The Angels have acquired righty Miguel Almonte from the Royals, per a club announcement. Cash or a player to be named later will head back in return for Almonte, who has been optioned to Triple-A by the Halos. To create an opening on the 40-man roster, the Los Angeles organization designated catcher Juan Graterol for assignment.
Almonte, who was removed from the 40-man recently to create space for a player of the same last name, will celebrate his 25th birthday today by joining a new organization after seven years in the Kansas City system. While he was once viewed as a quality prospect, Almonte has had trouble earning MLB opportunities and has in recent years been shifted mostly into a relief role.
Still, Almonte’s arm obviously caught the attention of the Angels front office. He threw 47 innings of 1.72 ERA ball last year in the upper minors, over which he recorded 52 strikeouts against just 13 walks. But injuries again limited him in 2017 and Almonte is slated for some further time off after dealing with shoulder problems this spring.
As for the 29-year-old Graterol, he has seen limited MLB chances with the Halos over the past two seasons. He does have plenty of experience in the upper minors over a dozen-year professional career. Graterol carries a .652 OPS in his 353 Triple-A plate appearances and a .690 mark over 477 turns with the bat at the penultimate level of the minors.
Dumb move by the Royals
Yep. This is a real head-scratcher.
The Royals have a terrible minor league system. Let’s hope these PTBNL guys turn into something more than AAA filler.
It’s the Angels what will the return be? I don’t think they rate players that low.
I think you’re a little harsh by that dumb move comment. Almonte has been around for quite a few years now and he’s had a couple of cups of coffee in KC and was hit hard and often. He is also another one that cannot stay on the field. I think the message here is if you’re in the Royals system you had better stay healthy, and make progress at each level or you’re going to get flushed out of the system. When these guys hit their mid 20s they had better be on the verge of a major league job and he wasn’t
I agree with this.
Gotta hand it to Eppler, he keeps busy trying to make moves to improve the club and provide depth at all levels. Will be interesting to see what he does at the trade deadline if the Angels are still in contention.
Just for the record, AA is the “penultimate” level of the minors, not AAA.
I gave his Triple-A OPS, then his Double-A OPS.
How much would it cost the Angels to acquire Raisel Iglesias from the Reds? I agree we still need bullpen help. Also disappointed we didn’t go after Greg Holland.
Probably at least two of Adell/Jones/Maitan, and possibly a little more to round out a package. They could do that, but with the way Eppler has seemed intent on rebuilding the farm system and adding depth, I’d be surprised if they did something that.
I wouldnt mortage the farm for an intriguing arm like iglesias. I also agree that a holland sign would have pushed them that much closer to the astros as far a talent prespective.
Also wouldnt cost that much to get him. Not a proven arm to mortage the entire farm for.
Hopefully the Blue Jays claim Graterol. He has been with the team in the past and would be a better back up catcher than Maile.