The Angels announced that three of their players have been outrighted to their Triple-A Salt Lake affiliate— right-handers Luke Bard and James Hoyt, and infielder Franklin Barreto. Of these three players, Barreto is the only one with more than three years of service time, a distinction that will allow him to elect free agency after this outright assignment should he choose to do so.
Bard has seen some action out of the Angels bullpen dating back to 2018 but, as today’s transaction indicates, has yet to establish himself as a reliable option. During this time, the righty has limited baserunners at an above average clip but has been undermined by a sky-high home run rate, allowing nearly two home runs per nine innings. The 30 year-old scarcely pitched in the big leagues the past two seasons, most recently owing to season-ending hip surgery this past May. He’ll look to shave some points off his career 5.05 ERA if he’s able to return to the Majors next year.
For the 35 year-old Hoyt, the outright is reflective of his recent career history, where he has been regularly shuttled on and off the Major League rosters of four different teams. While the 2021 season didn’t go as planned for Hoyt in the Majors, where he gave up six runs in eight innings, or the minors, where he put up a 9.42 ERA, his overall track record is much more encouraging. Prior to his time with the Angels, Hoyt had never pitched at the highest level with a strikeout rate south of 30% and just last year had a brilliant 20-game run with the Marlins, pitching to a 1.23 ERA (albeit with a too-high walk rate).
Acquired by the Angels in the deal that sent Tommy La Stella to the A’s last summer, Barreto comes with the highest pedigree of the bunch. The middle infielder regularly checked in on top prospect lists but has been unable to make much of an impact for either the Athletics or the Angels. Barreto has stepped to the plate just eighteen times as an Angel, owing to a number of surgeries including Tommy John surgery this past May. Now that he’s out of minor league options and can elect free agency, it’s quite possible that Barreto, owner of a .175/.207/.343 slash at the highest level, will look to establish himself elsewhere.
But Bard’s spin rate..
It’s so high, he spun his way right off of the roster.
I’m beginning to think the Blue Jays won the Josh Donaldson trade.
I dont think there was ever any doubt
RIP
I knew that Like and Daniel Bard are brothers, but I did not know until today that their cousin is John Andreoli, who has had cameo big league appearances as an infielder for Seattle, Baltimore and this year with San Diego.
I learned something today, now I can go back to bed.
The Angels should have kept LaStella if all they could get was Franklin Barreto.
You don’t have to move players if you can’t get something of value for them.
Ya trade never made much sense
Yes their World Series chances went out the door after that trade.. I liked to play Monday morning quarterback when I was 11 too. If Barreto played well you would be singing a different tune or not saying anything at all. Your hindsight 20/20 huh?
What would holding on to La Stella prove? They didn’t have to pay out his salary for the remainder of the season and got back a former prospect who played the same positions. Yeah it didn’t pan out but La Stella signed a 3 year deal with the Giants after the season and was playing for a manager who disliked and demoted him when on the Cubs together. He was never going to resign anyways.. especially for what he was paid.
I try not to play Monday Morning Quarterback, but in this case you are right.
My opinion at the time was at least Barreto had a chance to help the team.
Barreto had a chance to help the team how? Fletcher is at second and he’s not playing short, and Gosselin is their utility guy. Barreto has done nothing at the MLB level and he’s had a lot of injuries. These are the type of players they don’t need. Angel fans overvalue each player. Their minor league system ranks in the bottom 5, but let’s play all those players. Stayed with Pujols too long, and now Upton.
It was last year. We didn’t have a utility infielder. As for Fletcher, his WAR this year was point 3.
He can’t afford another year like that.
But as far as trading, give me the RP with a good arm. I typically like that upside.
Do you just say the opposite to annoy people? Fletcher is going to win a gold glove, and is the best clutch hitter on the team. last year he finished 5th in hitting. He slumped the last six weeks, but a friend inside told me he was playing injured. Baretto is better than Fletcher? Come on guy. You don’t have to argue every point. Fletcher is incredibly valuable and can play anywhere on the diamond.
Fletcher is not going to win a gold glove. If he does, gold gloves are meaningless. His arm isn’t very soon and throws every ball falling away from his target which means the ball has to travel extra distance. The eyes bear that out and so do the metrics.
The trade was a bad trade, but it had a chance to help the team at the time because the Angels did not have a utility infielder.
Next is Rendon
They were right to trade LaStella. The problem is as usual the Angels talent evaluators were wrong yet again. You see the Dodgers, Giants, A’s, Houston, Tampa, Red Sox, Yankees consistently get it right… but we do not. Hopefully that’s changing with Minnassian who was a vital part of rebuilding the Braves.
And yet their talent evaluators actually got it right when they acquired LaStella and somehow turned him into a high average, power hitting utility player. The only team on your list that has consistently gotten it right lately is the Dodgers. The rest have had their ups and downs. Giants were likely a fluke, A’s come and go based how much offense they can gather, Astros had a losing record last season and were perennial 100 game losers before their run, Rays and Red Sox have been all over the place, and the Yankees are not a talented team. They’ve all had their struggles. The Dodgers even had only 4 playoff appearances in 24 years between 1988 and the beginning of their current run. The Angels are just going through that drought period, and the only reason it’s even a story in the media is because they have Mike Trout. But that’s baseball. Ask Griffey about it. Trout just came to the Angels 10 years too late, and fans just have to take it until the Halos can come up with the pitching from their farm system that they had 10-20 years ago. One can argue that Trout is the Angels’ biggest problem because you don’t just go into full rebuild mode when you have the best player in the game and lots of money. All the other teams we’ve pointed out were able to just rebuild because they don’t have a Mike Trout.
Well said Ryan
The Giants were a fluke? 109 Wins was a fluke? Over the last 10 years they have been a consistent winner and may have the best overall record in baseball– if they don’t they’re close. Tampa Bay has its ups and downs? When are the downs? They operate on a $12 budget and are consistently in the playoffs and trading stars just before they fall off a cliff for new stars. The A’s are one of the best teams consistently and always have been. They operate with no budget, few fans and a horrible stadium.
The Astros were perennial losers after years of being perennial winners– not sure I see the logic in comparing past regimes. They are in the World Series. Look at their talent honestly. They are better at first, second, short and we’ll say third base is a tie– despite the fact Rendon’s production has not matched Bregman. They’re better in right and left– we are better in center. Maldonado and Stassi– we’ll call that a tie. The Houston rotation and bullpen are far superior. All of their players were drafted and developed. Why would you talk about the failed previous regime? We are here and now and all of the teams I cited are winning with better decision making. Let’s hope Minnassian makes better choices– I think he is and will, but the proof is in the winning. The rest are excuses… we’ve had enough of those. Seattle you can cite as being lucky to have finished where they did, but the others my friend were better assembled. ( I did not use Seattle as an example of a well run team).
Your argument used the word “consistently”, which implies perennial contention over a long period of time. The only team you listed that has done that over the past decade is the Dodgers. Every other team on your list has had to regroup and put up with struggles like any other franchise. And yes, the Giants were likely a fluke because their starting rotation is nowhere near the kind one would pencil in as a shoe in. It’s basically the same kind of rotation the Angels have tried to piece together over the last 5 years and didn’t have nearly the amount of luck the Giants had this season. They proved the Angels’ approach could have worked, but it would’ve been a total fluke given the overall lack of organizational depth on the pitching end. I would still be skeptical of giving Kevin Gausman a big contract.
If we keep La Stella he leaves at the end of that year and the Angels receive nothing of value in return.
A lottery ticket in Barreto is better than nothing. Not much better, but a sliver of a chance of future value > no chance of future value.
Since it was an expanded playoffs, the Angels were in contention until the last week of the year.
Trading LaStella didn’t work out very well.
I can not stand a Monday Morning Quarterback, which I apologize for being, but something else I can’t stand is people who can’t acknowledge something went wrong. Not that you are one of these people.
It wasn’t a good trade. That shouldn’t be a controversial take.
Spin rate is a tool. Like any other tool, the decision makers have to understand how to use that tool.
Exactly. Just like velocity. Oh how Eppler loved velocity. However, velocity only works if you can control it and have at least one other effective pitch at a different speed.
Get honed in on any one aspect and you’ll miss the big picture.
Dumpster diving opportunities for new Cub GM.
GOOD!
Yay.