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Sam Bachman Diagnosed With Thoracic Outlet Syndrome

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The Angels placed right-hander Sam Bachman on the 15-day injured list today due to thoracic outlet syndrome, per Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register. The righty himself said he doesn’t need surgery and is hoping to avoid the 60-day IL, per Rhett Bollinger of MLB.com.

Thoracic outlet syndrome is a potentially ominous diagnosis but it’s also one that comes with a wide range of outcomes. In some of the more infamous cases, pitchers like Matt Harvey, Chris Archer and Stephen Strasburg were severely set back by the condition and never able to recover, though each of those pitchers did require surgery.

On the other end of the spectrum, Merrill Kelly underwent surgery towards the end of the 2020 season. He has since gone on to have the best seasons of his MLB career, tossing 609 2/3 innings with a 3.71 earned run average from 2021 to 2024. For those interested in a medical explanation about why the results can be so divergent, Jesse Dougherty of The Washington Post took a look a couple of years ago.

At this point, it can only be guessed what the future holds for Bachman. The fact that he isn’t currently undergoing surgery is perhaps a good sign, though it will be a situation for the Angels and their fans to monitor.

Bachman, now 25, was the ninth overall pick of the 2021 draft. The Halos gave him a $3,847,500 bonus to put pen to paper. Despite some injuries in the minors, he was up in the majors by May of 2023 but hasn’t been able to build much of a track record due to further health troubles. In July of 2023, shortly after his promotion, he landed on the IL due to right shoulder inflammation and stayed on the shelf for the rest of the year. He underwent arthroscopic surgery in the fall and started 2024 on the IL as well. He was reinstated in the summer but sent to the minors.

It’s now been almost four years since Bachman was drafted but he hasn’t been healthy very often since then. He has just 146 minor league innings and only 17 major league innings under his belt to this point. He now has another serious diagnosis to deal with.

Photo courtesy of Rick Scuteri, Imagn Images

Angels Reinstate, Option Sam Bachman

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The Angels announced that right-hander Sam Bachman has been reinstated from the 60-day injured list and optioned to Double-A Rocket City. The 40-man roster already had a vacancy with infielder Niko Goodrum being claimed off waivers by the Pirates earlier this week, but the roster is now full with this move.

Bachman, 24, underwent arthroscopic shoulder surgery in the fall and wasn’t fully healed by Opening Day. He was placed on the 60-day injured list when the club selected Miguel Sanó in late March. Bachman began a rehab assignment at the end of May and has been getting stretched out, throwing three innings in each of his last two outings.

The Angels currently have a rotation mix consisting of Tyler Anderson, Patrick Sandoval, Griffin Canning, José Soriano and José Suarez. For now, Bachman will continue getting stretched out but could be a candidate for some major league starts later in the year. The Halos are 26-42 and one of the few clubs firmly in the seller camp ahead of the trade deadline. If any of those starters get traded or suffer an injury, Bachman could perhaps get a look in the majors, though Reid Detmers will also be in the mix after being optioned a few weeks ago.

Bachman made his major league debut last year with a 3.18 earned run average in 17 innings. He was placed on the injured list in July due to right shoulder inflammation and stayed there the rest of the year, eventually undergoing the aforementioned surgery. He was able to get 129 days of service time last season, mostly on the IL, leaving him 43 days shy of the one-year mark. He was able to get over that line here in 2024 by spending over two months on the injured list but his clock will stop ticking forward now that he has been optioned.

Angels Hoping To Add To Rotation

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The Angels are looking to add to their rotation and have been “mulling” whether to make a run at Blake Snell or Jordan Montgomery, reports Jon Heyman of The New York Post, though Heyman adds that they’re more likely to go after a back-end guy like Michael Lorenzen. The club has been loosely tied to Snell and Montgomery earlier in the offseason but without anything seeming close or particularly viable.

The club’s current rotation projects to be fronted by some combination Reid Detmers, Patrick Sandoval, Tyler Anderson and Griffin Canning. Options for the fifth spot include Chase Silseth, José Suarez and Zach Plesac. That competition also would have had Sam Bachman in it, but Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register reports that Bachman had arthroscopic surgery last fall and won’t be ready for Opening Day.

That rotation mix has talent but plenty of question marks. Detmers had a 3.77 ERA in 2022 but it jumped to 4.48 last year. Sandoval went from 2.91 to 4.11 while Anderson jumped from 2.57 to 5.43. Canning was healthy enough to get to 127 innings pitched last year but that was a new high for him, thanks to injuries and the pandemic. Suarez missed most of last year due to a shoulder strain. Silseth has just 81 innings of MLB experience and only 45 2/3 at Triple-A. Plesac’s ERA shot up to 7.59 with the Guardians last year. There was some bad luck in there but he was nonetheless passed through waivers and outrighted off the roster.

Given those question marks and the inevitable pitcher injuries that arise in a long baseball season, there’s plenty of logic in adding to that group. A run at Snell or Montgomery would be interesting, as there are reasons to doubt the possibility. MLBTR’s Contract Tracker shows that the largest contract the Angels have given a starting pitching since the start of 2012 is the three years and $39MM they gave Anderson. That historical lack of spending on starting pitching and owner Arte Moreno’s recent comments about operating with a lower payroll this year would make it surprising to see the Angels suddenly splurge on Snell or Montgomery.

Even with a lower payroll, it’s possible they have some powder dry. They opened last year with an Opening Day payroll of $212MM, per Cot’s Baseball Contracts, and also flirted with the luxury tax line. This year, Roster Resource pegs them at $173MM, almost $40MM below where they were a year ago. Their CBT number of $188MM is almost $50MM below this year’s $237MM threshold. That could leave some wiggle room for them to make a notable signing while still having lowered their spending slightly.

Coming into the offseason, MLBTR predicted Snell for $200MM over seven years and Montgomery for $150MM over six. The fact they are still on the open market in mid-February suggests they may be having difficulty getting into that range, so perhaps there’s an opportunity for the Angels to make something work, despite their past resistance to long-term deals for starters.

Either would immediately become the best pitcher on the staff, if added. Snell is coming off his second career Cy Young victory, posting a 2.25 ERA with the Padres last year. He’s had his ups and downs but is obviously one of the best in the league when he’s throwing well. Montgomery has continued to build his innings totals and lower his ERA since returning from Tommy John surgery. He tossed 44 innings in 2020 with a 5.11 ERA, then got to 157 1/3 frames with a 3.83 ERA in 2021. He followed that up with 178 1/3 innings of 3.48 ERA ball and then 188 2/3 innings with a 3.20 ERA last year, then adding another 31 postseason frames with a 2.90 ERA.

But signing someone like Lorenzen would be more the Angels’ style and they have, in fact, done it before. After years of being pushed to the bullpen by the Reds, the Halos gave Lorenzen a one-year, $6.75MM deal and let him try starting in 2022. It went reasonably well, as he made 18 starts and logged 97 2/3 innings with a 4.24 ERA.

He was able to parlay that into a one-year, $8.5MM deal with the Tigers and pushed himself even farther in terms of workload and results. He had a 3.58 ERA in 105 2/3 innings with Detroit before getting flipped to the Phillies. He made two excellent starts for his new club, the latter being a no-hitter, but seemed to run out of gas after that. After completing his no-hitter, he was sitting on a 3.23 ERA through 122 2/3 innings on the year. He was lit up the rest of the way and finished the season with an ERA of 4.18, but it seems possible that was a result of him pushing his innings tally into new territory.

MLBTR predicted he could secure a two-year, $22MM deal this offseason. He remains unsigned and is arguably the best starter in free agency apart from Snell and Montgomery. Unless the Angels plan to make a pivot and open themselves up to the idea of a mega deal for a pitcher, Lorenzen would be their best path to solidifying the rotation. Other notable remaining free agent starters are Mike Clevinger, Hyun Jin Ryu, Eric Lauer, Noah Syndergaard, Rich Hill, Zack Greinke and Johnny Cueto.

Moreno: No Plans To Sell Angels, Team Likely To Operate On “Lower” Budget In 2024

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Angels owner Arte Moreno spoke to Jeff Fletcher of The Orange County Register this week, touching on various topics. Notably, he said that he has no plans to sell the team and that the club’s payroll is going to be lower in 2024.

Moreno announced in August of 2022 that he was planning to explore a sale of the club, but another announcement in January of 2023 indicated he was no longer pursuing that path. While some fans may have hoped he would reconsider, it doesn’t seem that is in his plans.

“I am here long term,” Moreno said to Fletcher this week. “There are some people that came back and some people that knew I had it on the market (in 2022). I basically said it’s not on the market.”

Moreno did leave the door open to being blown away by a crazy offer, suggesting if an interested party offers something “really stupid” he’d have to consider. Outside that scenario, it doesn’t seem like a sale is on the table.

That leaves questions about the long-term plan of certain elements, such as the club’s home ballpark of Angel Stadium. Moreno was hoping to purchase the venue with an eye on developing the area around it into a sort of ballpark village with residential and commercial spaces. That plan seemingly died in May of 2022 when Anaheim City Council voted against it. The process was marred by controversy, with Anaheim mayor Harry Sidhu resigning amid an FBI investigation alleging that he shared insider information with the club in the hope of soliciting campaign contributions. It was just a few months later that Moreno announced he was considering selling the club.

It doesn’t seem like there’s any momentum to revisiting plans for that development project, with Moreno suggesting city officials don’t have “an appetite” for the plan. Anaheim’s current mayor, Ashleigh Aitken, also provided a statement to Fletcher:

“We’re open to looking at the future of baseball and welcome a fresh start in crafting a proposal that is good for Anaheim and our residents. I’m all ears. We know what works, and we’ve seen what didn’t. We welcome a fair proposal. As a city, we’re committed to building on decades of baseball in Anaheim for generations to come.”

With Moreno seemingly not looking to purchase the stadium at the moment, the Angels continue to lease it. That deal runs through 2029 but with three-year options that go through 2038. Moreno demurred when asked how that would play out. “Do you know where you’re going to be in 2038? Do you know how old I am? This year I’ll be 78. That’s a long time.”

Turning to the near future, Moreno addressed the 2024 club and admitted that the club’s plan is to “set the budget lower,” but without providing specifics.

The Angels were willing to spend near the competitive balance tax last year and were even over the line for a time. But as they fell out of contention, they put various veteran players on waivers in order to shed their salaries. They also put Max Stassi on the restricted list as he was away from the club due to a personal matter, which was later revealed by his wife to be the premature birth of their son, which led to various health complications for the child.

In the end, the club successfully ducked under the tax line. Some observers wondered if the club would enter a rebuild with Shohei Ohtani hitting free agency, but general manager Perry Minasian quickly shot down those ideas in November when he plainly stated that they would not rebuild and would actually be aggressive this winter.

The club has indeed been active, though whether they’ve been “aggressive” is up for debate. The Halos have mostly been focused on the bullpen, signing Robert Stephenson, Matt Moore, Luis García, Adam Cimber and José Cisnero. Despite those signings, their payroll is at $173MM and their CBT number at $188MM, per Roster Resource. That puts them almost $50MM below the tax and almost $40MM below last year’s Opening Day payroll of $212MM, per Cot’s Baseball Contracts.

If they were willing to get back to those levels again this year, they would be a viable player for a late-winter splash on one of the top remaining free agents, with Blake Snell, Jordan Montgomery, Cody Bellinger and Matt Chapman still available. But perhaps that’s less likely if the budget is going to decrease, though it’s not clear how far they intend to drop payroll. Circling back to Ohtani, Moreno confirmed a December report that the Halos were not willing to match the heavily-deferred $700MM deal that Ohtani signed with the Dodgers.

With Ohtani gone, the club is no longer obligated to run a six-man rotation, something they did to limit Ohtani’s workload while serving as a two-way player. Rhett Bollinger of MLB.com reports that the club is planning to use a traditional five-man rotation this year, with Sam Bachman and José Suarez to be stretched out.

Those two figure to be in competition for a spot at the back of the rotation. If everyone is healthy, the front four should be Reid Detmers, Griffin Canning, Patrick Sandoval and Tyler Anderson. That leaves one spot for someone like Bachman, Suarez, Chase Silseth or Zach Plesac.

Suarez, 26, seemed to be breaking out as a viable starter over 2021 and 2022. He pitched around 100 innings in each of those campaigns with his earned run average finishing just a bit below 4.00 both times. But last year was challenging, as he missed significant time due to a left shoulder strain and only tossed 33 2/3 innings with an 8.29 ERA. He’ll look to get back on track with better health this year. He’s out of options and will need to be in the bullpen if he doesn’t win a rotation job, or else be removed from the 40-man roster entirely.

Bachman, 24, was selected ninth overall in 2021 and made his MLB debut last year. He made 11 appearances out of the bullpen in the big leagues, with a 3.18 ERA in those. He landed on the injured list due to shoulder inflammation in July and wasn’t able to make it back after that.

He was a starter on his way up the minor league ladder but has yet to build up a huge workload. He pitched 75 2/3 innings in college in 2019, but then was limited to just 23 2/3 in the 2020 season. In 2021, he tossed 59 2/3 in college and then another 14 1/3 in High-A after his draft selection, getting to 74 on the year. In 2022, he was in Double-A but only logged 43 2/3 innings as back spasms and biceps inflammation slowed him down. Last year, he threw 26 1/3 frames at Double-A before adding another 17 in the minors, combining for 43 1/3.

All told, he’s yet to reach 80 innings in a season and didn’t even get to 45 in either of the past two years. It’s understandable that the club still wants to develop their first-rounder as a starter going forward, given his youth, upside and full slate of options. But it’s likely going to be a long-term project since he’ll have to take gradual steps forward in terms of increasing that workload.

Minor 40-Man Moves: Adams, Ortega, Capra

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With the trade deadline behind us, a few smaller 40-man transactions from throughout the day that weren’t previously covered:

  • The Angels selected outfielder Jordyn Adams onto the big league roster while transferring Jo Adell and Sam Bachman to the 60-day injured list. The 17th overall pick in the 2018 draft, Adams is set for his major league debut. The 23-year-old outfielder is hitting .264/.351/.466 through 389 plate appearances with Triple-A Salt Lake. Strikeout issues have knocked down his former top prospect stock, but he’s capable of playing center field and has stolen 37 bases in 42 attempts this year.
  • The Pirates selected infielder Vinny Capra. Pittsburgh acquired the 27-year-old for catcher Tyler Heineman in a minor swap with the Blue Jays at the end of April. His big league experience consists of eight games with Toronto last season. The right-handed hitter owns a massive .350/.457/.485 showing with more walks than strikeouts over 34 games at Triple-A Indianapolis for the Bucs.
  • The Mets selected Rafael Ortega. Signed to a minor league deal in mid-June, the lefty-hitting outfielder returns to the big leagues for a seventh season. Ortega hit .265/.344/.408 for the Cubs between 2021-22. He owns a .228/.352/.388 line between two Triple-A affiliates this season. The 32-year-old will be eligible for arbitration after the season if he finished the year on the MLB roster.

Injured List Transactions

Angels Select Trey Cabbage, Outright David Fletcher

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The Angels announced a number of moves before tonight’s game with the Astros. Los Angeles selected first baseman/corner outfielder Trey Cabbage, recalled infielder Michael Stefanic and reinstated Zach Neto and Matt Moore from the injured list.

In corresponding moves, the Halos placed Anthony Rendon, Jo Adell and Sam Bachman on the IL. All three placements are retroactive to July 11. The position players will be eligible to return a week from now, while Bachman is out until at least July 26. In a final transaction, infielder David Fletcher has already cleared waivers and was outrighted off the 40-man roster to clear a spot for Cabbage.

On the positive side, Cabbage gets his first MLB look. The left-handed hitter was a fourth round selection of the Twins out of a Tennessee high school back in 2015. He played in the Minnesota system through 2021, topping out at Double-A. After becoming a minor league free agent, he joined the Halos.

Cabbage has spent the entire season at Triple-A Salt Lake. He has demonstrated interesting physical tools, connecting on 23 home runs and stealing 24 bases in 84 games. Even in the Pacific Coast League, his .287/.358/.576 batting line is better than average. He and Adell share the league lead in homers, and he’s fifth among 68 PCL hitters (minimum 200 plate appearances) in slugging.

He’ll add a left-handed power bat to Phil Nevin’s bench. Cabbage has gone down on strikes at a lofty 31.3% clip in Triple-A and has posted elevated strikeout totals throughout his career. The swing-and-miss has kept him from reaching the majors before his 26th birthday, but the huge power production in the upper minors earns him a look.

Cabbage is the latest member of an Angels’ infield that has gone through numerous recent iterations. Injuries to Neto, Gio Urshela and Rendon led the club to acquire Mike Moustakas and Eduardo Escobar. Neto is back at shortstop tonight after a month-long absence because of an oblique strain. That pushes Andrew Velazquez to the bench, while Luis Rengifo draws in at third base.

Rendon is dealing with a left shin contusion after fouling a ball off his leg a week ago. He told reporters the injury hasn’t healed as hoped and declined to answer when asked if he was engaged in any baseball activities (via Sam Blum of the Athletic). Adell has a left oblique strain. Bachman has inflammation in his throwing shoulder; Nevin told reporters he’ll be shut down for a brief period but isn’t expected to require a long-term absence (relayed by Rhett Bollinger of MLB.com).

Neto’s return squeezed Fletcher off the roster for the second time this season. The Halos also ran him through waivers in April. They re-selected his contract in late June but sent him back down after 11 games. Fletcher has gotten into 19 MLB contests on the season, hitting .213/.245/.298. He’s been far better in Salt Lake, putting up a .383/.431/.478 slash with more walks than strikeouts over 197 plate appearances.

Fletcher is making $6MM this season and under contract for the same amount through 2025. The $24MM extension he’d signed two years ago has given him ample financial security but ensured the Angels can send him through waivers without losing him. No other team is going to assume that money on a claim.

The latest demotion is timed so that the Halos can keep Fletcher in the organization as a non-roster player. He entered the season 61 days shy of the five-year MLB service threshold. He has picked up around 39 more days this year. Players with over five years of service time can decline a minor league assignment while retaining their entire contract; those with between three and five years would need to forfeit their guaranteed money to do so. Fletcher certainly isn’t going to pass on the money remaining on his deal, so the preemptive outright before he gets to five service years will keep him in Salt Lake.

Angels Outright Reyes Moronta

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TODAY: Moronta has been outrighted to Triple-A, according to MLB.com’s transactions page.  It isn’t yet known if Moronta has accepted the assignment or elected free agency.

MAY 26: The Angels announced Friday that righty Reyes Moronta has been designated for assignment. His spot on the 40-man and active roster will go to pitching prospect Sam Bachman, whose contract has been selected — as was previously reported.

Moronta, 30, inked a minor league deal with the Halos on May 11 and was selected to the big league roster just ten days later. He appeared in two games and pitched 1 1/3 innings, allowing a run on four hits and three walks with two strikeouts. With the Angels aggressively seeking solutions to balance out a top-heavy bullpen, his spot will go to Bachman, whom the Angels selected with the ninth overall pick in the 2021 draft.

Back in 2017-19, Moronta was a high-quality setup man for the Giants, pitching to a 2.66 ERA with a 29.8% strikeout rate across 128 1/3 innings. Command was an issue, which was easy to see with one glance at a 13.6% walk rate, but Moronta’s 97.1 mph heater and a plus, low-80s slider helped him to limit the damage from those free passes.

Shoulder surgery ended Moronta’s 2019 season a few weeks early and wiped out nearly all of his 2020-21 seasons, however. He returned to toss four innings with the Giants in 2021, allowing just one run in that time but also sporting a fastball that clocked it at an average of 94.3 mph — a nearly three mile-per-hour drop. The Giants removed him from the 40-man roster in September, and Moronta cleared outright waivers and subsequently elected free agency at season’s end.

The Dodgers signed Moronta to a minor league deal once the 2021-22 lockout was lifted, and less than three weeks into the season he’d made it up to their big league bullpen. He spent the next couple months as an up-and-down arm in L.A. before ultimately being designated for assignment and claimed off waivers by the D-backs. Overall, his 2022 campaign ended with 37 2/3 frames of 4.30 ERA ball, a 23.6% strikeout rate and an 11.2% walk rate.

Moronta’s 95.2 mph heater this year lined up with his 95.3 mph average in 2022, but both sit about two miles per hour shy of his peak. The Angels will have a week to trade him, attempt to pass him through outright waivers or release him. Moronta has enough big league service time to reject an outright assignment in favor of free agency, even if he goes unclaimed on waivers.

Angels To Promote Sam Bachman

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The Angels are set to promote pitching prospect Sam Bachman for his Major League debut, reports Robert Murray of FanSided (Twitter link). Bachman, the ninth overall selection in the 2021 draft, will be used out of the bullpen to begin his big league career, Sam Blum of The Athletic adds. Bachman isn’t on the 40-man roster and will need to be added.

The 23-year-old Bachman ranks seventh in the Angels’ system at Baseball America, fifth at MLB.com and fourth at FanGraphs. Scouting reports on the 6’1″ righty tout potent fastball/slider combo, with the heater capable of reaching triple digits and the slider giving him a potentially plus pitch with which to miss bats. Command is the most oft-cited question mark with Bachman, as is often the case with power-armed hurlers of this nature, and he also dealt with back and biceps injuries since being drafted.

Bachman has gotten out to a tough start in Double-A this season, posting a 5.81 ERA in six starts — a total of just 26 1/3 frames. He’s fanned nearly a quarter of his opponents but also issued walks at an ugly 16.9% clip. That work has come exclusively out of the rotation, however, and the Angels will now take a look at how Bachman fares in shorter stints when he can air out his already plus heater at max intensity. Baseball America’s scouting report on Bachman notes that his velocity has a tendency to begin dropping after around three innings anyhow, which could certainly point to a future in the bullpen.

The Angels’ bullpen has been a top-heavy unit in 2023, ranking seventh in the Majors with a 3.57 ERA that’s largely due to dominant performances from Carlos Estevez, Matt Moore and Jaime Barria, who all sport sub-2.00 ERAs. Righties Andrew Wantz and Chris Devenski have been sharp as well, but the Angels have cycled through several less-successful options to round out the relief corps. Anaheim has already moved on from veteran righty Ryan Tepera, and they’ve received ugly results from fellow veteran Aaron Loup. They’ll hope Bachman’s high-octane arsenal can help to solidify the group and take some pressure off the likes of Estevez and Moore, who are tied with a team-leading (by a wide margin) 22 appearances apiece.

Angels Agree To Terms With First-Rounder Sam Bachman

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The Angels have agreed to a deal with right-hander Sam Bachman, their top pick in this month’s amateur draft, reports Carlos Collazo of Baseball America (via Twitter). The now-former Miami (Ohio) University hurler will take home a $3,847,500 bonus that checks in more than a million dollars south of the $4,949,100 value of Bachman’s No. 9 overall slot.

The 21-year-old Bachman, listed at 6’1″ and 235 pounds, posted ridiculous numbers in his junior season. Through 59 2/3 innings, he pitched to a 1.81 ERA while striking out 41 percent of his opponents against just a 7.5 percent walk rate. He allowed just one home run all season and, in three years of NCAA ball, surrendered just four long balls through a total of 159 innings.

Bachman was seen as a slam-dunk first rounder thanks to some of the best raw stuff in the entire draft. Baseball America’s scouting report on the RedHawks ace indicated that both his fastball and slider have received 70 grades on the 20-80 scale, with some scouts even putting an 80 on both pitches. The Athletic’s Keith Law wrote that Bachman had the “best one-two punch in the draft and should be a top ten pick.” Law ranked Bachman as the draft’s No. 9 player, and he ranked 14th both at Baseball America and at MLB.com. FanGraphs’ Eric Longenhagen had Bachman listed 18th, and ESPN’s Kiley McDaniel ranked him 29th.

Bachman isn’t without his concerns, however. He missed a pair of starts early in the college season due to arm troubles and gives scouts some pause because of his delivery. Bachman has a third offering, a changeup, that some reports grade as above-average, but he rarely used it this season. All of that leads to some concern that he’s a reliever rather than a starter, but he’d have a good chance at being an impact bullpen piece even if he goes that route.

Bachman headlined an Angels draft class comprised entirely of pitchers. The Halos not only exclusively selected pitchers this year but went with college arms for 19 of their 20 picks. The lone exception was high school lefty Mason Albright in the 12th round — a lefty who landed 122nd on MLB.com’s rankings and 135th at Baseball America but is committed to Virginia Tech. It’s possible that the $1.1MM or so in savings on the Bachman pick will be used to try to sway Albright from that commitment and get him into the Angels’ system.

2021 MLB Draft, Day One Results

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The 2021 MLB Draft is underway, and we’ll be keeping track of tonight’s picks as they’re announced.  The draft will get underway this evening with the first 36 picks — the first round proper, the compensatory round (which consists of just one pick, the Reds’ extra selection granted when Trevor Bauer rejected their qualifying offer last winter and signed with the Dodgers for more than $50MM), and then Competitive Balance Round A.

Rounds 2-10 (plus the included compensation picks and Competitive Balance Round B) will take place on Monday afternoon, and then rounds 11-20 will take place Tuesday afternoon.  This year’s draft is to 20 rounds from five rounds in 2020, and the current expectation is that the 2022 draft will return to its old 40-round format, though the draft structure will be one of many topics under discussion when the league and the players’ union negotiate a new collective bargaining agreement this winter.

For more on these stars of the future, check out the prospect rankings and scouting reports compiled by Baseball America, Fangraphs, MLB Pipeline, The Athletic’s Keith Law, and ESPN’s Kiley McDaniel.  As well, here is MLB Pipeline’s breakdown of the slot values assigned to each pick in the first 10 rounds, as well as the bonus pool money available to all 30 teams.

The selections…

  1. Pittsburgh Pirates: Henry Davis, C, University Of Louisville
  2. Texas Rangers: Jack Leiter, RHP, Vanderbilt University
  3. Detroit Tigers: Jackson Jobe, RHP, Heritage Hall High School (OK)
  4. Boston Red Sox: Marcelo Mayer, SS, Eastlake High School (CA)
  5. Baltimore Orioles: Colton Cowser, OF, Sam Houston State University
  6. Arizona Diamondbacks: Jordan Lawlar, SS, Jesuit Prep (Dallas, TX)
  7. Kansas City Royals: Frank Mozzicato, LHP, East Catholic High School (CT)
  8. Colorado Rockies: Benny Montgomery, OF, Red Land High School (PA)
  9. Los Angeles Angels: Sam Bachman, RHP, Miami University (Ohio)
  10. New York Mets: Kumar Rocker, RHP, Vanderbilt University
  11. Washington Nationals: Brady House, SS, Winder-Barrow High School (GA)
  12. Seattle Mariners: Harry Ford, C/OF, North Cobb High School (GA)
  13. Philadelphia Phillies: Andrew Painter, RHP, Calvary Christian Academy (FLA)
  14. San Francisco Giants: Will Bednar, RHP, Mississippi State University
  15. Milwaukee Brewers: Sal Frelick, OF, Boston College
  16. Miami Marlins: Kahlil Watson, SS, Wake Forest High School (NC)
  17. Cincinnati Reds: Matt McLain, SS, UCLA
  18. St. Louis Cardinals: Michael McGreevy, RHP, UC Santa Barbara
  19. Toronto Blue Jays: Gunnar Hoglund, RHP, University Of Mississippi
  20. New York Yankees: Trey Sweeney, SS, Eastern Illinois University
  21. Chicago Cubs: Jordan Wicks, LHP, Kansas State University
  22. Chicago White Sox: Colson Montgomery, SS, Southridge High School (IN)
  23. Cleveland Indians: Gavin Williams, RHP, East Carolina University
  24. Atlanta Braves: Ryan Cusick, RHP, Wake Forest University
  25. Oakland Athletics: Max Muncy, SS, Thousand Oaks High School (CA)
  26. Minnesota Twins: Chase Petty, RHP, Mainland Regional High School (NJ)
  27. San Diego Padres: Jackson Merrill, SS, Severna Park High School (MD)
  28. Tampa Bay Rays: Carson Williams, SS/RHP, Torrey Pines High School (CA)
  29. Los Angeles Dodgers: Maddux Bruns, LHP, UMS-Wright Prep (AL)
  30. Cincinnati Reds (compensatory pick): Jay Allen, OF, John Carroll Catholic High School (FL)
  31. Miami Marlins (Competitive Balance Round A): Joe Mack, C, Williamsville East High School (NY)
  32. Detroit Tigers (CBR-A): Ty Madden, RHP, University of Texas
  33. Milwaukee Brewers (CBR-A): Tyler Black, 2B, Wright State University
  34. Tampa Bay Rays (CBR-A): Cooper Kinney, 2B, Baylor High School (TN)
  35. Cincinnati Reds (CBR-A): Matheu Nelson, C, Florida State University
  36. Minnesota Twins (CBR-A): Noah Miller, SS, Ozaukee High School (WI)
Show all

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