they didn’t want to block some of these young players from opportunities. When asked if Moreno would ever want to sign a big free agent again, “That would be a question for him” was Minasian’s reply.

There’s some logic to giving playing time to younger players but it’s a bit hard to see a bright future in Anaheim. Of the farm system rankings at Baseball America, FanGraphs, ESPN, MLB Pipeline and The Athletic, none of them have the Angels higher than 28th out of 30.

Back in February, Trout said that he has not asked to be traded since that would be “the easy way out.” While his commitment to the franchise is admirable, it’s getting harder to see how he’ll get back to the playoffs as an Angel. The major league club hasn’t been good enough, just subtracted the best player in the world and added little. Based on the assessments of the farm system, there’s not a lot of help on the way in the future either.

Trout is off to a blazing hot start here in 2024 but he’s had notable injury problems in each of the past three years and will move past his 33rd birthday this year. With an unclear future, the club perhaps would have been wise to try to build a winning club around him while they still have time but didn’t really make much of an effort to do so this winter.

Robert Stephenson Aiming For Late-April Activation From 15-Day IL

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Robert Stephenson’s tenure with the Angels got off to an unwelcome start when the reliever had to start the season on the 15-day injured list due to right shoulder inflammation.  The righty provided MLB.com’s Rhett Bollinger with an update, saying that his hope is to be available before April is over, though he’ll first need to complete a rehab assignment.

The shoulder soreness first arose before the Angels’ spring camp even opened, and as a result, Stephenson wasn’t able to pitch at all in the Cactus League.  Stephenson will therefore need some extra ramp-up time to try and simulate the Spring Training experience, though he has already started to pick up his throwing progressions.  The right-hander had his first bullpen session on Thursday and another is planned for Monday.

Los Angeles signed Stephenson to a three-year, $33MM free agent deal in January, as the 31-year-old was handsomely rewarded for a major in-season turnaround.  With a penchant for inconsistency both as a starter and then after he became a full-time reliever in 2019, Stephenson had a 5.14 ERA in 14 innings for the Pirates before the Bucs dealt him to Tampa in a somewhat under-the-radar deal.  Stephenson then became the latest in the Rays’ long line of pitching reclamation projects, as he broke out with a 2.35 ERA, eight percent walk rate, and a fantastic 38.3% strikeout rate over 38 1/3 innings in a Tampa Bay uniform.

While the shoulder injury isn’t the best start to a $33MM deal, the Angels are betting that Stephenson can keep the magic going to become a lockdown member of their bullpen.  The Halos invested heavily in their relief corps (and not much else) this winter, adding Stephenson, Matt Moore, Luis Garcia, Adam Cimber, and Jose Cisnero as part of an extensive bullpen overhaul.

Angels, Amir Garrett Agree To Minor League Deal

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Veteran left-hander Amir Garrett has signed a minor league contract with the Angels, according to the team’s transaction log at MLB.com. The Beverly Hills Sports Council client has been assigned to the Triple-A Salt Lake Bees.

Garrett spent spring training with the Giants as a non-roster invitee. After an up-and-down 2023 season, he was going to need to impress this spring to earn a spot on the Opening Day roster. Instead, he gave up nine runs in 6 1/3 innings of work, allowing 13 hits, seven walks, and two home runs while striking out only three of the 38 batters he faced. He was released last week.

The 31-year-old Garrett spent the 2022-23 seasons in Kansas City, working to a combined 4.39 ERA in 69 2/3 innings of work. The hard-throwing southpaw fanned exactly a quarter of his opponents in each of his two seasons as a Royal, but his longstanding command issues escalated to new heights. He walked 16.9% of his opponents with the Royals — including a sky-high 17.9% mark in 2023. Garrett routinely managed to navigate that highwire act, logging a 3.33 ERA in last year’s 24 1/3 innings, but he was released over the summer and didn’t make it back to the big leagues after signing minor league deals with both the Guardians and the Giants (who re-signed him just before camp opened).

Prior to his time in K.C., Garrett was a mainstay in the Reds’ bullpen. From 2018-20, he notched a 3.60 ERA with 49 holds, a save, a huge 30.2% strikeout rate and a bloated 11.6% walk rate. There’s little doubting Garrett’s raw ability to miss bats. His career 12.6% swinging-strike rate is well above average, and his 15.1% mark during his peak run with Cincinnati borders on elite. At this point, there are 325 1/3 innings of big league work showing his command to be well below average, however. It’s unlikely he’ll ever get to the point where he has plus command, but if he can even get back to the levels he had with the Reds, as opposed to the alarming walk issues he displayed in Kansas City, he could reemerge as a quality setup man.

For the time being, Garrett will serve as depth for an Angels club that dedicated the bulk of its offseason to remaking the bullpen. The Halos signed Robert Stephenson, Matt Moore, Luis Garcia, Jose Cisnero, Adam Cimber and Adam Kolarek to big league deals over the winter (though Kolarek was later outrighted to Triple-A). Anaheim also acquired righty Guillermo Zuñiga from the Cardinals and inked veteran Hunter Strickland to a minor league deal.

Angels To Select Miguel Sanó

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Angels manager Ron Washington informed reporters, including Greg Beacham of The Associated Press, that corner infielder Miguel Sanó has made the club’s Opening Day roster. Sanó was in camp on a minor league deal and will require a corresponding move to be added to the 40-man roster.

Sanó, 31 in May, had a lengthy run as one of the most potent sluggers in the game but is coming off two mostly lost seasons. He hit 161 home runs with the Twins from 2015 to 2021, a mark that put him in the top 25 among all major league hitters for that stretch. He struck out in 36.5% of his plate appearances during that time but also drew walks at an 11.6% rate. His .238/.329/.491 batting line over that seven-year period translated to a wRC+ of 118, indicating he was 18% better than league average.

But knee issues severely hampered him in 2022, as he was able to get into just 20 games and hit just .083/.211/.133 when in the lineup. The Twins opted for a $3MM buyout instead of a $14MM club option for 2023, sending him to free agency. He didn’t sign anywhere last summer and instead focused on his health, telling reporters a few weeks ago that he had lost 58 pounds since his last big league game.

He played some winter ball with Estrellas Orientales in the Dominican Republic a few months ago, hitting a couple of home runs in 27 games. That was enough for the Angels to give him a minor league deal and he has looked to be in decent form during the spring, with three homers in his 57 plate appearances.

It seems that was enough to get Sanó onto the roster and there are a few different ways he could factor into the club’s plans. Third baseman Anthony Rendon has dealt with a number of injuries, having not played 60 games in a season since 2019. Sanó hasn’t played the hot corner since 2021 and not regularly since 2019, but he did play it here in camp and could perhaps spell Rendon on occasion.

The Angels also have an inexperienced first baseman, as Nolan Schanuel was just drafted last summer. The Halos rushed him up to the majors last year, so he does have 29 big league games under his belt, but only 51 professional games total. He was also much better against righties last year, so perhaps Sanó can shield him from southpaws. Sanó has even splits in his career, 115 wRC+ against both righties and lefties, but he could factor in there nonetheless. Schanuel had 118 wRC+ against righties and 93 against lefties in his brief major league debut last year.

The club also doesn’t have a strict designated hitter, as Shohei Ohtani has been in that role for most of the past six years. Ohtani signed with the Dodgers and the Halos didn’t sign a pure DH-type to replace him, though they were connected to J.D. Martinez before he signed with the Mets.

Perhaps they will be rotating various players through that spot this year, with oft-injured veterans like Rendon or Mike Trout perhaps getting some more time as the DH, but Sanó could be plugged in from time to time as well. Lefty-swinging outfielder Mickey Moniak has a brutal line of .174/.202/.233 against southpaws in his career, so there could be pinch-hitting opportunities there.

How it plays out remains to be seen but it’s a nice story for a guy who has clearly worked hard to get over his recent struggles and get back to the majors. If he gets even part of the way back to the form he showed from 2015 to 2021, it will be a steal for the Halos.

Angels Release Drew Pomeranz

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The Angels announced that left-hander Drew Pomeranz has been released from his minor league contract with the team.  Pomeranz and Jake Marisnick were two Article XX(B) free agents who had the ability to opt out of their minor league deals on Friday if they weren’t added to the Angels’ Opening Day roster, and while Pomeranz is moving on, Jeff Fletcher of the Southern California News Group writes that Marisnick won’t make the team but isn’t exercising his opt-out clause.

Pomeranz hasn’t pitched in a big league game since August 2021, as the southpaw underwent a flexor tendon surgery that has essentially put his career on hold.  Pomeranz has tossed only 10 1/3 minor league innings over the 2022-23 seasons due to a number of setbacks, including an unspecified “cleanup surgery” in his throwing elbow last May.  His eight innings of relief work in the Angels’ spring camp actually represents one of his longer stretches of pitching in a while, and Pomeranz posted a 5.63 ERA over those eight frames and nine appearances.

The Padres signed Pomeranz to a four-year, $34MM deal in the 2019-20 offseason, betting that his impressive results as a full-time relief pitcher late in the 2019 season with the Brewers would continue in the coming years.  Pomeranz had a 1.62 ERA over 44 1/3 innings up until the time of his flexor surgery, cutting short what seemed to be a very promising new chapter of his career as a bullpen weapon.

The four-year contract expired at the end of the 2023 campaign, putting Pomeranz back onto the open market and landing in Los Angeles on a minors contract.  Now entering his age-35 season, nobody would blame Pomeranz if he chose to call it a career in the wake of so many injury woes, though it would be equally unsurprising if he continued to seek out another minor league deal if he is finally feeling healthy for the first time in years.  Given his past pedigree, another club could well bring him into the fold on a minors contract in order to see what the left-hander still has in the tank.

31 Veterans With Opt-Out Opportunities Looming This Week

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One of the provisions in that 2022-26 collective bargaining agreement is uniform opt-out opportunities for Article XX(B) free agents on minor league deals. An Article XX(B) free agent is one with at least six years of service time who finished the previous season on a major league roster or injured list. Any such player who signs a minor league deal more than ten days prior to Opening Day can opt out of that deal at three points if they haven’t been added to the 40-man roster: five days before Opening Day, May 1 and June 1.

The first uniform opt-out date on this year’s calendar falls Friday at 1pm CT. Any player can trigger his out clause at that point, and the team will subsequently be given a 48-hour window to either add him to the roster or release him. With many clubs around the league dealing with spring injuries, some of these players should be able to find opportunities elsewhere if they can’t find it with their current organization. Their current clubs can prevent them from opting out by giving them a roster spot, but that may involve cutting someone else.

Angels: OF Jake Marisnick, LHP Drew Pomeranz

Marisnick, 33 this month, is a right-handed-hitting fourth outfielder with a plus glove and questionable bat. He can hold his own against right-handed pitching (career .237/.293/.417, 93 wRC+) but is typically overmatched by righties (.223/.274/.365, 74 wRC+). He’s having a huge spring, but the Angels already have Taylor Ward, Mike Trout, Mickey Moniak, Aaron Hicks and Jo Adell on the 40-man roster.

The 35-year-old Pomeranz was a good starter from 2016-17 and a dominant reliever from 2019-21, but he didn’t pitch in 2022-23 due to arm injuries. He’s pitched 6 2/3 innings with the Angels this spring with middling results.

Blue Jays: 3B/2B Eduardo Escobar, 1B Joey Votto

A poor season between the Mets and Angels last year set the stage for the 35-year-old Escobar to take a minor league deal. He’s long been a productive MLB hitter and even topped 30 homers back in 2019, but Escobar’s now in his mid-30s and struggling through an ugly spring while trying to win a spot in a crowded infield mix also featuring Isiah Kiner-Falefa, Santiago Espinal, Cavan Biggio, Ernie Clement and Davis Schneider.

Votto, 40, has been connected the Blue Jays seemingly forever due to his Canadian roots. He finally suited up for the Jays after agreeing to a minor league deal and homered in his first at-bat of camp. He’s had a lackluster showing at the plate in each of the past two MLB seasons, however.

Cubs: 1B/OF Garrett Cooper, RHP Carl Edwards Jr., OF David Peralta

An underrated hitter for years in Miami, Cooper slashed .274/.350/.444 in nearly 1300 plate appearances from 2019-22 before a poorly timed down showing in 2023’s walk year. He’s hitting quite well in spring training, and the Cubs don’t have a proven option at first base — though they’re understandably high on 26-year-old trade acquisition Michael Busch.

Edwards had a nice 2022 season with the Nats and posted a solid ERA in 2023 but did so with dismal K-BB numbers. He’s competing for a spot in an uncharacteristically crowded Cubs bullpen and could be squeezed out. The 32-year-old pitched for the Cubs from 2015-19, so Chicago brass knows him well. From 2022-23 in D.C., he posted a 3.07 ERA but a middling 20% strikeout rate against a 10.5% walk rate.

Peralta, 36, has a trio of hits and a walk in ten plate appearances this spring. He was an above-average hitter with the D-backs every season from 2017-20 but has been less consistent of late. He’s a left-handed hitter who’s long had glaring platoon splits and is limited to the outfield corners.

Diamondbacks: SS Elvis Andrus

Andrus is 35 but can still pick it at shortstop or second base. His once above-average speed has faded to the 30th percentile of MLB players, per Statcast, but his range at short remains excellent. Andrus hit .251/.304/.358 (81 wRC+) for the White Sox in 2023 and only has one year of above-average offense (2022) in the past six seasons.

Guardians: RHP Carlos Carrasco

Old friend Cookie Carrasco is fighting for the fifth spot in the Guardians’ rotation, and news of Gavin Williams’ season-opening stint on the injured list could further open the door for the 36-year-old (37 on Thursday) to make the team. Carrasco was torched for a 6.80 ERA with the 2023 Mets. He allowed 1.80 homers per nine frames through 90 innings, with alarming batted-ball metrics (91.5 mph average exit velocity, 48.2% hard-hit rate, 10.7% barrel rate). He was a solid mid-rotation arm as recently as 2022, when he tossed 152 innings of 3.97 ERA ball with sharp strikeout and walk rates.

Marlins: C Curt Casali

The veteran Casali has batted .201/.311/.315 over the past three big league seasons — a 78 wRC+ in 503 plate appearances. The 35-year-old is off to a rough start in camp and is a long shot to unseat defensive-minded Nick Fortes or Christian Bethancourt, both of whom are already on the 40-man roster.

Mets: 1B/DH Ji Man Choi

From 2017-22, Choi hit .254/.363/.465 (130 wRC+) against right-handed pitching. He walked at a 14.4% clip when holding the platoon advantage and fanned at a higher-than-average but still-manageable 24.1% rate. Lefties have always had Choi’s number, however, and his overall production cratered in 2023 while he dealt with Achilles and ribcage injuries. He’s fighting for a bench spot in New York alongside DJ Stewart and others.

Nationals: RHP Matt Barnes, OF Eddie Rosario, OF Jesse Winker

Barnes was an All-Star closer with the Red Sox in 2021 and briefly one of the game’s most dominant relievers, fanning more than 40% of his opponents for the bulk of that season. He wore down beginning in August and hasn’t been the same since a hip injury. Barnes’ velocity and strikeouts were way down in 2023 before he underwent season-ending surgery. He should have a good chance to win a spot in a Nationals bullpen that has little established talent.

Rosario and Winker are both left-handed-hitting outfielders who are best deployed in left field — with Winker having a particularly shaky defensive reputation. Winker is the younger of the two at 30 years old (to Rosario’s 32). Winker was quietly one of the most productive hitters in baseball against right-handed pitching for much of his time in Cincinnati, but knee and neck surgery in October 2022 look to have taken their toll on him. Rosario was the far more productive hitter in 2023. There may not be room for both veterans on the Washington roster. Winker has been in camp longer and been more productive in their small samples.

Orioles: 2B Kolten Wong

The Orioles seem to bring in a veteran infielder coming off a down season almost every year. It’s Wong’s turn in 2023. The 33-year-old was one of the game’s worst hitters in ’23, slashing just .183/.256/.263 in 250 plate appearances between the Mariners and Dodgers. That was beyond out of character for Wong, who’d been an average or better hitter in five of the past six seasons. If the O’s don’t want to rush Jackson Holliday or Coby Mayo, Wong could win a spot on the roster — but he hasn’t hit that well in camp so far.

Pirates: RHP Chase Anderson

It’s been five years since Anderson’s last solid season in a big league rotation, but the well-liked veteran continues to get work each season. From 2020-23, he’s pitched to a 6.19 ERA in 192 MLB frames — including a 5.42 mark in 86 1/3 innings last year (mostly with the Rockies). Anderson doesn’t miss many bats, but he has good command and is having a nice spring with the Pirates. He’s competing with Luis Ortiz, Jared Jones, Roansy Contreras, Domingo German and others for one of two generally open rotation spots in Pittsburgh.

Rangers: INF Matt Duffy, RHP Shane Greene, RHP Jose Urena

A contact-oriented hitter who can play all over the infield, the 33-year-old Duffy faces an uphill battle with Josh Smith, Ezequiel Duran and Justin Foscue all on the 40-man roster ahead of him. Nathaniel Lowe will open the season on the injured list, but that’ll likely work to Jared Walsh’s benefit more than Duffy.

Greene, 35, is a former All-Star closer/setup man who peaked with the Tigers and Braves from 2017-20. He’s thrown just three innings in each of the past two MLB seasons but also turned in strong numbers with the Cubs in Triple-A last year.

The 32-year-old Urena made five dismal starts for the Rockies early in the 2023 season and five solid ones for the White Sox late in the season. He also pitched well for Chicago’s Triple-A affiliate. A solid arm for the Marlins in 2017-18, Urena has a 5.50 ERA in 350 1/3 MLB frames dating back to 2019. He’s had a nice spring and could be a depth piece for an injury-plagued Rangers rotation.

Rays: RHP Jake Odorizzi

Odorizzi signed last week and will look to get back on track after a shoulder injury cost him the 2023 season. With the exception of an injury-wrecked 2020 season, he’s been a dependable five-inning starter dating back to 2014 (3.98 ERA in 1216 innings). The Rays’ pitching staff is dealing with plenty of injuries, and Odorizzi should be an option for the Rays early in the season.

Red Sox: 1B C.J. Cron, RHP Michael Fulmer, C Roberto Perez, LHP Joely Rodriguez

Cron has four seasons of 25-plus homers under his belt and was consistently an above-average hitter from 2014-22. Injuries tanked his 2023 season, but he has a strong track record of hitting for power — with largely even platoon splits. He’d make a nice right-handed complement to Triston Casas and/or Masataka Yoshida at first base and designated hitter, providing some insurance against an injury to either.

Perez is an all-glove backup who’s never hit much outside the juiced ball season in 2019, when he popped 24 of his 55 career homers. The Sox figure to go with Reese McGuire and Connor Wong behind the plate, making him a long shot to land a roster spot.

Rodriguez signed a big league deal with the Red Sox prior to the 2023 season but only pitched 11 innings due to injury. He’s having a decent spring training — two runs on nine hits and three walks with nine strikeouts in seven innings — and has a good chance to win a spot in a patchwork Red Sox bullpen. If not, his ability to miss bats and pile up grounders would likely draw interest elsewhere.

Fulmer won’t pitch in 2024 after undergoing surgery last summer. His minor league deal is a two-year contract that stretches into 2025. The two sides knew this going into the arrangement and there’s no reason to expect he’ll opt out.

Royals: RHP Tyler Duffey

Duffey was a mainstay in the division-rival Twins’ bullpen and was a high-end setup option at his peak in 2019-21, posting a 2.89 ERA across 144 frames while fanning 29.8% of his opponents. His results slipped in 2022 as he lost some life on his fastball, and he pitched just two MLB frames with the Cubs in 2023. Duffey recently had a procedure to remove a cancerous mole from his shoulder that understandably halted his baseball activity for a bit. He’s hopeful he’ll pitch again this spring, and while the larger takeaway is relief that the melanoma was discovered and quickly treated, his track record could also give him a shot to crack the Royals’ bullpen early in the season.

White Sox: RHP Jesse Chavez, RHP Brad Keller, RHP Dominic Leone, 3B/1B Mike Moustakas, OF Kevin Pillar, RHP Bryan Shaw

Chavez, 40, has been excellent with the Braves in each of the past three seasons but struggled in stints with the Cubs and Angels. He’s having a tough spring with the White Sox but carries a 2.81 ERA in his past 137 2/3 MLB frames, spanning the 2021-23 seasons.

Keller has spent his entire big league career with the Royals but saw his time in Kansas City come to a rough ending. After a three-year run as a solid starter, Keller struggled in three subsequent seasons, culminating in an IL stint for symptoms indicative of thoracic outlet syndrome. He hasn’t pitched in an official spring game for the White Sox.

Leone struggled late in the 2023 season but has a cumulative 3.38 ERA in 157 innings over the past three seasons. He’s having a solid spring training, has late-inning experience, and seems like a decent bet to win a spot in a White Sox bullpen that’s been completely torn down since last summer.

Moustakas has turned in three straight below-average seasons at the plate and is struggling again with the White Sox in camp (.167/.268/.278 in 41 plate appearances). The Sox have Yoan Moncada and Andrew Vaughn at the corners, plus Gavin Sheets as a lefty-swinging first base option (and corner outfielder) off the bench. Moose seems like a long shot to make the club.

Pillar would give the Sox a right-handed complement to lefty-hitting corner outfielders Andrew Benintendi and Dominic Fletcher. He’s 35 and no longer the plus-plus defensive center fielder he once was but could give them some insurance for Luis Robert Jr. in center as well. He hit .228/.248/.416 with nine homers in 206 plate appearances for the Braves last year.

Shaw pitched 45 2/3 innings for the Sox last year and delivered a respectable 4.14 ERA in that time. His production has tailed off substantially since his days as a consistent setup presence in the Cleveland bullpen — evidenced by a 5.07 ERA over his past six seasons. He’s been tagged for a dozen earned runs in 7 1/3 spring frames but does have 10 strikeouts.

Robert Stephenson Questionable For Opening Day

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Angels right-hander Robert Stephenson is still dealing with some shoulder discomfort and may not be in game shape by the time the season starts, per Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register. Manager Ron Washington tells Fletcher that José Soriano may move back to the bullpen to take Stephenson’s spot.

Stephenson, 31, came into camp with some shoulder soreness and he hasn’t yet appeared in an official Spring Training game. As relayed by Fletcher, Stephenson has resumed throwing full bullpens and still plans on being ready for Opening Day, but he has to get over the discomfort and advance to live batting practice before getting some game work in.

Barring a late March signing of Blake Snell or Jordan Montgomery, the Angels’ most significant move of the offseason will be their three-year, $33MM deal for Stephenson. He got that nice deal for himself based on his stint with the Rays in the second half of 2023, when he was one of the most dominant pitchers in the league.

He made 42 appearances for Tampa last year with a 2.35 earned run average, thanks to a new breaking ball. Statcast classified it as a cutter but Fletcher describes it as a tweak to his slider. Regardless of the terminology, it helped him strike out 42.9% of batters faced while walking just 5.7%. His 28.9% swinging strike percentage was more than double last year’s 11.6% league average for relievers.

The Angels were primarily focused on bullpen upgrades this winter with Stephenson the highlight. The only free agent they signed to a major league deal that wasn’t a pitcher was Aaron Hicks, who only requires the Halos to pay the prorated league minimum since the Yankees are still on the hook for the majority of his contract. Pitchers Matt Moore, Luis García, Adam Cimber, José Cisnero, Adam Kolarek and Zach Plesac got one-year deals with Moore’s $9MM the largest of them.

Stephenson’s deal was larger than all of those, in length and in average annual value. It’s unclear if he will miss much time, or even any at all, but it’s not the ideal start to his tenure with the Angels.

In response to his status, the club may be pivoting with Soriano, as mentioned up top. It was reported a couple of weeks ago that the Angels were planning to stretch him out as a starter, though Washington admitted earlier this week that he wouldn’t be able to secure a rotation spot unless there was an injury to one of Reid Detmers, Patrick Sandoval, Tyler Anderson, Griffin Canning or Chase Silseth. Now with Stephenson behind schedule, Soriano might return to the bullpen.

“First, you take care of need, and then you can start thinking long term,” Washington said. “We decided we wanted to try to see if Soriano can start, and so far he has proven to us that he possibly can. Now, Stephenson down that means we’ve got a void in the bullpen. Now we’re going to make a decision on our need right there. Long term would be Soriano being a starter. But if we can’t fill that void in the bullpen, Soriano has done it before. We’ve got an option.”

Soriano came up as a starter in the minors but was significantly delayed as he required two Tommy John surgeries in fairly quick succession, one in February of 2020 and the other in June of 2021, which naturally led to him hardly pitching at all in that 2020-2022 period. He was finally healthy last year and tossed 42 innings for the Angels with a 3.64 ERA. His 12.4% walk rate was on the high side, but that’s hardly surprising given the time he missed. He also punched out 30.3% of batters faced and got grounders on 51% of balls in play.

Based on Washington’s comments, it seems the club still thinks Soriano is a viable starter down the road but he may be used in the bullpen for now. In addition to his 42 innings of major league work last year, Soriano also tossed 23 1/3 innings in Double-A, bringing his tally for the year to 65 1/3. After missing most of the previous three seasons, he would probably run into an innings cap at some point this year if he were acting as a starter the whole time, speculatively in the range of 100 to 120 or so.

He does have a couple of options, so the Halos could perhaps use him as a reliever in the big leagues for now but send him down and stretch him back out later in the year if they want to have him log some innings and perhaps get towards a full starter’s workload in 2025.

MLBTR Podcast: Injured Pitchers, Brayan Bello’s Extension, Mookie At Shortstop And J.D. Davis

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The latest episode of the MLB Trade Rumors Podcast is now live on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and wherever you get your podcasts! Make sure you subscribe as well! You can also use the player at this link to listen, if you don’t use Spotify or Apple for podcasts.

This week, host Darragh McDonald is joined by Anthony Franco of MLB Trade Rumors to discuss…

Plus, we answer your questions, including…

  • Who had the worst offseason and why is it the Angels? (25:15)
  • Fact or Fiction? The Red Sox are going to trade Masataka Yoshida. (28:50)
  • Considering the amount of effort the Tigers front office has put into fielding a major league team in the past 10 years, should Tiger fans feel slighted? “They can wait” seems to be the attitude. Should Tiger fans just stop buying Little Caesars pizza and encourage their friends to buy their pizzas elsewhere? I am sure franchise owners enjoy being associated with a cheap loser. (31:20)

Check out our past episodes!

The podcast intro and outro song “So Long” is provided courtesy of the band Showoff.  Check out their Facebook page here!

Angels, Mets Remain Engaged With J.D. Martinez

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Regular season baseball is just over the horizon but many free agents remain unsigned. Two of the most notable of those free agents are left-hander Blake Snell and designated hitter J.D. Martinez, both of whom are represented by the Boras Corporation. The Halos were connected to both of those players back in December and Jon Heyman of The New York Post reports that the Halos are still talking about both of them. In a separate column, Heyman adds that the Mets also remain involved with Martinez, to whom they were connected last month.

It’s unclear if the Angels are making a serious push for a late signing or merely keeping tabs as the players linger on the open market into the middle of March, but they are one of the few clubs that make for a logical fit for a notable deal at this point. Many teams around the league have exhausted their respective budgets by this stage of the calendar, with some of them having concerns around luxury tax payments or uncertainty around TV revenue streams.

But the Angels are below their previous levels of spending, both in terms of pure payroll expenditures and competitive balance tax calculations. RosterResource currently lists their payroll at $174MM and their CBT number at $189MM for 2024. Per Cot’s Baseball Contracts, the Halos had an Opening Day payroll of $212MM last year, $38MM above where they are now. The base threshold of the CBT is $237MM this year, which gives the club $48MM of space if they want to stay below the tax, which is a line they hovered around last year.

Owner Arte Moreno has previously stated that the club is planning on operating with a lower payroll this year, but without specifics about exactly where they want to end up. Given the gaps between last year’s spending and this year’s, it’s possible to envision another signing coming together while still fulfilling his plan of reduced overall expenditures.

Many observers wondered if the club would look to mount a rebuild in the post-Shohei Ohtani era, but general manager Perry Minasian firmly stated at the start of the offseason that the club would not be doing that and was actually planning an aggressive offseason.

Thus far, the club has directed most of its efforts to the bullpen, signing Robert Stephenson, Matt Moore, Luis García, Adam Cimber and José Cisnero. On the position player side, their most notable addition was signing Aaron Hicks, who they will only have to pay the league minimum since the Yankees are still on the hook for his contract. Their most significant rotation addition was a $1MM signing of Zach Plesac, who has already been optioned to the minors.

Adding Martinez would be a clear upgrade to the club’s lineup, as he has a long track record of effective hitting and is coming off a 33-home run campaign with the Dodgers. The roster fit is a little awkward since Martinez is primarily a DH at this point, having only played 12 innings in the field over the last two years combined. The Angels technically have an open DH spot with Ohtani’s departure but may want to use that for their various aging or injury-prone players. Both Anthony Rendon and Mike Trout are the club’s two highest-paid players and each has missed significant time in the past few years as they have pushed into their 30s. Giving them occasional DH time and keeping them fresh might be preferable to locking up the DH spot with Martinez. Similar logic could apply to other players in their 30s like Brandon Drury or Hicks.

Previous reporting has suggested that Martinez turned down an offer of $14MM from the Giants while looking for either a two-year deal, a salary near $20MM or both. The Angels could accommodate that without reaching last year’s spending levels, though they would have to weigh the benefits of adding his bat to the lineup against the reduced ability to rest their other players, as well as the financial cost.

Snell would certainly cost more but it’s much easier to imagine him fitting onto the roster. The Halos have a rotation of Reid Detmers, Patrick Sandoval, Tyler Anderson, Griffin Canning and Chase Silseth. Everyone in that group can still be optioned apart from Anderson, while Silseth has just 81 major league innings under his belt. At this late stage in the offseason, Snell would likely have to miss the opening of the schedule anyway and injuries may have popped up by the time he’s fully stretched out. Even if he can’t be expected to repeat last year’s Cy Young-winning season that finished with a 2.25 ERA, he’s one of the best pitchers in the league and would upgrade any rotation.

The lefty reportedly turned down an offer of $150MM over six years from the Yankees, average annual value of $25MM, with Snell looking for either a salary in the $30MM range or a longer pact. MLBTR’s Contract Tracker shows that Anderson’s three-year, $39MM is the largest the Angels have given to a starting pitcher since 2012, both in terms of years and guaranteed dollars.

Despite that apparent distaste to giving lengthy free agent pacts to pitchers, it’s possible to imagine the two sides coming together. Snell is reportedly open to a shorter pact with higher AAVs and opt-outs, similar to those signed by fellow Boras clients Cody Bellinger and Matt Chapman. That type of deal is difficult for a club that has already spent a huge chunk of its budget or has tax bills to think about. The Yankees, for instance, would have to pay $33MM in taxes in order to give Snell a contract with a $30MM AAV this year. As mentioned above, the Halos have plenty of spending capacity before they even reach last year’s payroll or come close to the CBT line. Snell rejected a qualifying offer from the Padres so signing him would also cost the Angels their second-highest pick in this summer’s draft as well as $500K of their international bonus pool.

Until a deal comes together, the rotation will project to be that fivesome of Detmers, Sandoval, Anderson, Canning and Silseth. The club has been stretching out some other guys, such as Andrew Wantz and José Soriano, but they are apparently behind the front five. Manager Ron Washington tells Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register that Wantz and Soriano will stay stretched out for now but won’t earn a rotation spot unless there’s an injury to one of the other five guys.

As for the Mets, they have been connected to Martinez previously, but with the caveat that they were leaning towards giving at-bats to younger players like Brett Baty or Mark Vientos. Those two could split the third base job and the DH slot, with Joey Wendle perhaps filling in at third on defense from time to time while DJ Stewart could perhaps take some plate appearances as the DH.

Both of Baty and Vientos are optionable and could therefore be sent to the minors, but it makes sense that the Mets would want to give them some run at the big league level. Vientos has hit just .205/.255 /.354 in the majors but has slashed .290/.369/.554 at Triple-A over the last two years. Similarly, Baty has hit .210/.272/.325 in the big leagues but .311/.405/.554 in the minors over the past two years.

Since neither of them have much left to prove on the farm and the Mets are planning a sort of bridge year in 2024, there’s logic to letting them face big league pitchers to see if either takes a step forward. Signing Martinez would also come with a hefty financial cost, as the Mets are set to be third-time payors of the CBT and are above the fourth tier of penalization. That means they face a 110% tax on any money they add to their books. Giving Martinez $15MM for this year, just as an example, would also involve paying $16.5MM in taxes and a total expense of $31.5MM.

If the club is willing to consider such an expenditure, it would lengthen the lineup as they walk a tightrope in 2024. They mostly limited themselves to one-year deals this offseason as they look to field a competitive team but without sacrificing too much of their future flexibility. Signing Martinez could lengthen their lineup here in 2024 but would also come with the opportunity cost of having less playing time for guys like Baty and Vientos, as well as the aforementioned financial elements.

In addition to the Angels, Snell has continued to garner interest from other clubs, with the Giants connected to him earlier this month. The Yankees may revisit their talks with Snell if they get bad news regarding Gerrit Cole’s MRI, though recent reporting has suggested they may be more likely to trade for Dylan Cease due to his lower salary and tax hit. Martinez was recently connected to the Marlins, in addition to the talks with the Mets and Angels.

Latest On Blake Snell, Angels

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The Angels were linked to Snell back in December, with Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle writing at the time that Snell was “their priority” as a front-of-the-rotation pitcher to replace Shohei Ohtani.  There hasn’t been much public movement between the two sides since, though the Halos also haven’t done anything else to upgrade their rotation, as their offseason pitching moves have been largely focused on bullpen additions.  The Angels have traditionally been reluctant to sign pitchers to big multi-year commitments, though since Snell is reportedly open to taking a shorter-term contract (likely with at least one opt-out clause), this could help find common ground towards a landing spot in Anaheim.

In a recent edition of the Willard and Dibs podcast, ESPN’s Buster Olney predicted Blake Snell will sign with the Angels, based on “conversations with people…who know Blake” and Snell’s apparent enjoyment of pitching in southern California.  Olney added the natural “depending on where the money falls” caveat, and things could also change depending on how the pitching market might yet play out, in regards to injuries suddenly changing the outlook for a would-be contender.  Agent Scott Boras said this week that he’d been hearing from some new suitors in regards to Snell and Jordan Montgomery since Spring Training opened, though both pitchers remain unsigned as we’re now into the second week of March.

The Angels were linked to Snell back in December, with Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle writing at the time that Snell was “their priority” as a front-of-the-rotation pitcher to replace Shohei Ohtani.  There hasn’t been much public movement between the two sides since, though the Halos also haven’t done anything else to upgrade their rotation, as their offseason pitching moves have been largely focused on bullpen additions.  The Angels have traditionally been reluctant to sign pitchers to big multi-year commitments, though since Snell is reportedly open to taking a shorter-term contract (likely with at least one opt-out clause), this could help find common ground towards a landing spot in Anaheim.

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