Luis Garcia

Angels Notes: Rengifo, Ward, Pillar, Garcia, Trout

By Mark Polishuk | July 29, 2024 at 9:48pm CDT

Reports earlier this month indicated that the Angels were planning to move only their impending free agents at the deadline, and were looking to retain players controlled through the 2025 season or beyond. The Halos have stuck to this plan to date by moving only Carlos Estevez to the Phillies, but it seems like the club is preparing to deal some longer-term assets, as rival executives tell MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand that both Luis Rengifo and Taylor Ward are expected to be dealt. “The Angels are listening to offers on” the duo, Feinsand writes.

The Red Sox and Dodgers are both reportedly in on Rengifo, the Pirates have had talks about Ward, and the Royals have previously been linked to both players in trade speculation. With some interest percolating around the league, it stood to reason that the Angels might back down from whatever rentals-only stance they might’ve held earlier in the summer, if such a stance was even anything more than a negotiating tactic.

It is hard at this point to see the Angels returning to contention as early as next season, and therefore there seems to be little reason why the team wouldn’t be open to moving two of their better trade assets. Rengifo is under arbitration control through the 2025 season and Ward won’t be a free agent until after the 2026 season, so this extra control would only add to their trade value, rather than perhaps act as a reason why Los Angeles should try to keep them with so many other glaring needs on the roster.

In terms of the Halos’ rental players, the New York Post’s Jon Heyman writes (X link) that Kevin Pillar is getting “lots of interest” from rival teams. Playing in a part-time capacity since signing with the Halos in April, Pillar is hitting .287/.343/.481 over 199 plate appearances — this works out to a 130 wRC+, miles above the 86 wRC+ Pillar posted in his 11 previous Major League seasons.

It counts as going out on a high note for a player who is planning to retire at season’s end, and joining a contender would be a nice way to perhaps add a championship ring to Pillar’s resume. Even if some regression is probably inevitable given how Pillar is hitting so far above his career norms, the veteran can still provide outfield depth along with whatever he can do at the plate.

The Orioles are known to be looking for right-handed hitting outfielders, and Heyman writes in a separate X post that Pillar is one of the names on Baltimore’s list of possible targets. The Orioles added Cristian Pache as part of the Austin Hays trade with the Phillies, but the 2024 version of Pillar would bring a lot more pop than a defensive specialist like Pache.

The Estevez trade got the ball rolling on the Angels’ moves and also created a hole at the back of the bullpen. Manager Ron Washington told The Athletic’s Sam Blum (X link) and other reporters that Luis Garcia will close games unless Garcia is himself traded, and Ben Joyce would then be next in line for save situations. Garcia is another pending free agent and there is plenty of interest in his services, so since he’ll likely be in another uniform within a day’s time, thus opening the door for Joyce. A classic flame-throwing reliever, Joyce has garnered “closer of the future” buzz ever since he made his MLB debut last season, and he has a 2.11 ERA over 21 1/3 innings this year, albeit with a lot of subpar advanced metrics.

In non-trade news about the Angels’ biggest star, Washington told the Associated Press and other reporters that Mike Trout hadn’t yet restarted his running program after a setback with his surgically-repaired knee halted Trout’s minor league rehab assignment. Trout played two Triple-A innings last Tuesday before leaving the game, and an MRI taken on Friday was clean, with Trout telling MLB.com’s Rhett Bollinger and other media that the knee issue was related to some breaking scar tissue.

“It’s a huge relief for me. I just have to make sure it feels good and I’ll be back out there. Scar tissue breaking up is a weird feeling and I’d never experienced that,” Trout said.

Trout was hitting .220/.325/.541 with 10 homers over 126 PA when his knee problems arose at the end of April, and the three-time MVP hasn’t played since, apart from his brief Triple-A appearance last Tuesday. While neither Trout or Washington held much concern over this latest setback, there won’t be much comfort until Trout is back onto the field, given how multiple injuries have plagued the outfielder over the last few years.

Several Teams Showing Interest In Luis Garcia

By Nick Deeds | July 27, 2024 at 8:45pm CDT

Angels right-hander Luis Garcia is drawing widespread trade interest, according to Jon Heyman of the New York Post. Heyman names the Yankees, Red Sox, and Royals as among the interested teams.

Garcia, 37, is a veteran of 12 MLB seasons and has been a steady middle relief arm for many yearss. After pitching to roughly league average results (99 ERA+) in six years with the Phillies to start his career, Garcia has bounced around the league to pitch for the Angels, Rangers, Cardinals, and Padres over the past half decade. With a better ERA+ than average in each of the last five 162-game seasons, Garcia sports a 3.94 ERA (107 ERA+) and a 4.00 FIP since the start of the 2019 campaign, though he’s only collected nine saves in that time as clubs have generally utilized him in the middle innings.

The veteran righty has put together a solid season this year in his second stint with the Angels, posting a 3.80 ERA with evens stronger peripherals (3.68 FIP, 3.44 SIERA). Garcia’s 22.3% strikeout rate and 7.8% walk rate this year, while perfectly solid, don’t exactly jump off the page, but in conjunction with his excellent 50.8% groundball rate this year they make for a quality relief arm who would improve the majority of the bullpens around the league. With so many teams in contention and a number of them facing bullpen struggles this year, it’s hardly a surprise that teams would be interested in Garcia’s services. For their part, the Angels removed any doubt regarding their willingness to deal rental players earlier today by shipping closer Carlos Estevez to Philadelphia.

As for Garcia’s potential suitors, each is known to be on the hunt for bullpen help this summer. Reporting earlier today indicated that the Yankees hope to add two relievers to their bullpen before the deadline, and while Garcia is unlikely to be the sort of shutdown closer New York is seemingly hoping to add in front of struggling righty Clay Holmes, Garcia could be an excellent secondary addition to work lower-leverage spots alongside arms such as Michael Tonkin and Tim Hill. The Red Sox, meanwhile, are also in the market for a reliever or two (as noted by MassLive’s Sean McAdam) following injuries to leverage righties Justin Slaten and Chris Martin. While Garcia’s 112 ERA+ isn’t quite on the level of Slaten’s 129 or Martin’s 128, he could certainly join the late-inning mix alongside Brennan Bernadino, Zack Kelly, and closer Kenley Jansen for a few weeks until Slaten and Martin can return to action for Boston.

The Royals may be the best fit for Garcia’s services of the three, however. MLB.com’s Anne Rogers reports that Kansas City was in on Estevez prior to him landing in Philadelphia, but were ultimately unwilling to part with their top tier of prospects in order to acquire a rental piece like Estevez. While Garcia is also a rental piece, his price tag shouldn’t approach that of Estevez, a former All-Star with a 180 ERA+ and 20 saves this year. A lower price tag doesn’t mean Garcia couldn’t still be impactful for the Royals, however, as the club’s 4.18 bullpen ERA ranks in the bottom ten in the majors this year. That leaves them likely to benefit considerably from the addition of a player of Garcia’s caliber, even after they swung a deal with the Nationals to acquire Hunter Harvey earlier this month.

Latest On Angels’ Deadline Outlook

By Steve Adams | July 8, 2024 at 1:43pm CDT

The Angels are one of the few obvious deadline sellers at the moment, but even they might not be fully open for business. USA Today’s Bob Nightengale suggests that the club prefers to hold onto outfielder Taylor Ward and starters Tyler Anderson and Griffin Canning, due to the fact all three are signed/controlled into next season. If the Angels are reluctant to move anyone signed or controlled beyond the current campaign, that would then extend to Luis Rengifo as well. Anderson is signed through 2025 and earning $13MM each season. Ward is controlled through 2026 via arbitration. Canning and Rengifo are arb-eligible through the 2025 season.

It’s always possible, especially this time of year, that there’s some level of posturing in that stance. The Halos are 15 games under .500, 10.5 games out of the division lead and 12 games out of a Wild Card spot as of Monday morning. Their -78 run differential is the fifth-worst in MLB. Mike Trout has been on the injured list since late April. Patrick Sandoval and Robert Stephenson have both been lost to UCL surgeries. To say things have not gone well in 2024 would be putting things mildly.

That said, Angels owner Arte Moreno has long appeared averse to embarking on any kind of rebuilding effort. The Angels have regularly been active in free agency and on the trade market over the past decade, even as their playoff drought has grown to the largest in the sport. (They last qualified for postseason play in 2014.) That trend has spanned multiple general managers — Jerry Dipoto, Billy Eppler, Perry Minasian — and thus seems largely attributable to ownership. Even as they were faced with losing Shohei Ohtani in free agency this offseason, Minasian decisively stated that the Angels would not rebuild.

When considering that context, it’s easier to see a scenario in which the Angels would rebuff interest in names like Ward — even if there’s a strong logical case that they should be capitalizing on trade value nearly anywhere it exists on the roster. As it stands, Nightengale writes that the Angels have been “bombarded” with interest in closer Carlos Estevez and are also likely to trade setup man Luis Garcia. Other rental players of note on the Halos include Matt Moore, Brandon Drury, Kevin Pillar, Hunter Strickland and Miguel Sano.

The 31-year-old Estevez is in the second season of a two-year, $13.5MM contract signed in the 2022-23 offseason. The longtime Rockies hurler has taken his game to a new level in Anaheim — particularly in 2024. He boasts a tidy 2.89 ERA with a strong 26.9% strikeout rate and a career-best 3.8% walk rate. Estevez averages just shy of 97 mph on his heater, has picked up 16 saves this year (and 31 last year), and was named the AL Reliever of the Month in June after tossing 10 shutout innings and recording a 32.3% strikeout rate without issuing a walk.

Garcia, 37, is on a one-year, $4.25MM contract. He’s pitched 36 innings and yielded a 4.25 ERA while recording nine holds. The veteran righty has fanned a sharp 23.7% of his opponents against a similarly strong 7.9% walk rate. He’s kept the ball on the ground at a hearty 49.5% clip. His sinker is down from the career-best 98.7 mph average he showed with the Padres in 2022 but still has plenty of life, sitting at 96.4 mph, per Statcast.

Strickland, 35, has had an up-and-down career with inconsistent year-to-year results but is in the midst of a strong season. He’s pitched 40 innings out of the bullpen and logged a 3.60 ERA, 20.6% strikeout rate, 6.3% walk rate, 35.3% ground-ball rate and 0.90 HR/9. Over his past 9 2/3 innings, he’s gone unscored upon and allowed only one hit and three walks while punching out 10 batters.

The 35-year-old Pillar was released by the White Sox in April and has been a godsend in Anaheim. Since heading to Orange County, the journeyman outfielder has turned in a huge .305/.360/.516 slash with six home runs and five steals in just 139 plate appearances. Pillar recently acknowledged that this will likely be his final season, so it stands to reason that he’d welcome the opportunity to join one more playoff race and one more chance to chase down a World Series ring.

None of the other rental options on the Angels’ roster are performing particularly well. Moore, Adam Cimber and Jose Cisnero all signed one-year deals in the offseason. Moore has seen his strikeout rate plummet as he’s struggled to keep his ERA under 5.00. Both Cimber and Cisnero have ERAs north of 7.00 and are presently on the injured list. Drury, hitting .172/.24/.227 in the second season of a two-year $17MM deal, is more a release candidate than a trade candidate. Sano, back in the majors after not playing in 2023, is hitting .205/.295/.313 with a 37.9% strikeout rate in 95 plate appearances.

Who Could The Angels Trade This Summer?

By Darragh McDonald | May 3, 2024 at 11:30am CDT

The Angels came into 2024 hoping to compete, despite losing Shohei Ohtani to free agency, but it’s not going well so far. It’s usually unwise to pour dirt on a club’s grave so early in the season, but the odds were against them even before the 2024 campaign started. They have piled up a few losses while Mike Trout is once again facing a significant absence, narrowing whatever contention window they had.

The Playoff Odds at FanGraphs gave them a 16.9% chance of making the playoffs prior to any games being played. Now that the club is 11-20 and Trout is set to miss weeks due to surgery to repair a torn meniscus, those odds have slimmed. As of this morning, their chances of cracking the postseason are down to 2.6%. The PECOTA Standings at Baseball Prospectus are even more pessimistic, giving the Halos just a 0.3% shot.

Barring a miracle in the next few months, they are going to be deadline sellers in the months to come. There could be some speculation about Trout being available, but that’s a complicated situation. He has full no-trade protection and has said he wants to stay in Anaheim. Even if he changes his mind and wants out, facilitating a deal won’t be easy. Despite his immense talents, he actually has negative trade value right now. He is about to turn 33 years old, is making $35.45MM annually through 2030 and has frequently been injured in recent years.

The Angels would be in a tough spot, as they would likely want some notable prospect return in trading a face-of-the-franchise player like Trout, but they would have to swallow a significant portion of the deal to make that happen. On top of that, Trout’s no-trade clause means they would have to factor in his preferences, perhaps narrowing their options and reducing their leverage. Given how convoluted the factors are, a Trout trade isn’t likely to come together hastily, especially since he’s currently hurt.

On top of Trout, there are others who aren’t likely to be moved. Anthony Rendon has a massive salary and hasn’t been healthy in years. Robert Stephenson recently underwent Tommy John surgery and is out until the middle of next year, at least. Players like Logan O’Hoppe, Zach Neto and Nolan Schanuel are still in their pre-arbitration years, giving the club little reason to move them.

But that still leaves them with quite a few options that could hold appeal around the league:

Luis Rengifo

Rengifo is currently hitting .326/.376/.465 this year for a 142 wRC+. That’s at least partly a mirage because he won’t be able to sustain a .377 batting average on balls in play all season. But even with a bit of regression, he’d be on track for his third straight year of above-average offense. He hit a combined .264/.315/.436 over 2022 and 2023, with a 103 wRC+ in the first of those two seasons and a 114 wRC+ last year.

Defensively, Rengifo can play all over the diamond. He has spent time at the three infield positions to the left of first base, as well as all three outfield slots. He’s not considered especially strong at any one spot, but the ability to move around will help him fit in with other clubs. The fact that he’s a switch-hitter gives him extra versatility.

Financially, Rengifo is making just $4.4MM this year and can be controlled via arbitration for next year as well. Even if a club has financial concerns due to the competitive balance tax or lack of TV revenue, he won’t break the bank.

Carlos Estévez

Estévez is out to a rough start this year with a 6.23 ERA, but the numbers are good just about everywhere else. He is striking out 29.4% of batters faced on the year and hasn’t yet issued a walk. The runs are scoring at least partially due to a tiny strand rate of 48.4%. His 3.83 FIP and 2.70 SIERA point to him being the same lockdown reliever he has been in previous years.

The righty has a 4.51 career ERA but spent his entire career in Colorado until last year. He secured a two-year, $13.5MM deal with the Angels going into 2023. His first season in Anaheim saw him rack up 31 saves while punching out 27.8% of opponents, though walking 11% of them. He should be one of the better rental relievers available this summer. He’s making a salary of $6.75MM this year.

Tyler Anderson

Anderson’s up-and-down career is in a bit of an upswing right now, at least in terms of results. Through six starts this year, he has a 2.23 earned run average. But with a .194 BABIP and 90.9% strand rate, he likely won’t be able to keep that up. His 4.76 FIP and 4.80 SIERA suggest regression is coming, as his 18.5% strikeout rate and 10.3% walk rate are both subpar.

The lefty secured a three-year, $39MM deal with the Halos going into 2023. He had a 4.62 ERA through 2021 but then posted a 2.57 ERA with the Dodgers in 2022. That led to his deal with the Angels, but he regressed immediately with a 5.43 ERA last year. Though his results will likely dip a bit as the year goes on, pitching is always in demand at the deadline and the Angels could be able to eat some of his salary to get a deal done. His contract pays him $13MM annually and runs through the end of 2025.

Griffin Canning

Health has been the big question mark for Canning, but he showed positive development in that department last year. He missed the 2022 season entirely but then appeared in 24 games in 2023 — 22 of them starts — while logging 127 innings. All of those figures were career-highs. Beyond the quantity, the quality was also encouraging. He had a 4.32 ERA on the year with a 25.9% strikeout rate and 6.7% walk rate.

Unfortunately, things have backed up in 2024. Through six starts, he has struck out just 15.9% of opponents while walking 9.1%, leading to a 7.45 ERA. A 56.1% strand rate isn’t helping him, but even his 5.48 FIP and 4.96 SIERA aren’t amazing. He’ll have to get things back on track in the months to come but would have some appeal if he did. Because of the missed injury time, he’s making a modest $2.6MM salary this year and has one more arbitration season remaining in 2025.

Patrick Sandoval

Sandoval’s ERA is up at 5.91 this year, but the numbers under the hood are more encouraging. His 10.8% walk rate is a bit high, but he’s striking out 25.7% of batters faced and getting grounders on 47.3% of balls in play. Were it not for a .396 BABIP and 57.5% strand rate, he’d be in better shape, which is why he has a 3.17 FIP and 3.83 SIERA.

He’s a bit less of an obvious trade candidate since he’s controlled through 2026. He’s making $5.025MM this year and will have two more arb seasons before he’s slated for free agency. The Halos could hold him if they think they can compete again in that window, but his trade value will only decline going forward as his control window shrinks and his salary keeps rising.

Taylor Ward

Ward is in the same service bucket as Sandoval, meaning he has two years of control beyond this one. He’s had a bit of a stop-and-go career due to injuries but is often in good form when healthy. He already has seven home runs this year and is slashing .278/.313/.492 with a 126 wRC+. Going back to the start of 2021, he’s hit .267/.343/.453 for a 122 wRC+.

Similar to Sandoval, the Halos don’t have to move Ward, but there’s an argument for it. He’s making $4.8MM this year and will be in line for a healthy raise if he keeps hitting homers. Since his health has been so mercurial, they might be tempted to strike while the iron is hot, cashing him in for younger players if he stays healthy through July.

Matt Moore

Moore is continuing to enjoy a nice second act to his career after moving from the rotation to the bullpen. Since the start of 2022, he’s made 125 appearances with a 2.35 ERA, 26.9% strikeout rate, 9.8% walk rate and 40% ground ball rate.

His strikeout rate has dipped to 21.3% this year, but in a small sample of 12 appearances. His 3.97 ERA is more passable than it is exciting and he’s making $9MM on the year. But every contender is looking for bullpen upgrades at the deadline and Moore will have suitors, especially since he’s left-handed.

Brandon Drury

Drury parlayed a 28-homer breakout in 2022 into a two-year, $17MM deal to suit up for the team he grew up cheering for. The first season went well, as he launched another 26 home runs last year while bouncing between multiple positions, but he’s out to a dreadful start here in 2024. He has battled some hamstring tightness and migraines while hitting just .176/.245/.235.

Those nagging injuries are surely playing a part in his struggles, as is a .209 BABIP. He could be due for a turnaround if his health and batted-ball fortune both improve. If that comes to pass, he could fit on multiple clubs around the league. He has played all four infield positions and the outfield corners in his career, so various teams could find a way to squeeze him in.

Luis García

Somewhat similar to Estévez, García is allowing more runs than he seemingly deserves. He has struck out 28.3% of opponents this year while walking just 5.7% and keeping 54.3% of balls in play on the ground, leading to a 2.52 FIP and 2.38 SIERA. But a strand rate of just 39.7% has helped push some runners across the plate, leading to a 5.54 ERA.

He’s a 37-year-old veteran and won’t fetch a huge return, but each contender needs bullpen help. He’s making just $4.25MM on a one-year deal and has a decent track record. Since the start of 2021, he has a 3.77 ERA, 23.8% strikeout rate, 7.3% walk rate and 55% ground ball rate.

Adam Cimber

Cimber had a pretty solid run in 2021 and 2022, pitching over 70 innings in each of those seasons with a combined ERA of 2.53. He only struck out 18.8% of batters faced in that time, but he only walked 5% of them while his submarine delivery helped him produce a 47.9% ground ball rate and lots of weak contact.

He was hurt for a lot of 2023 and his ERA shot up to 7.40 when he was on the mound. The Angels took a shot on a bounceback which has mostly gone well so far, as Cimber has a 3.14 ERA this year. His 11.1% walk rate is uncharacteristically high, as he’s never finished a season above 7.8% in that department. If he can shake off the rust and rein in his control, perhaps he’ll be back in 2021-22 form in the months to come. He’s making just $1.65MM this year and could fit in the budget of any club.

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The Angels could also push further, depending on what their long-term plans are. Reid Detmers and Jo Adell haven’t yet reached arbitration yet, but they will this coming winter. Adell has struggled so much over the years but is in good form so far this year, which may tempt the Angels to listen to offers on him now in case he turns into a pumpkin. He’s slashing .290/.338/.565 for a 152 wRC+, with his 26.5% strikeout rate a big improvement compared to previous years.

Parting with Detmers could be painful since he seems to be breaking out this year. He has a 3.12 ERA, 26.6% strikeout rate, 7.2% walk rate and 44% ground ball rate. With three more years of control beyond this one, there’s no rush to move him. But if the club is planning a significant rebuild, those years might be wasted in Anaheim. If they decide to pull the trigger, he would fetch a haul.

Angels Sign Luis Garcia

By Anthony Franco | December 5, 2023 at 9:51pm CDT

The Angels announced the signing of reliever Luis García on a one-year contract. He’ll reportedly make $4.25MM.

An 11-year big league veteran, García is set for a second stint with the Halos. The right-hander spent the 2019 campaign in Orange County, turning in a 4.35 ERA across 64 appearances. That was amidst a difficult three-year run spanning 2018-20, but García has generally turned things around over the past couple seasons.

After pitching to a 3.24 ERA in 34 games with the Cardinals in 2021, the Dominican Republic native inked a two-year pact with the Padres. He had a strong first year at Petco Park, tossing 61 innings of 3.39 ERA ball while working in a high-leverage role. García’s second season wasn’t as impressive. His ERA jumped to 4.03 while his strikeout rate dropped from a quality 26.3% mark to a middling 19.9% clip. As his production tailed off, the Padres deployed him in mostly low-leverage situations.

Despite that dip, there are still a few clear positives for the Halos front office. García has an extended track record of keeping the ball on the ground. He has allowed fewer than one home run per nine innings in three straight seasons and racked up grounders at a massive 61.5% rate this year. Even as he enters his age-37 campaign, he’s still one of the harder throwers available. García’s sinker sat north of 97 MPH.

It’s the second grounder specialist whom the Halos have added this offseason. They signed left-hander Adam Kolarek to a $900K guarantee a few weeks ago. García also steps into the middle innings mix alongside younger, more volatile arms like Ben Joyce and José Soriano. The Halos still seem likely to look for a clearer setup option to bridge the gap to closer Carlos Estévez.

The signing brings the Angels’ 2024 payroll projection to roughly $156MM, as calculated by Roster Resource. They’re upwards of $50MM from last season’s Opening Day payroll and around $70MM shy of the luxury tax threshold.

Bob Nightengale of USA Today first reported the Angels and García were in agreement on a one-year, $4.25MM deal.

Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.

NL West Notes: Garcia, Padres, Feltner, Dodgers, May

By Mark Polishuk | May 27, 2023 at 8:03pm CDT

The Padres placed Luis Garcia on the 15-day injured list today, as the left-hander is suffering from a left oblique strain. Righty Domingo Tapia was called up from Triple-A to take Garcia’s spot on the active roster. Garcia has a somewhat misleading 4.66 ERA this season, as nine of his 10 earned runs allowed came in two disastrous appearances (totaling two-thirds of an inning) against the Diamondbacks. Against every other team in baseball, Garcia has allowed just one earned run in 18 2/3 frames.

Despite a few shaky moments, the Padres’ bullpen has largely gotten on track, as San Diego’s relievers have combined for the sixth-best (3.31) bullpen ERA in baseball heading into Saturday’s action. Losing a generally reliable veteran like Garcia won’t help matters, and the team has yet to comment on the severity of the left-hander’s oblique strain, or how long Garcia might be sidelined.

Each MLB Team’s Players On WBC Rosters

By Darragh McDonald | February 9, 2023 at 7:30pm CDT

The World Baseball Classic is returning this year, the first time since 2017. The quadrennial event was supposed to take place in 2021 but was scuttled by the pandemic, now returning after a six-year absence. Rosters for the tournament were announced today and those can be found at this link. Here is a breakdown of which players from each MLB team are set to take participate. Quick caveat that this list is fluid and might be changed as more information becomes available.

Without further ado…

Angels

Astros

Athletics

Blue Jays

Braves

Brewers

Cardinals

Cubs

Diamondbacks

Dodgers

Giants

Guardians

Marlins

Mariners

Mets

Nationals

Orioles

Padres

Phillies

Pirates

Rangers

Rays

Red Sox

Reds

Rockies

Royals

Tigers

Twins

White Sox

Yankees

NL Notes: Nationals, Diamondbacks, Cubs

By TC Zencka | June 16, 2022 at 11:06am CDT

With veteran Alcides Escobar sidelined with a hamstring strain, the Nationals had little choice but to turn to Luis Garcia, a former top prospect who came into the year sporting a 79 wRC+ through 386 career plate appearances. Despite a host of veteran signings that seemed to block Garcia from regular playing time, his time has come. Manager Dave Martinez has made clear that Garcia is his starting shortstop from here on out, per Jesse Dougherty of the Washington Post. Since taking over, Garcia has hit .352/.368/.519 over 57 plate appearances. That’s obviously above and beyond what the Nats can expect from Garcia, but even developing into an average regular would be a boon for a Nats team with few offensive building blocks beyond Juan Soto and Keibert Ruiz. Elsewhere around the National League…

The Diamondbacks don’t yet know what their approach will be when it comes to the trade deadline, per MLB.com’s Steve Gilbert. GM Mike Hazen wants to see a little more from his club, who at 30-35 sits 6.5 games out of a wild card spot. It does not sound like the Diamondbacks are willing to move any heralded prospects, no matter how the next few weeks go, but if they remain in the race, Hazen could augment his current roster around the periphery, certainly when it comes to pitching, Gilbert notes.
Cubs prospect Caleb Kilian is going to be in the rotation for the foreseeable future, and while that’s certainly their long-term hope for him, right now it’s more about need than performance, per The Athletic’s Patrick Mooney. With Wade Miley, Marcus Stroman, Adbert Alzolay, and Drew Smyly all on the injured list, the Cubs are going to let Killian earn his keep in the rotation, at least for a while.
As for Stroman, he played catch today for the first time since going on the shelf, per Maddie Lee of the Chicago Sun-Times (via Twitter). That puts Stroman still aways from a return. No timetable has been put on his official return schedule.

Padres Sign Luis Garcia

By Anthony Franco | December 1, 2021 at 4:53pm CDT

The Padres have announced agreement with free agent reliever Luis García on a two-year contract. It’s reportedly a $7MM guarantee.

The multi-year deal is a nice pull for García, who entered the 2021 campaign as a non-roster invitee with the Yankees. After failing to crack New York’s season-opening roster, he spent the first couple months of the season in Triple-A. García triggered an opt-out clause in that deal and landed a big league roster spot with the Cardinals in July.

The 34-year-old (35 in January) made the most of his half-season in St. Louis. He worked 33 1/3 innings of 3.24 ERA ball across 34 outings, earning his way into higher-leverage work by September. García fanned a slightly above-average 25.2% of opposing hitters while walking only 5.9% of batters faced. That was handily the best control he’s ever shown, as García typically walked batters at a higher than average rate during his time as an inconsistent middle innings option with the Phillies earlier in his career.

Even more impressive than his bottom line results were his pitch-by-pitch numbers. García generated swinging strikes on 14.9% of his offerings, a mark that’s more than three percentage points above the 11.7% league average for relievers. That’s largely on the strength of his slider, which opponents rather comically missed more than half the time they offered at it. That was his primary complement against right-handed hitters to a sinker that averaged greater than 98 MPH, while he also found plenty of success mixing in a split against lefty batters.

It remains to be seen whether García can sustain his half-season success moving forward — particularly the seeming strides he made with his control. It’s a fairly inexpensive gamble on a live arm for the Friars, with García having the opportunity to cement himself into the club’s late-innings mix. With previous closer Mark Melancon departing to join the division-rival Diamondbacks, Pierce Johnson, Tim Hill, Emilio Pagán and Austin Adams look to be the other top options for new skipper Bob Melvin.

Robert Murray of FanSided reported the agreement and its terms shortly before the official announcement.

Padres In Talks With Luis Garcia, Robert Suarez

By Steve Adams | November 30, 2021 at 11:23am CDT

The Padres, eyeing upgrades in their bullpen, are in talks with a pair of somewhat under-the-radar options on the free-agent market. FanSided’s Robert Murray tweets that San Diego is in talks with righty Luis Garcia, while The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal reports (also via Twitter) that the Friars are in serious discussions with right-hander Robert Suarez.

Garcia, 35 in January, had a resurgent with the Cardinals after joining the organization on a minor league deal over the summer. Through 33 1/3 innings, the former Phillies, Rangers and Angels hurler worked to a 3.24 ERA with a strong strikeout (25.2%), walk (5.9%) and ground-ball rates (45.7%) while quickly working his way up the ladder into high-leverage situations (11 holds, two saves).

While Garcia has had his share of success in the past, the 2021 version of the right-hander was the best yet. His 98.7 mph average fastball was a career-best, as were his 14.9% swinging-strike rate and that 25.2% strikeout rate. It’s still worth pointing out, however, that Garcia’s longstanding troubles against left-handed batters were as pronounced as ever in 2021. He overwhelmed opposing righties, holding them to a putrid .152/.190/.177 batting line in 84 plate appearances. However, lefties teed off at a .289/.353/.511 clip in 54 trips to the plate and tagged him for the only two long balls he yielded.

Suarez, 31 in March, is perhaps an unknown to many readers but is squarely on the radar of Major League clubs this winter. The Venezuelan-born righty has never pitched in the Majors but has spent several years in Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball, splitting his time between the SoftBank Hawks (2016-19) and the Hanshin Tigers (2020-21). The righty has an outstanding track record in general but enjoyed a dominant campaign in 2021, pitching to a 1.16 ERA with a 25.3% strikeout rate and a microscopic 3.5% walk rate with 42 saves in 62 1/3 frames.

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