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Angels’ Griffin Canning, Chris Rodriguez Out For Season

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Angels right-handers Griffin Canning and Chris Rodríguez will not pitch this season, trainer Mike Frostad told reporters (including Sam Blum of the Athletic). It’s a lost year for both, as they’ve each spent the entire 2022 campaign on the injured list.

Canning is now over a year since his last game action. He suffered a back injury while on optional assignment to Triple-A Salt Lake in July 2021, and he was shut down for the year not long after. The 26-year-old suffered a setback in May while throwing a simulated game in trying to build his way back. Canning declined to undergo surgery at the time in hopes of making it back to the mound this year, but that unfortunately won’t come to pass.

The only silver lining is that Canning has accrued a full year of big league pay and service time this season. The former second-round pick entered the season with two-plus years of service, so he’ll be eligible for arbitration for the first time this winter. Canning won’t be in line for much of a raise, as he carries a 4.73 ERA through 209 1/3 career innings and had no work in his platform year. Depending on his health status, it’s possible the Angels nevertheless non-tender him rather than devote him a 40-man roster spot for the offseason.

Injuries have been all too familiar for Canning, who’d been one of the Angels better pitching prospects during his time in the system. Despite the lackluster ERA, he’s shown some of that promise during his big league stint. Canning has a slightly above-average 23.8% strikeout rate and quality 13.2% swinging strike percentage as a major leaguer. He still seems to have mid-rotation upside if healthy, but he’d also lost an extended chunk of the 2019 season due to elbow inflammation before these back issues.

Rodríguez underwent surgery on his throwing shoulder last November. The team announced at the time the procedure would cost him most of this season, so it’s not especially surprising that he won’t make it back to Angel Stadium this year. Frostad indicated Rodríguez is still throwing at the club’s Arizona complex and generally progressing well, so it seems they simply doesn’t want to press him late in a non-competitive season.

The 24-year-old made his MLB debut last season, working 29 2/3 innings over 15 appearances in a multi-inning relief role. He posted a 3.64 ERA, compensating for mediocre strikeout and walk numbers with a robust 54.7% ground-ball percentage. As with Canning, Rodríguez collected a full year of service and salary in 2022. He won’t reach arbitration-eligibility until after the 2024 campaign at the earliest.

Deadline Recap: American League

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A wild trade deadline has now passed, with contenders fortifying themselves for a World Series run or a playoff push, rebuilding teams looking towards the future, and some teams in both camps being more cautious in their moves.  Here is the recap of every American League club’s most notable trades of the last few days, with the NL wrap-up coming on Wednesday….

New York: Though the Yankees’ rotation had been a big reason for their first-half dominance, the team still added Frankie Montas (one of the biggest trade candidates of the last few months) to reinforce the pitching staff.  Bringing in Montas and reliever Lou Trivino cost New York four noteworthy prospects, yet the Yankees were able to hang onto everyone in their true top tier.  Beyond Trivino, the Yankees further bolstered the relief corps by landing Scott Effross from the Cubs.  Acquiring Montas also gave New York the rotation depth for a fascinating one-for-one trade, as Jordan Montgomery was sent to the Cardinals for Gold Glove-winning center fielder Harrison Bader.

Assuming Bader returns from his current bout of plantar fasciitis in his normal form, he’ll form quite a defensive tandem with another reigning Gold Glover in Andrew Benintendi, acquired from the Royals earlier in the week.  The struggling Joey Gallo was subtracted from the outfield mix, as New York sent Gallo (a big get at last year’s trade deadline) to the Dodgers for pitching prospect Clayton Beeter.  Gallo is an example of how sometimes the best deadline moves on paper don’t work out, but the Yankees look to have fortified themselves well for a return to the World Series.

Houston: The Astros are in hot pursuit of the Yankees for top spot in the AL, and also made multiple moves to shore up some weaker spots on the roster.  With catcher Martin Maldonado and first baseman Yuli Gurriel both struggling at the plate, Houston brought in two longtime faces of AL East franchises — former Oriole stalwart Trey Mancini and former Red Sox catcher Christian Vazquez, for the combined cost of three prospects and young center fielder Jose Siri.

The Astros also dipped into their rotation depth to move veteran Jake Odorizzi for an experienced bullpen arm, moving Odorizzi to the Braves for Will Smith.  One need Houston didn’t address was center field, so it looks like the team will stick with the tandem of Jake Meyers and Chas McCormick down the stretch.

Seattle: The Mariners are chomping at the bit to finally make it back to the playoffs for the first time since 2001, and this aggressiveness manifested itself in one of the summer’s biggest blockbusters.  After months of speculation, the Reds finally moved Luis Castillo, and it was the Mariners who stepped up with a big package of four prospects (including top-50 types Noelvi Marte and Edwin Arroyo) to land the All-Star right-hander.

Castillo only adds to a rotation that was already among baseball’s best, and on deadline day itself, the M’s patched a few more holes.  Curt Casali and Jake Lamb were acquired for bench depth, and Matthew Boyd was acquired from the Giants as an intriguing flier for September.  Boyd has missed the entire season rehabbing from flexor tendon surgery, but if he is able to return, he projects as a left-handed option for a bullpen short on southpaws.

Minnesota: Speaking of trading for Reds starters, the Twins nabbed Cincinnati’s other available (and controllable through 2023) righty in Tyler Mahle, after checking in on most of the bigger starters available.  While Castillo’s better track record meant the Mariners had to pay more, Minnesota’s concession was nothing to sneeze at, with three young prospects headlined by infielder Spencer Steer.  Still, having Mahle for as many as two postseason runs was worth the cost in the Twins’ view, and Mahle should only help a Twins rotation that has already been quite respectable amidst several injuries.

The bullpen was the greater pitching need, and the upgrades came at the cost of a total of five prospects.  But, the Twins made two significant trades in landing Jorge Lopez from the Orioles and Michael Fulmer from the Tigers.  The duo could instantly step right in as Minnesota’s primary late-game combo, or at least take some of the pressure off rookie Jhoan Duran and second-year hurler Griffin Jax.  The Twins also got Sandy Leon in a minor trade with the Guardians, bringing some catching depth on board with Ryan Jeffers still injured.

Toronto: The Blue Jays also mostly checked in on pitching, reportedly coming close to landing Noah Syndergaard and also being linked to such pitchers as Raisel Iglesias, Michael Fulmer, Luis Castillo, and Frankie Montas.  Instead of a headline-grabbing move, Toronto settled for reinforcing the bullpen by acquiring the hard-throwing Zach Pop and former Jay Anthony Bass from the Marlins, and getting swingman Mitch White from the Dodgers.  The Jays had to move some of their own young pitching to get White, and dealt top-100 prospect (but struggling at Triple-A) Jordan Groshans to Miami.

The Cubs’ Ian Happ was frequently mentioned as a Blue Jays target leading up to deadline day, yet Happ wasn’t dealt anywhere, and the Jays instead obtained longtime Royal Whit Merrifield.  The former All-Star is struggling through his worst season, but the Jays are hoping that a change of scenery will help Merrifield get back into form, and add depth at multiple positions around the diamond.  The trade with Kansas City was presumably made with the knowledge that Merrifield will be able to play in Toronto, as he recently missed a Royals/Blue Jays series because he wasn’t vaccinated.

Tampa Bay: Beset by injuries in the outfield, the Rays adjusted by acquiring Siri from the Astros (for young righties Seth Johnson and Jayden Murray) and David Peralta from the Diamondbacks (for catching prospect Christian Cerda).  While fan favorite outfielder Brett Phillips was designated for assignment and then traded to the Orioles to make room, the Rays feel they’ve reinforced their lineup — the weak link on a wild card contender with excellent pitching.

Garrett Cleavinger and Jeremy Walker also acquired from the Dodgers and Giants to bring a couple more arms into the pipeline.  The Rays did at least explore a real eye-opening move in checking in with the Nationals about Juan Soto, and one position left unaddressed was the catching position, though Tampa reportedly had interest in Willson Contreras.

Cleveland: The Guardians are another team with a longstanding need at catcher, and it seemed like Cleveland was getting close to a deal for A’s backstop Sean Murphy — especially since the Guards were reportedly open to making a big move by offering one of their controllable starters.  However, though the Guardians were said to be looking hard for pitching of their own and also flirted with the idea of an offer for Juan Soto, all of the talk resulted in a very quiet deadline.

Other than moving Sandy Leon to Minnesota, the Guardians didn’t make a single trade.  Especially with so many other contenders fortifying their rosters, the Guards’ inaction was a risky move for a team in the thick of the AL Central and wild card races.  Cleveland is counting on its internal mix to step up over the last two months, but if the Guardians fall short of the postseason, there will be some what-ifs asked about this deadline.

Chicago: In somewhat similar fashion to the Guardians, the White Sox are in the AL Central/wild card races, checked in on a big name (Shohei Ohtani), focused on pitching additions (linked to such familiar Chicago names as Jose Quintana, David Robertson, and Mychal Givens) and…ended up coming away without much on deadline day.  White Sox GM Rick Hahn even openly stated that he was “disappointed” at his team’s relative inaction.  The Sox did add some needed left-handed depth to the bullpen in landing Jake Diekman from the Red Sox in an exchange for backup catching Reese McGuire, even if Diekman’s control problems don’t exactly promise drama-free innings.

Boston: With a dismal July record, the Red Sox were exploring trading their veteran players leading up to the deadline, and to some extent this did happen when Christian Vazquez and Jake Diekman.  But, the likes of Nathan Eovaldi, J.D. Martinez, and Rich Hill are all still in Red Sox uniforms, and the Sox even added two more veterans in Tommy Pham and Eric Hosmer.  In Pham’s case, he’ll likely be a rental player due to his mutual option for 2023, but Hosmer is signed through 2025.

In an odd turn of events, Hosmer used his no-trade clause to refuse heading to the Nationals as part of the Juan Soto blockbuster, and has now landed in Boston along with two prospects in exchange for former first-rounder Jay Groome.  Since the Padres are paying virtually all of Hosmer’s salary, in a way it’s kind of a no-lose proposition for the Red Sox, except for the fact that Hosmer has been more or less a league-average player for the last four-plus seasons.  It wouldn’t be a surprise to see the Sox look to flip Hosmer again after the season, but for now, the idea is that Hosmer and Pham can help the club regroup and make a late run at a wild card slot.

Baltimore: The surprisingly competitive Orioles entered today’s play 2.5 games out of a wild card berth, but rather than make a true playoff push, the O’s kept their eyes focused on the future.  As a result, team leader Trey Mancini and breakout closer Jorge Lopez were each traded, with a total of six pitching prospects coming back as further reinforcements to Baltimore’s minor league system.  The three-team Mancini trade involving the Astros and Rays also unofficially netted the Orioles Brett Phillips, as the O’s acquired Phillips as backup outfield depth after Tampa Bay designated him for assignment.  It surely isn’t the outcome that Baltimore fans wanted to see after so many years of rebuilding, but with the steps forward the team has made in 2022, it now seems possible that the Orioles could again be on the buyer side of the ledger by the 2023 deadline.

Texas: Another “wait until next year” team, the Rangers spent a ton on its roster in the offseason but 2023 seemed like the real target point for the club’s return to contention.  Perhaps reflecting this in-between state, Texas didn’t do much buying or selling at the deadline, apart from moving reliever Matt Bush to the Brewers in a swap for the versatile Mark Mathias and left-handed pitching prospect Antoine Kelly.

Detroit: 2022 was the go-for-it year for the Tigers, yet a swath of injuries and slumping players quickly put the team back into seller mode.  Reflecting the disastrous nature of the season, the Tigers were reportedly willing to discuss “just about everyone” in trade talks, but rather than a truly transformative move, Detroit played it pretty safe on the trade front.  Impending free agents Michael Fulmer (to the Twins) and Robbie Grossman (to the Braves) were dealt, but though Detroit had plenty of good bullpen arms on offer, GM Al Avila felt “the market was flooded with relievers,” limiting the Tigers’ leverage.

Kansas City: Trading Carlos Santana to the Mariners in late June gave the Royals an early jump on their trade plans, and they ended up making more significant deals in swapping Andrew Benintendi to the Yankees and longtime Royal Whit Merrifield to Toronto.  It was pretty easy to figure out Kansas City’s goal — six of the seven young players acquired in those three trades were pitchers, adding more arms to all levels of the farm system.  There was plenty of interest in other Kansas City veterans like Michael A. Taylor or Josh Staumont, but the Royals to some extent held steady on a true housecleaning.

The Royals also brought in a more experienced arm in Luke Weaver, giving K.C. a pitcher (who may used either as as a reliever or starter) controlled through the 2023 season.  For Weaver, the Royals sent the Diamondbacks Emmanuel Rivera, who was likely an odd man out amidst Kansas City’s multitude of infield options.  The Royals also acquired Brent Rooker to help fill the holes in the outfield, landing Rooker from the Padres for backup catcher Cam Gallagher.

Oakland: The Athletics have been in rebuild mode for months, and Frankie Montas was finally moved after countless rumors.  As in their offseason moves of star players, the A’s continued to pursue a mix of big league-ready and longer-term prospects, getting four young pitchers back in return from the Yankees for Montas and Lou Trivino.  JP Sears has already made his MLB debut and Ken Waldichuk is the highest-ranked prospect of the quartet.

With Montas so widely expected to be dealt, his situation took up much of the buzz surrounding the Athletics, though the club also looked into moving Sean Murphy and Ramon Laureano.  Since Murphy and Laureano are each under arbitration control through 2025, however, the A’s didn’t quite have as much urgency in working out a trade immediately.  Despite those years of control, it’s probably safe to expect Oakland to continue taking calls on both players this winter as the A’s continue their latest roster overhaul.

Los Angeles: Another disappointing season led the Angels to take perhaps more of a bigger-picture view of their roster, as the team at least heard out other clubs’ offers for Shohei Ohtani, even if nobody met the Halos’ understandably huge asking price.  However, the Angels were still quite busy, and reloaded by dealing away Noah Syndergaard and Brandon Marsh to the Phillies, and Raisel Iglesias to the Braves.

Getting Iglesias’ remaining $51MM in salary off the books is itself a win for Anaheim, but the team also obtained a top young catching prospect (Logan O’Hoppe), a controllable starter (Tucker Davidson), a familiar face of a veteran pitcher (Jesse Chavez), an outfield prospect (Jadiel Sanchez) and a lottery ticket of a former first overall pick (Mickey Moniak).  It is an interesting array that falls a bit short of a true reload for 2023, but it gives the Angels some options, flexibility, and plans for the future as they work out their next steps.

Braves To Acquire Raisel Iglesias

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The Braves pulled off a massive buzzer-beater just before the deadline, acquiring closer Raisel Iglesias from the Angels in exchange for pitching prospect Tucker Davidson and righty Jesse Chavez, reports Robert Murray of FanSided (Twitter link). Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic tweets that the Braves will pay the remainder of Iglesias’ contract — a four-year, $58MM deal that covers the 2022-25 seasons.

It’s a last-second surprise to bring one the game’s most established late-inning relievers to an already deep Atlanta bullpen. Iglesias has tailed off since an outstanding start to the season but still possesses a reasonable 4.04 ERA with an excellent 32.9% strikeout rate and a 6.2% walk rate so far this season. Dating back to 2017 — Iglesias’ first as a full-time closer (then with the Reds) — he’s pitched to a combined 2.99 ERA while striking out 32% of his opponents against just a 7.1% walk rate.

Iglesias’ 95.3 mph average fastball is down about a mile per hour over the 2021 season, and his 14.9% swinging-strike rate is the second-lowest mark he’s posted as a full-time reliever. Those are both at least minor red flags, particularly when paired with his recent slump, but for most of the season Iglesias has looked the part of a quality leverage reliever, even if his numbers have dipped a bit from last year’s career-best performance.

Braves GM Alex Anthopoulos has a history of acquiring high-priced closers.  He recently shipped out the marginalized Will Smith, the top reliever from the 2019-20 free agent class, for starter Jake Odorizzi.  In March of this year, he signed Kenley Jansen to a one-year, $16MM deal.  The Iglesias trade is reminiscent of a Braves deadline deal from three years ago, when Anthopoulos acquired Mark Melancon from the Giants and was surprisingly willing to take on all of his remaining contract.  In Iglesias, the Braves take on over $51MM through 2025.  Anthopoulos explained today, “We had a lot of things in the works. Iglesias is someone we had our eye on and it came together really late, like with two minutes to go.”

The Braves now boast a high-priced tandem to close out games in Jansen and Iglesias, as well as A.J. Minter, Collin McHugh, and Tyler Matzek.  Rookie Dylan Lee is making an impact as well, succeeding in high leverage spots of late.

For the Angels, the Iglesias deal serves as an escape hatch from an expensive contract.  Ultimately the Angels will only pay out about 11% of the contract they entered into eight months ago.  The Angels are in an odd place, as they’ll fail to reach the playoffs for the eighth consecutive year.  They shed over $58MM in contractual commitments for Iglesias and Noah Syndergaard today, yet they owe over $75MM to Mike Trout and Anthony Rendon next year and only control MVP candidate Shohei Ohtani for two more seasons.

Angels owner Arte Moreno allowed GM Perry Minasian to listen to offers for Ohtani in recent weeks, but decided not to pull the trigger.  Ohtani’s future, and the direction of the Angels in general, will be a question looming over their offseason.

Aside from bailing on a large financial commitment, the Halos add Davidson, a 26-year-old southpaw with Major League experience.  Prior to the season, Baseball America considered Davidson a 45-grade prospect, a potential back-end starter with perhaps three average pitches.  Currently working in his third and longest stint at Triple-A, Davidson has a 4.59 ERA owing to a high home run per flyball rate, but he’s got a strong 20.9 K-BB%.

Chavez, soon to turn 39, returns to the Angels after spending the 2017 season with the team.  The Angels are one of nine teams for which the veteran reliever has pitched in his venerable 15-year career.

Phillies Acquire Noah Syndergaard

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The Phillies have announced that they have acquired Noah Syndergaard from the Angels. Outfielders Mickey Moniak and Jadiel Sanchez will head to Los Angeles in return.

With the Phillies in the thick of a playoff race and the Angels well out of it, they make good trade partners. In fact, this is the second deal of the day between the Angels and Phillies, after they already swapped Brandon Marsh for Logan O’Hoppe.

Syndergaard, 29, was an excellent pitcher for the Mets from 2015 to 2019, with a 3.31 ERA in that time along with a 49.1% ground ball rate, 26.4% strikeout rate and 5.6% walk rate. Unfortunately, Tommy John surgery wiped out his 2020 and almost all of his 2021, with “Thor” returning to pitch just two innings late in the season.

Despite almost no action for two years, the Mets extended an $18.4MM qualifying offer to Syndergaard, which he turned down. The Angels decided to bet on his previous track record and signed him to a one-year, $21MM deal, also surrendering a draft pick in the process.

Syndergaard is having a quality season for the Halos, though not quite up to his previous standard. Through 15 starts and 80 innings on the year, he has a 3.83 ERA, 44.9% strikeout rate, 6.5% walk rate but much-diminished 18.9% strikeout rate. His velocity isn’t quite as strong as before and that strikeout dip is significant, but he’s still filling up the strike zone and keeping runs off the board.

For the Phillies, their rotation has been without Zach Eflin for the past month or so due to a knee injury, and he was transferred to the 60-day injured list earlier today. Syndergaard will take his spot in the rotation next to Aaron Nola, Zack Wheeler, Kyle Gibson and Ranger Suarez.

For the Angels, Moniak essentially becomes a replacement for Marsh, who was dealt to the Phillies earlier today. The first overall pick of the 2016 draft, he hasn’t quite lived up to his prospect hype thus far. In 162 career games over the past three seasons, he’s slashed just .129/.214/.172. However, he can still be optioned for the remainder of this season and another season as well, meaning the Angels can give him plenty of time in Triple-A to try to get back on track. He also had less than a year of MLB service time coming into this season, meaning they can keep him on the team for years to come.

As for Sanchez, 21, the switch-hitting outfielder was selected by the Phillies in the 12th round of the 2019 draft. He landed the #19 spot on Baseball America’s list of top Philly prospects at their most recent update, with BA noting his excellent exit velocity in the minors. In 38 A-ball games this year, he’s hitting .236/.286/.429, wRC+ of 101.

Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic first reported that the Phillies were close to a deal for Syndergaard. Jayson Stark, also of The Athletic, was first on the return (Twitter links).

Phillies, Blue Jays Reportedly Finalists In Noah Syndergaard Bidding

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4:22pm: MLB.com’s Jon Morosi tweets that the Syndergaard bidding is down to the Phillies and Blue Jays.

8:09am: The Phillies are believed to have Syndergaard “at the top of their list” as they seek rotation upgrades, tweets Jayson Stark of The Athletic.

12:43am: The Blue Jays are “making a play” for Angels starter Noah Syndergaard, tweets Jon Heyman of the New York Post. Blue Jays Nation’s Brendon Kuhn was first to report the club’s contact with the Halos. Jon Morosi of MLB.com tweets that the Jays, Braves and previously-reported Phillies were among the teams with recent interest in Syndergaard, although he notes that Atlanta’s acquisition of Jake Odorizzi could take them out of the market.

Morosi suggests a Syndergaard trade before the 6:00pm EST deadline is becoming “more likely.” That’s not particularly surprising, as the 29-year-old has looked like a strong trade candidate for weeks. The Halos have fallen well out of playoff contention, and Syndergaard is an impending free agent. Los Angeles also couldn’t tag him with a qualifying offer next offseason. Syndgeraard received and rejected a QO from the Mets last year, and the collective bargaining agreement prohibits players from receiving a QO multiple times in their careers. Should the Angels hang onto the righty past the trade deadline, they could lose him to free agency for no compensation.

It seems likelier that general manager Perry Minasian and his staff will find a contender willing to relinquish some future considerations to add Syndergaard for the stretch run. He’s made 15 starts and worked 80 innings of 3.83 ERA ball. He doesn’t throw as hard or miss as many bats as he did during his early-career days with the Mets, but he’s a quality strike-thrower who induces a decent number of grounders. Syndergaard still looks like a solid mid-rotation arm whom some clubs could view as a possible Game 3 or Game 4 playoff starter.

Syndergaard is among the costlier options on the market, however. He signed a $21MM deal with the Halos last winter, and approximately $7.5MM of that tab has yet to be paid out. Perhaps the Angels will be willing to kick in some money to facilitate a trade, but if they’re insistent on an acquiring club picking up the remainder of the money, the prospect return could be fairly minimal.

The Cardinals landed José Quintana from the Pirates tonight, subtracting one of the more appealing rental arms from the market. It’s a rather thin group of impending free agent starters, particularly if the Red Sox and Giants elect to hold onto Nathan Eovaldi and Carlos Rodón, respectively. Beyond Syndergaard, perhaps the top remaining rental starter likely to change hands is Drew Smyly. Controllable arms who could be available in the hours leading up to the deadline include Tyler Mahle, Pablo López and Zach Plesac.

Phillies To Acquire Brandon Marsh

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The Phillies and Angels are discussing a deal that would send Brandon Marsh to Philadelphia, per Robert Murray of FanSided. The deal has been agreed to, per Jeff Passan of ESPN. Murray adds that catching prospect Logan O’Hoppe will be heading the other way.

The Phillies have been known to be looking for a center field addition for some time and seems like they have found one in Marsh. The 24-year-old was a high-profile prospect in recent years, having been selected in the second round of the 2016 draft. He then hit his way up the minor leagues, showing a penchant for walks but also a few too many strikeouts, while providing excellent outfield defense. That earned him a spot on Baseball America’s top 100 prospects, coming in at #43 in 2020 and #38 last year.

Since reaching the majors last year, his output has been a bit of a mixed bag. He’s still providing very good defense, having already accrued ten Outs Above Average in 163 career games. However, his strikeout numbers have grown when facing the higher caliber of pitching in the major leagues. His 35.7% career strikeout rate is well above league average, which is 22.3% this year. He’s hit .226/.284/.353 in his big league tenure thus far, producing a wRC+ of 82, or 18% below league average. However, he’s still been worth 1.8 wins above replacement, in the estimation of FanGraphs.

For the Phils, they’ve given most of their center field playing time to Odubel Herrera and Matt Vierling this year, neither of whom have done enough to secure the job. Herrera has hit .238/.279/.378 for a wRC+ of 81, with defensive metrics split on his glovework. He has 3 Outs Above Average on the year but -2 Defensive Runs Saved. Vierling, meanwhile, has hit .240/.301/.335 for a 79 wRC+, with 1 OAA and -2 DRS.

Marsh may not provide an immediate upgrade with the bat but should at least have a floor of improved defense. Despite their 55-47 record that has them clinging to the final NL Wild Card spot, the Phils are one of the worst defensive teams in the league. Their -17 OAA is 27th among MLB teams and their -24 DRS is 26th. Marsh will finish this year with between one and two years of MLB service time, meaning he still won’t have reached arbitration eligibility and will come with five remaining years of control.

As for the Angels, their 43-59 record has them well out of contention and clear sellers. Marsh wasn’t an obvious trade candidate given his lengthy stretch of remaining control, but they’ve dealt with an outfield logjam this year. Marsh has lined up next to Mike Trout and Taylor Ward most nights, with Jo Adell getting squeezed down to the minors. With Marsh now out of the picture, that should clear some runway for Adell to get more consistent MLB playing time.

They will also add an interesting catching prospect to their system in O’Hoppe. The 22-year-old was selected by the Phillies in the 23rd round of the 2018 draft. Since then, he’s been considered one of the top 30 prospects in the system by Baseball America in four straight seasons, climbing all the way up to #3 at this year’s midseason report. On their most recent list of the top 100 prospects across the entire sport, he came in at #89. FanGraphs is even more bullish, giving him the #50 slot. He has the reputation of a strong defensive catcher but has also been hitting well in the minors. He’s spent the entirety of this season in Double-A, hitting .269/.385/.492 for a 139 wRC+.

Blue Jays Interested In Raisel Iglesias

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The Blue Jays are active in their hunt for pitching and have shown interest in Angels closer Raisel Iglesias, reports Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet.

The fact that the Blue Jays are interested in Iglesias is not surprising. For one thing, they are known to be on the hunt for bullpen upgrades, having already been connected to relievers such as Michael Fulmer and acquiring Zach Pop and Anthony Bass earlier today. The team’s relievers as a whole have been middling this year, with a 3.89 ERA that’s 15th in the majors, a 4.20 FIP that’s 25th, 3.96 xFIP that’s 15th and a 3.64 SIERA that’s also 15th. For a team with postseason aspirations, there’s certainly room for improvement there.

Iglesias is also a fairly logical hurler for them to covet, as he’s been one of the best closers in baseball over the past six years. Since the start of the 2017 season, he has 150 saves, trailing only Kenley Jansen and Edwin Diaz in that timeframe. In that same window, Iglesias has a 2.99 ERA, 32% strikeout rate and 7.1% walk rate.

However, it would be surprising to see the Angels consider a move, given that they just signed him to a four-year, $58MM deal about eight months ago. Still, with a 43-59 record and a lost season, perhaps the Angels would consider shedding some payroll by subtracting from their bullpen.

Angels Planning To Keep Shohei Ohtani, No Longer Listening To Offers

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The Angels have listened to offers on reigning AL MVP Shohei Ohtani for the past several days, but Jon Heyman of the New York Post reports that they’re no longer doing so. The Yankees, Padres and White Sox were among the teams to submit trade offers for Ohtani, per the report, but Heyman writes that owner Arte Moreno ultimately proved “unwilling” to part with Ohtani.

The fact that Ohtani is staying put is hardly shocking. Even when reports emerged of that the Angels were listening to trade offers, it still seemed unlikely that a deal would come together. Given Ohtani’s unprecedented contributions to the team in recent years, it was always expected that a massive package would have to be put on the table in order for the Angels to pull the trigger on a deal. With the Angels mired in another miserable season that’s seen them fall well out of contention, it made sense to listen to offers on the superstar given that he’s now just over a year away from free agency. Despite those three clubs apparently putting together serious offers, it seems none of them were close to the understandably high asking price of the Angels.

The reigning AL MVP, Ohtani is putting together another historic season to add to his already impressive list of accolades. His power has fallen off slightly, as his 22 home runs on the year puts him on pace to fall short of last year’s 46. But apart from that, his .255/.352/.495 slash line this year isn’t too far from last year’s .257/.372/.592. His 135 wRC+ this year is seventeen points behind last year, but still 35% better than the league average hitter. On the pitching side of things, he’s actually improved relative to the previous season. He’s dropped his ERA from 3.18 to 2.81, increased his strikeout rate from 29.3% to 36.4% and lowered his walk rate from 8.3% to 5.8%.

Given that he’s producing excellent results on both sides of the ball and making a modest $5.5MM salary, it’s hard to fathom a team that wouldn’t be interested in making use of his services. The Yankees are known to be looking for rotation help, having checked in on some of the top available names like Frankie Montas and Luis Castillo, before the latter was traded to the Mariners. They’ve also checked in on offensive upgrades, recently acquiring Andrew Benintendi. Acquiring Ohtani would have crowded the DH mix a little, though the Yanks were surely willing to find a way to work with that situation for such a historic player.

The Padres already have a rotation surplus but have been considering trading away from it as a way to reduce their payroll commitments. It’s possible that they could have combined an Ohtani trade with a trade of Blake Snell or Mike Clevinger, in order to get Ohtani into the rotation and then also upgrade the lineup.

The White Sox have a solid five-man rotation right now but have been exploring the market for upgrades anyway, with Michael Kopech perhaps working his way towards some load management as the season goes on. He’s already thrown 88 1/3 innings this year after only throwing 69 1/3 frames over the three previous seasons combined.

Regardless of how much sense Ohtani would have made for those teams, it doesn’t appear as though the Angels came close to a deal that they gave serious consideration to. It’s perfectly logical for them to want to hang onto such an unprecedented talent, though this decision won’t provide any long-term clarity. The Angels are still 43-59 and destined to finish another season watching the postseason from home. That will leave 2023 as the club’s last chance to build a winning roster around Ohtani, unless they are able to work out an extension.

That latter course will surely be appealing to Angels’ fans but will come with complications for the front office. The latest reporting indicated that Ohtani and his camp were looking to surpass Max Scherzer’s record for annual average value of a contract, $43.3MM. That number would be added to a payroll that already includes Mike Trout getting over $37MM per year through 2028 while Anthony Rendon getting paid similarly through 2026. That could leave the Halos paying around $120MM per season to just three players. That wouldn’t leave a lot of wiggle room for a team that’s never run an Opening Day payroll above $190MM. If an extension can’t be worked out, then perhaps Ohtani’s name will show up in trade rumors in more serious fashion one year from now.

Latest On Mike Trout’s Back Injury

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Mike Trout has been out of action for almost three weeks due to an issue that was eventually diagnosed as “a costovertebral dysfunction” in his back. A few days ago, Angels head trainer Mike Frostad spoke to reporters and said that Trout may have to manage the issue “not just through the rest of this season, but also through the rest of his career probably.”

Despite that ominous-sounding quote, Trout himself seemed far less concerned, even though he was set to see a back specialist. With that meeting now having taken place, it seems that the initial concerns were perhaps overblown, with Rhett Bollinger of MLB.com reporting that Trout got encouraging news from the specialist. After speaking with Dr. Robert Watkins, Trout is going to begin rotational exercises this week and hopefully start swinging a bat not long after.

“It went from my career is over to hopefully I’m going to play soon,” Trout said, adding that he’s already started a workout regimen of core exercises and isn’t really feeling the injury anymore. “It’s pretty much gone right now. It’s pretty promising.”

With the club sitting at 43-59, it seems it will be another lost season for the Halos. meaning there’s no need to rush Trout back and that he can ramp up activities at whatever pace is best for his long-term health. Though he won’t be able to make a huge impact in terms of the standings, returning before the end of this season would surely be an encouraging sign for the Angels and their fans.

2023 figures to be another important season for the franchise, as it will potentially be the team’s last with two-way superstar Shohei Ohtani, who is slated to reach free agency after that campaign. (The Angels have reportedly been considering trade offers on Ohtani but a deal still seems unlikely to come together.) Despite having the superstar tandem of Trout and Ohtani in recent years, the Angels haven’t had a winning record since 2015 and haven’t made the postseason since 2014. They are unlikely to break either of those droughts here in 2022, meaning next year could be the last chance to do so with both Trout and Ohtani on the same team, barring an Ohtani extension.

Trout is still capable of producing elite numbers but has been significantly hampered by injuries for a second consecutive season. Last year, he got into 36 contests and hit .333/.466/.624 for a wRC+ of 190 before a calf injury ended his season. This year, he’s already more than doubled last year’s games played number, getting into 79 so far. His .270/.368/.599 batting line is a bit below last year’s pace, but his 167 wRC+ is still among the best in the majors.

Latest On Phillies’ Pitching Search

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The Phillies are looking to add a front-of-the-rotation type of arm, with The Athletic’s Jayson Stark (Twitter links) writing that the Phils want “a starter who can start a playoff game.”  To this end, the club has been linked to such arms as the Reds’ Tyler Mahle, the Angels’ Noah Syndergaard, and the Pirates’ Jose Quintana — three of the most prominent starting pitchers remaining on the trade market.

Mahle is controlled through the 2023 season, while Syndergaard and Quintana would be pure rentals as players who are scheduled for free agency this winter.  As such, Mahle would surely cost the most in a trade, and Syndergaard carries a bit of a financial hit, with roughly $7.2MM still owed to him over the remainder of the season.  By contrast, Quintana is owed only around $675K for the rest of 2022, but Quintana also has a shaky track record over the last few seasons before righting himself this year in Pittsburgh.

Dave Dombrowski, Philadelphia’s president of baseball operations, suggested earlier this week that his team was hoping to bolster the rotation, but the Phils were also hesitant about dealing any of their top prospects.  Stark backs up that assertion, noting that the Phillies haven’t been willing to move any of Mick Abel, Andrew Painter or Logan O’Hoppe (the Phils’ consensus top-three prospects in the view of Baseball America and MLB Pipeline), or right-handed pitching propects Griff McGarry or Ben Brown.  BA ranks McGarry fourth and Brown seventh in their ranking of Phillies prospects, while Pipeline is a little less bullish, ranking McGarry eighth and Brown 26th.

Since the Phillies’ system isn’t considered to be too deep overall, it isn’t any surprise that the front office isn’t keen on parting ways with any of the relatively few premium names on hand in the minors.  However, as Stark observes, the Phils will find it difficult to obtain higher-tier pitching unless they’re open to trading prospects.  Given the amount of interest Mahle has received from around the league, and given what the Reds just obtained from the Mariners in the Luis Castillo deal, it would seem almost impossible for the Phillies to land Mahle without at least one of the blue-chip prospects.

Syndergaard and Quintana would come at a lower price tag as rental players, but Stark notes that Dombrowski also prefers controllable starters.  This was Philadelphia’s strategy in landing Kyle Gibson from the Rangers at last year’s deadline, and landing a starter who is controlled through at least 2023 would give the Phillies some cover since Gibson and Zach Eflin could both be free agents this winter.

The rotation seems to be Philadelphia’s top priority at this point, as Stark says that the Phillies aren’t focused on any bullpen moves for the moment.  This is a little surprising given the Phils’ longstanding needs in the relief corps, but it could be that Dombrowski is first exploring his options with the starter market before turning to the (relatively) easier route of adding relievers.  Also, virtually every contender in baseball is looking for relievers right now, so Dombrowski could be opting to make some late strikes after the first wave or two of bullpen trades have been made.

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