The Angels snagged Hector Carrasco, a 37 year-old reliever, for $6.1MM over two years. Considering that Carrasco was waiver bait a couple of years ago, he did an excellent job capitalizing on his freakish 2.04 ERA in 2005.
Carrasco had the lowest batting average with balls in play among any pitcher with at least 80 innings in 2005 – .236. Given that the typical BABIP is more like .300, Carrasco’s luck is likely to run out. Expect an ERA closer to 4 in ’06.
The Carrasco acquisition adds fuel to the fire that the Halos could deal a top reliever like Scot Shields or Brendan Donnelly.
