Mickey Moniak

Angels Place Mike Trout On Injured List

By Anthony Franco | August 25, 2023 at 1:50pm CDT

August 25: Trout is now officially on the IL, per a club announcement, with Trey Cabbage recalled in a corresponding move.

August 24: The Angels are placing Mike Trout back on the 10-day injured list, general manager Perry Minasian informed reporters (including Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register). The three-time MVP had just returned from an IL stay on Tuesday.

Trout started in center field that night, going 1-4. He sat out both games of today’s doubleheader, ceding the position to Mickey Moniak. Minasian indicated that Trout remained in too much discomfort when hitting to continue playing through the injury. The GM didn’t provide a return timetable beyond noting that Trout won’t swing a bat for at least a few days.

His ’23 campaign was derailed when he broke the hamate bone in his left wrist on a swing. Trout underwent surgery on July 5 and was given a four-to-eight week recovery timetable. He briefly made it back around seven weeks later but evidently can’t proceed.

With five and a half weeks remaining on the schedule, it seems fair to wonder if Trout’s season could be in jeopardy. The Halos’ playoff hopes were already all but extinguished 48 hours ago. Since the 11-time All-Star’s effort to return, Los Angeles was swept in a three-game series by the Reds and lost Shohei Ohtani as a pitcher for the season. This will be their ninth straight year without a playoff appearance and, with the club now six games under .500, likely their eighth consecutive losing record.

As the Angels find themselves in the all too familiar position of playing out the string, they’ll presumably move cautiously with the future Hall of Famer. Trout has hit .263/.367/.490 over 362 plate appearances — still well above-average output but easily his worst rate stats since his age-19 rookie campaign. Moniak, who is hitting .282/.313/.496 through 278 trips to the dish, is likely to take over center field between Hunter Renfroe and Randal Grichuk.

Best Deadline Rental Returns In Recent History: Honorable Mentions

By Steve Adams | June 5, 2023 at 4:25pm CDT

The calendar has flipped to June, and more than one-third of the season is in the rearview mirror. While there’s still plenty of time for the standings to change in dramatic fashion — just ask the 2022 Phillies or 2019 Nationals — the “early” portion of the season is a bit behind us. As the weather heats up and playoff pictures begin to take a more definitive shape, the baseball world inherently turns its focus to a few things: the looming All-Star Game, the upcoming amateur draft and, of course, the annual trade deadline.

June trades of note are admittedly rare — particularly over the past ten years or so — but we’re fast approaching the portion of the season where trade needs, potential trade candidates and many other deadline-adjacent minutiae begin to crystallize. It’s common for fans of rebuilding and/or underperforming clubs to begin to wonder just what sort of returns their favorite team might be able to eke out for veteran players with dwindling club control.

Some of the most common questions we’re asked in chats at MLBTR these days center around what a team might be able to get for a certain player — rentals in particular. Names like Lucas Giolito, Cody Bellinger, Jordan Montgomery and Jeimer Candelario were just a few readers asked me about this past week. To be clear, it’s not a given that all or even any of those specific names will change hands in two months’ time (or sooner), but it’s obviously a hot topic that’s on people’s minds.

As such, it only seemed natural to take a look back through recent history and look at some high-profile trades of rental players and see which panned out the best for the team selling off the veteran player in question. Over the next couple weeks, we’ll roll out a look at the ten “best” returns for rental players in recent trade deadline history.

A few caveats of note! At times, it can take three, four, five years or even longer for a team to begin reaping the benefits from such a deal. An immediate return isn’t always apparent, particularly when you’re only selling two months of a player or players. As such, we’re not considering trades completed at last year’s deadline for our top ten, even though they could well prove excellent as soon as 2024 or 2025. It’s simply too soon to evaluate those swaps. Also, these rankings are subjective; they’re not based on a hard-and-fast WAR criteria or anything of the sort. If you think we should’ve ranked No. 7 higher and No. 4 lower, let us know. It’s all part of the fun.

While I said we’re omitting last year’s deadline from our top ten, that doesn’t mean we’ll completely ignore the results of the 2022 deadline. To kick off the series, here’s a quick look at three honorable mentions from 2017-21 as well as a handful of 2022 trades that will be worth keeping an eye on in the years to come. Present-day impact of these 2022 trades has either been minimal or nonexistent, but each brought the “selling” team some nearly MLB-ready help that could be impactful as soon as this season. These honorable mentions and 2022 swaps aren’t ranked — they’re just sorted alphabetically by the last name of the player who was traded.

Let’s begin!

Honorable Mentions

Orioles acquire RHPs Dillon Tate, Cody Carroll and LHP Josh Rogers from the Yankees in exchange for LHP Zack Britton (7/24/18)

Two-thirds of this return for Baltimore wound up making little to no impact, but the acquisition of Tate, a former No. 4 overall draft pick, wound up paying dividends. Though Tate isn’t the rotation piece the Rangers hoped for when drafting him or the Yankees envisioned when acquiring him for Carlos Beltran, he’s emerged as a quality setup man at Camden Yards. The O’s gave Tate just ten starts after the trade before moving him to the bullpen, and while his rookie effort in 2019 left plenty to be desired, he’s since pitched quite well.

Dating back to 2020, Tate has a 3.65 ERA in 158 innings of relief, adding 25 holds and eight saves along the way. Tate’s 19.1% strikeout rate is below-average, but his 6.8% walk rate is better than average and his 57.9% grounder rate is outstanding. In 2022, he pitched to a pristine 3.05 ERA through 73 2/3 frames, tallying five of those saves and 16 of those holds. A forearm strain has kept Tate out of action this year, however.

Tate isn’t peak Britton and likely never will be, but trading two months of an elite reliever and winding up with six years of club control over an above-average reliever isn’t a bad outcome for Baltimore. As for the Yankees, they got the tail end of Britton’s prime. He notched a 2.88 ERA in 25 innings down the stretch and re-signed on a three-year deal with a fourth year option (that had to be exercised after the contract’s second season to prevent a Britton opt-out). Britton posted a sub-2.00 ERA in both 2019 and 2020, but he pitched just 19 innings over his final two years in New York due to injuries.

Rays acquire LHP Jalen Beeks from the Red Sox in exchange for RHP Nathan Eovaldi (7/25/18)

Few could’ve predicted what an impactful trade this would end up being at the time it was made. At the time of the swap, Eovaldi was in his first season back from Tommy John surgery and had pitched 57 innings of 4.26 ERA ball for Tampa Bay. He’d long intrigued teams with his power arsenal but was inconsistent and carried a career ERA that more or less matched that season total.

Eovaldi took off in Boston, however, tossing 54 frames of 3.33 ERA ball as the Sox marched to the postseason, where he cemented his status in Red Sox lore. Eovaldi was a star that October, tossing 22 1/3 innings of 1.61 ERA ball with a 16-to-3 K/BB ratio. Those are impressive numbers on their own, but they only tell part of the tale. Eovaldi won his first two starts of the playoffs before moving to the bullpen and picking up a pair of holds. But it was Game 3 of the World Series, where Eovaldi gutted out six innings of relief in an 18-inning marathon and finished out the game, that many will remember. The Dodgers wound up winning when Eovaldi’s 97th (!) pitch out of the bullpen was deposited in the seats by Max Muncy, but he saved the Boston bullpen with six innings of one-run ball that night. The Sox went on to win the World Series in five games.

As for the Rays, they came away with a lefty who’d come up through Boston’s system as a starter but would be used in a jack-of-all-trades role in St. Petersburg. Beeks has served as a long reliever, a setup man and an opener in parts of five seasons with Tampa Bay, totaling 258 innings of 4.12 ERA ball along the way. He’s been the type of versatile arm whose value can’t be neatly encapsulated in what looks like an otherwise modest WAR total. Beeks has handled just about any role the Rays could ask, and he’s generally been effective in doing so. He’s not a star, but he’s been an important member of their pitching staff for a half decade now and is still under team control through the 2024 season.

Tigers acquire RHP Reese Olson from the Brewers in exchange for LHP Daniel Norris (7/30/21)

The 23-year-old Olson made his big league debut on Friday when he stepped into the Detroit rotation to take the spot of the injured Eduardo Rodriguez. As far as debuts go, it was nearly as good as a young pitcher could ask for. Olson carried a no-hitter into the sixth inning before being tagged for a pair of runs and departing five frames of two-run ball in the books.

Olson isn’t regarded among the sport’s top 100 prospects and isn’t even universally considered to be among the Tigers’ top 10 prospects, but he’s missed bats consistently in the upper minors and is regarded as a potential long-term rotation piece if he can improve upon the command of his fastball. Scouting reports at Baseball America, FanGraphs, The Athletic and MLB.com praise Olson’s secondary pitches, particularly his changeup, which he’s begun using effectively even in right-on-right situations.

Detroit has seen a lot of turnover in the baseball operations department since this trade, but former GM Al Avila, AGM David Chadd and others will be in line for some praise if the Tigers get a viable big leaguer in exchange for two months of the veteran Norris, who was sitting on a 5.38 ERA in 36 2/3 innings at the time of the deal. Norris had been tough on lefties, and the Brewers surely felt they could coax a higher level of performance out of him with some tweaks. That didn’t happen, however, as Norris was rocked for a 6.64 ERA in Milwaukee, walking 15 of the 63 batters he faced (23.8%) and serving up five homers in 20 1/3 frames (2.2 HR/9).

2022 Deadline Swaps to Watch

Pirates acquire RHP Johan Oviedo, INF Malcom Nunez from the Cardinals in exchange for LHP Jose Quintana, RHP Chris Stratton (8/2/22)

Yes, technically this isn’t a pure rental. Stratton had an additional year of club control, and that surely factored into the return. But he was also sitting on a 5.09 ERA at the time of the deal, and this was largely a trade centered around getting Quintana to land some much-needed rotation help in St. Louis.

The Cardinals got just what they wanted out of this deal — and then some. Quintana stepped into the rotation and not only solidified the staff but pitched to a brilliant 2.01 ERA in 62 2/3 frames down the stretch. The lefty was so excellent that St. Louis wound up tabbing him as the Game 1 starter in last year’s National League Division Series. Quintana had signed a one-year, $2MM deal in the offseason and was acquired as a back-end starter but pitched like an ace. The script doesn’t get much better for the acquiring team.

That said, this trade also has the makings of a winner for Pittsburgh. The 25-year-old Oviedo has been inconsistent but shown flashes of brilliance with the Bucs. He’s throwing fewer fastballs and more breaking pitches — particularly more curveballs, which has been an extremely effective offering for him through 11 starts. Oviedo’s 4.50 ERA in 58 innings looks pretty pedestrian, but he’s upped his ground-ball rate and improved his velocity even in a rotation role. He’s allowed one or zero runs in six of his 11 starts this year. The Pirates can control Oviedo for four more years beyond the current season, and if he’s a legitimate starter or even a multi-inning relief piece, that’ll be a fine return for their modest Quintana flier. Nunez, meanwhile, hit .286/.381/.476 in Double-A following the trade and is at .255/.338/.369 in 160 Triple-A plate appearances this year.

Cubs acquire RHP Ben Brown from the Phillies in exchange for RHP David Robertson (8/2/22)

Robertson was one of the most in-demand relievers — or trade candidates in general — at last year’s deadline, and the rebuilding/retooling Cubs needed to get their return right. So far, it looks like they’ve done just that. Brown is out to a sensational start in the upper minors this year, pitching to a combined 2.63 ERA with a 35.5% strikeout rate against a less-appealing 11.7% walk rate. Baseball America ranked him sixth among Cubs prospects heading into the season, and The Athletic’s Keith Law called him a “heck of a get for two months of a 37-year-old reliever.” FanGraphs currently has him ranked 87th on their top-100 prospect list, and MLB.com moved him into its top-100 just this morning.

Despite Brown’s wide-reaching acclaim, the Phillies might not even regret making the swap. Robertson struggled with his command following the trade but still posted 22 1/3 innings of 2.70 ERA ball and saved six games for Philadelphia down the stretch in a tight Wild Card race that saw them edge out the Brewers by exactly one win. The Phillies needed every single victory, and if they’d held onto Brown and targeted a different reliever(s), who knows whether they’d have reached the playoffs? Were it not for Robertson — who pitched 7 2/3 innings of one-run ball in the playoffs — the Phils may never have experienced J.T. Realmuto’s NLDS inside-the-parker, Rhys Hoskins’ four-homer NLCS, or Bryce Harper’s iconic NLCS-clinching bomb.

Angels acquire OFs Mickey Moniak, Jadiel Sanchez from the Phillies in exchange for RHP Noah Syndergaard (8/2/22)

This trade might not have gone as well as the Phillies hoped. Syndergaard was decent down the stretch, pitching to a 4.12 ERA in 10 appearances, nine of them starts. He started just twice in the postseason and made one relief appearance. Syndergaard pitched like a fourth or fifth starter but saw his already diminished velocity and strikeout rate step even further back following the trade. Again, the Phils needed every last win to get to the playoffs, though, so it’s hard to say they’d definitively have done anything different. They won six of Syndergaard’s nine starts and also picked up the victory in the lone game they used him out of the bullpen, when he tossed two scoreless frames.

At least thus far, Angels fans can’t complain about the return. Moniak isn’t going to sustain a .429 batting average on balls in play, but he’s hitting .327/.340/.694 in 50 plate appearances. The BABIP and a 34% strikeout rate scream for regression, but the former 1-1 pick has already hit as many homers through 50 trips to the plate with the Halos (four) as he did in 167 with the Phillies. He’s played good defense, run well and given some hope that he can carve out a role moving forward.

Red Sox acquire INF Enmanuel Valdez, OF Wilyer Abreu from the Astros in exchange for C Christian Vazquez (8/1/22)

Trading Vazquez was part of a disjointed Red Sox trade deadline that saw Boston trade away their longtime catcher and lefty reliever Jake Diekman while also acquiring Eric Hosmer and Tommy Pham. It wasn’t clear that their 2023 roster was improved, and the decision to hold onto other trade targets while adding Pham’s salary left them just over the luxury tax line (thereby reducing their compensation for qualifying offers extended to Xander Bogaerts and Nathan Eovaldi).

Digression aside, the swap might prove beneficial to the Sox in the long run. Valdez has already made his big league debut, and although his bat faded after a hot start, he’s still sporting a passable .244/.292/.422 batting line (91 wRC+) in his first 97 big league plate appearances. He’s picked up four homers, four doubles and three steals (in four tries) while subbing in at second base in the wake of a slew of middle-infield injuries. Valdez posted absolutely massive numbers in 205 Double-A plate appearances last year (.357/.463/.649) before moving up to Triple-A and hitting .265/.327/.488.

Abreu, meanwhile, was added to the 40-man roster over the winter and is hitting .264/.379/.479 in 40 Triple-A games so far. He’s regarded as a potential plus outfield defender, and his success in Triple-A and status on the 40-man roster mean the Red Sox could possibly have two MLB contributors within a year or so of trading Vazquez.

It’s hard to say anything moves the 2022 Astros made “didn’t work out,” as the team won the World Series in the end. But Vazquez took a backseat to Martin Maldonado both in the regular season and the playoffs, hitting just .250/.278/.308 in 108 regular-season plate appearances following the swap (plus .235/.316/.235 in just 19 playoff plate appearances).

AL West Notes: Seager, Moniak, Rodriguez

By Nick Deeds | May 12, 2023 at 2:54pm CDT

Rangers fans have been anticipating the imminent return of star shortstop Corey Seager from his hamstring injury for some time now. As noted by Shawn McFarland of the Dallas Morning News, the club appears to have a clear plan in place for Seager’s rehab, which began yesterday, and return to action in the majors. After playing five innings at shortstop as planned last night, Seager is expected to start as the DH for the club’s Double-A affiliate in Frisco before playing seven innings at shortstop on Sunday. If all goes well, manager Bruce Bochy indicated that Seager could be activated from the injured list in time for Monday’s game against the Braves.

Should Seager indeed be ready to return early next week, the Rangers would return one of their best hitters to a team that has taken control of the AL West with a 23-14 record in the early going. Seager was off to a torrid start through 11 games this season, slashing .359/.468/.538 in 49 plate appearance prior to his stint on the IL. As the Rangers have indicated a desire to keep Ezequiel Duran in the lineup going forward, Seager’s return could cut into the playing time of players like Brad Miller, Robbie Grossman, and Bubba Thompson.

More from around the AL West…

The Angels today announced that they have recalled outfielder Mickey Moniak to the big league club. Moniak will take the roster spot of infielder Jake Lamb, who was previously reported to have been optioned down to Triple-A. A former 1st overall pick by the Phillies in 2016, Moniak has struggled offensively since his big league debut in 2020, slashing just .157/.218/.268 in 167 plate appearances, a slash line that’s 68% worse than league average by measure of wRC+. Moniak has impressed so far at the Triple-A level this season, however, with a solid .308/.355/.585 slash line in 141 plate appearances this season. Moniak figures to factor into the corner outfield mix along with Taylor Ward and Hunter Renfroe, with Mike Trout locked in as the everyday center fielder.
Mariners star Julio Rodriguez moved down to the sixth spot in the batting order in yesterday’s game against the Rangers, marking the first time this season the young outfielder batted outside of the leadoff spot. Manager Scott Servais told reporters, including The Athletic’s Corey Brock, that the move was designed to take pressure off of last year’s AL Rookie of the Year, who has scuffled to a .205/.270/.384 slash line, good for a wRC+ of just 85. Rodriguez, for his part, expressed support for the decision, noting that he believed it was the best thing for the team.

Angels Option Andrew Velazquez, Jo Adell, Mickey Moniak

By Anthony Franco | March 24, 2023 at 8:28pm CDT

The Angels announced Friday evening that infielder Andrew Velazquez and outfielders Jo Adell and Mickey Moniak have been optioned to Triple-A Salt Lake. None of that trio will be on the major league team out of camp.

Velazquez was the Halos’ primary shortstop last year, picking up 100 starts at the position after being claimed off waivers from the Yankees over the 2021-22 offseason. A glove-first infielder, he rated highly over his 906 shortstop innings but provided almost nothing at the plate. The switch-hitter posted a .196/.236/.304 line while striking out in 34.1% of his 349 plate appearances. Los Angeles brought in Brandon Drury via free agency and Gio Urshela in a trade with Minnesota to upgrade the infield.

While neither Drury nor Urshela will necessarily see much action at shortstop, they provide general infield depth that could push David Fletcher or Luis Rengifo to shortstop more frequently. That relegated Velazquez back to Triple-A for now.

Adell and Moniak are each one-time top prospects who have struggled in multiple big league looks. The former played in a career-high 88 MLB games last season but only managed a .224/.264/.373 line with a massive 37.5% strikeout rate. He also struck out at a concerning 31.1% clip over 40 Triple-A contests but paired that with a strong 11.1% walk rate and 13 home runs in 180 trips to the plate.

Moniak came over from the Phillies in a deadline trade that sent Noah Syndergaard to Philadelphia. The former first overall pick managed only a .200/.226/.417 line over his first 60 plate appearances with the Halos. He’s a career .157/.218/.268 hitter over parts of three MLB seasons.

Both Adell and Moniak have one minor league option year remaining. If they spend 20+ days in the minors this season, they’ll exhaust that final year and be out of options next spring. That puts pressure on both players to take a significant step forward in 2023 if they’re to carve out long-term roles in Anaheim.

Angels Notes: Adell, Moniak, Injuries, Ohtani

By Darragh McDonald | January 11, 2023 at 9:57am CDT

The Angels made a small signing earlier this week, bringing Brett Phillips aboard with a $1.2MM deal to be the club’s fourth outfielder. With Mike Trout, Taylor Ward and Hunter Renfroe set to be the primary starters on the grass, it seems the outfield jobs are now spoken for. Barring injury, that doesn’t leave much opportunity for players like Jo Adell or Mickey Moniak.

The club’s general manager Perry Minasian spoke about the situation yesterday, with Sam Blum of The Athletic and Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register each relaying some of his comments. “Those jobs are solidified,” Minasian said, implying that Adell and Moniak are likely to begin the season in the minors. “Those are obviously young players who are very talented that haven’t necessarily turned the corner yet that have been putting in a significant amount of work this offseason to do that,” Minasian said. “They’re both young. I think we forget about how young these two players are.”

The two players have followed similar trajectories thus far. Adell, 24 in April, was the first round draft pick of the Angels in 2017, selected 10th overall. Moniak, 25 in May, was selected first overall the year prior by the Phillies. He came over to the Angels in the Noah Syndergaard trade at last year’s deadline. Both players made quick charges through the minors to reach the majors in 2020, when Adell was just 21 and Moniak just 22. Since then, however, each player has struggled mightily. Adell currently has a batting line of .215/.259/.356 over 557 major league plate appearances. He’s also struck out in 34.8% of those trips to the plate. Moniak’s struggles have been even greater, as he’s struck out at a 39.5% rate while hitting .157/.218/.268.

There is an air of urgency around the Angels this year, with Shohei Ohtani slated for free agency at the end of the schedule. As such, the club isn’t relying on a breakout from Moniak or Adell, having acquired Renfroe and Phillips to push the younger players down the depth charts. Each of them has just one option year remaining, which perhaps makes this sort of a make-or-break year for them. Renfroe is set to reach free agency after 2023, which could provide an opportunity for one of the youngsters to find a future job if they succeed in turning a corner this year. However, they might have to be patient since the path has been blocked for now.

Minasian also provided some health updates on some other Angels, including Griffin Canning and Chris Rodriguez. Both of those pitchers missed the 2022 season entirely, with Rodriguez rehabbing from November 2021 shoulder surgery and Canning fighting lingering back issues. Both players have now begun throwing off a mound. “If both those guys are healthy entering spring training, they’ll be exciting to watch,” Minasian said. “Right now they are on schedule to be with us in spring training and we’ll see where they’re at.”

Canning posted a 3.99 ERA over 11 starts in the shortened 2020 season while striking out 23.5% of batters faced. However, he saw that balloon to 5.60 the following year while his strikeout rate dipped to 22.4%. Rodriguez was a starter in the minors but worked primarily out of the bullpen when he made his MLB debut in 2021. He registered a 3.64 ERA in his first 29 2/3 innings but has been dealing with the shoulder issue since then.

The Angels shouldn’t be reliant on either Canning or Rodriguez, at least to start 2023. They have a rotation consisting of Ohtani, Tyler Anderson, Patrick Sandoval, José Suarez and Reid Detmers. The club has ran out a six-man rotation in recent years to reduce the workload on Ohtani but have at least considered going to a five-man this season. If they want a sixth starter, they have some candidates for the final spot, such as Chase Silseth and Tucker Davidson. However, injuries and lackluster depth have been an achilles heel of the Angels in recent years, meaning the health of Canning and Rodriguez could be an important factor for them as the campaign goes along. That makes it at least somewhat encouraging that the players are on track for now.

The same goes on the position player side, as Minasian says that both first baseman Jared Walsh and shortstop Andrew Velazquez are on schedule for spring. Walsh was great in 2020 and 2021 but slumped badly last year and eventually required surgery for thoracic outlet syndrome. He hit .215/.269/.374 last year after batting .280/.338/.531 over the two prior campaigns. Velazquez, known primarily for his glovework, was sidelined by knee surgery late last year. Both players could play key roles on the 2023 Angels club if they are healthy, but the club has taken measures to provide safety nets. They’ve added utility players Brandon Drury and Gio Urshela to their infield mix this winter, joining David Fletcher, Luis Rengifo and Anthony Rendon. Should Walsh or Velazquez not be available, the club will still have plenty of options to fill out the lineup, but it sounds like both players are on schedule to get back on track.

Minasian also addressed one other spot on the roster with Spring Training now just over a month away. Ohtani might not be with the team when camp opens, but not because of injury. He is going to be playing for Japan in this year’s World Baseball Classic, with that team playing their first game March 9. At this point, it’s still unclear if Ohtani will report to camp with the Angels before then or simply meet up with them after the WBC.

Angels Place Archie Bradley, Mickey Moniak On Injured List

By Anthony Franco | September 29, 2022 at 8:25pm CDT

The Angels announced a series of roster moves in advance of tonight’s contest with the A’s. Reliever Archie Bradley and outfielder Mickey Moniak have each landed on the injured list, officially ending their 2022 seasons. Infielder David Fletcher was reinstated from the 10-day IL to take one of the vacated active roster spots, while reliever Nash Walters was recalled from Triple-A Salt Lake in the other transaction.

Bradley is dealing with a forearm strain, a disappointing conclusion to a season that has been marred by injury. The right-hander missed about three months after fracturing his elbow in late June, just returning from the IL on Tuesday. Without making an appearance, he heads back on the shelf. It’s unclear how serious the issue is, but Bradley has now had a successive elbow fracture and forearm strain since his most recent major league pitch.

That’s certainly not the way he’d have wanted to return to the open market. The veteran righty signed a $3.75MM guarantee with the Halos last offseason, and he’ll reach free agency again in a few months. Even prior to the injuries, the 30-year-old had a down season. Bradley posted a 4.82 ERA across 18 2/3 innings, the first time he’s pitched to an ERA above 4.00 since moving to the bullpen in 2017. He still averaged around 94 MPH on his fastball and induced ground-balls at an excellent 57.1% clip, but his 19.2% strikeout percentage and 8.1% swinging strike rate are each a few points below the league average.

Moniak, meanwhile, suffered a left hand contusion after a Kirby Snead pitch struck him on a check-swing last night. Moniak has been the victim of some brutal injury luck this season, as this marks his third hand-related IL stint of the season. He opened the year on the shelf with a fracture in his right hand while still a member of the Phillies, then lost a month recently due to a fractured finger on his left hand.

In the interim, Moniak was dealt from Philadelphia to Anaheim in the deadline swap that sent Noah Syndergaard to the Phils. The former first overall pick never emerged as the everyday center fielder the Phillies had hoped they were selecting, and he’d continued to scuffle over his first 19 games as an Angel. Moniak’s season concludes with a .170/.207/.302 line in 112 cumulative plate appearances.

Walters is now in line to make his major league debut. A third-round pick of the Brewers out of a Texas high school in 2015, the right-hander spent parts of seven seasons in the Milwaukee system. The Angels acquired him for cash considerations in the first week of September. Anaheim immediately added him to the 40-man roster but kept him on optional assignment to Salt Lake. After seven appearances with the Bees, the 25-year-old will get his first crack against big league hitters. Walters has spent most of the year in Double-A, working to a 4.60 ERA but striking out a third of opponents through 47 frames. He’ll look to compete for a spot in next season’s bullpen.

Angels Designate Ryan Aguilar For Assignment

By Steve Adams | September 9, 2022 at 1:06pm CDT

The Angels announced Friday that outfielder Ryan Aguilar has been designated for assignment, and right-hander Touki Toussaint has been optioned to Triple-A Salt Lake. That pair of roster spots will go to righty Michael Lorenzen and outfielder Mickey Moniak, each of whom has been reinstated from the injured list.

Aguilar, 27, made his big league debut this year after six years in the minors. He appeared in just seven games with the Halos, hitting .136/.231/.182 in a tiny sample of 26 trips to the plate. He had a much better showing with the Halos’ Double-A affiliate, where he turned in a .280/.427/.517 with 15 homers, 13 doubles, three triples, 11 steals and a ridiculous 19% walk rate in 348 plate appearances. Strikeouts have been an issue in the minors, however, and Aguilar fanned in 14 of his 26 Major League plate appearances as well (53.8%).

A 31st-round draft pick by the Brewers back in 2016, Aguilar was in Milwaukee’s system until last August, when he was released on the heels of a dismal showing in their own Double-A affiliate. He’s still never played a game at the Triple-A level. The Angels will place Aguilar on either outright waivers or release waivers within the week, now that he’s been dropped from the 40-man roster. He’s never been outrighted and doesn’t have three years of Major League service time, so if Aguilar clears waivers, he’ll remain with the Angels organization (sans the 40-man roster spot).

Lorenzen, who carries a 4.94 ERA in 71 innings this season (13 starts), has been out since July 1 due to a shoulder strain. He inked a one-year, $7MM deal with the Angels over the winter and will again be a free agent this coming offseason. Moniak, acquired in the deadline trade that sent Noah Syndergaard to Philadelphia, went 4-for-14 with a pair of homers in his first 15 plate appearances with the Angels, but he suffered a broken finger on a bunt attempt during just his fifth game with his new team. He missed just over a month of action.

Angels Notes: Trout, Lorenzen, Duffy, Bradley, Moniak, Iglesias

By Mark Polishuk | August 13, 2022 at 8:22am CDT

Mike Trout has been cleared to run and throw, and the former MVP is scheduled to take batting practice on the field today. Trout and Angels head trainer Mike Frostad spoke with reporters (including Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register) yesterday, with Trout expressing confidence that he’ll be able to return to the lineup “sooner rather than later.” A more specific timeline isn’t yet known, as Trout may require a minor league rehab assignment.

Trout has now missed a full month of action due to left ribcage inflammation and back spasms, and Frostad’s past update about Trout’s larger-scale back problems (a costovertebral dysfunction) left concern over both Trout’s short-term and near-term future. Given that Trout ended up missing almost all of the 2021 season due to a calf problem that just kept lingering, fans probably won’t be fully relieved until they actually see Trout back on the field, no matter this latest positive news about his rib injury.

Angels Claim Steven Duggar, Designate Dillon Thomas

By Darragh McDonald | August 7, 2022 at 1:20pm CDT

The Angels announced that they have claimed outfielder Steven Duggar off waivers from the Rangers. In order to create a space for him on the 40-man roster, they have designated Dillon Thomas for assignment.

Duggar, 28, was a sixth-round draft pick of the Giants in 2015 who came over to the Rangers in June in exchange for Willie Calhoun. Last year was his best and lengthiest showing in the big leagues, as he got into 107 games for the Giants, hitting .257/.330/.437 for a wRC+ of 107. Unfortunately, he hasn’t been able to build on that here in 2022, missing over two months due to an oblique strain and not really getting into a groove when healthy. Between San Fran and Texas, he’s hit .189/.241/.245, wRC+ of 39, striking out in 48.3% of his plate appearances on the year.

Despite those poor results this season, the Angels will give him a shot and see if he can recapture anything resembling his 2021 form. The need for an outfielder arose last night, when Mickey Moniak was attempting a bunt and the ball hit his finger. After the game, interim manager Phil Nevin told reporters that the news was not good, per Sam Blum of The Athletic. Today, the club has announced that Moniak has a fractured left middle finger, relays Rhett Bollinger of MLB.com. The timeline of his injury is still not known, but it was enough that the club was motivated to go out and grab Duggar. Moniak himself tells Bollinger that it’s unclear if he’s out for the season, which suggests he won’t be returning soon.

As for Thomas, this is the third time he’s gone gently into DFA limbo in recent months. He signed a minor league deal with the Angels in the offseason, getting selected to the roster in June. After just a few days with the Angels, he was designated for assignment and was claimed by the Astros. After just over a week in Houston’s system, he was designated again, returning to the Angels on another waiver claim and today getting DFA’d for a third time. He’s only played eight MLB games and made 14 plate appearances amid all those transactions. He’s fared well in 73 Triple-A games, however, split between the Angels’ and Astros’ orgs. His line on the year is .294/.389/.500, wRC+ of 123.

Phillies Acquire Noah Syndergaard

By Darragh McDonald | August 2, 2022 at 5:20pm CDT

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).

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