The Angels have designated veteran Jonathan Villar for assignment, per the team. The move makes room for Magneuris Sierra, whose contract was selected from Triple-A.
This is the second time this season that Villar finds himself designated for assignment. He began the year with the Cubs, but the utility man hit just .222/.271/.327 in 166 plate appearances with the Cubs. He didn’t fare much better with the Angels, hitting just .163/.226/.224 across 54 plate appearances.
Coincidentally, the 31-year-old made two errors in last night’s ballgame, and while that alone would not be the reason to DFA Villar, the bat-first Villar has long been viewed as a subpar defender, despite his versatility. With the Angels all but out of postseason contention, they may prefer to use the roster spot on someone with a longer-term future in Los Angeles.
Sierra, 26, isn’t necessarily that guy, but he does bring a little more youth to the roster spot. The speedy outfielder has not yet appeared in the Majors this season after spending the last four campaigns with the Marlins. Sierra has earned his opportunity with solid play in Triple-A where he has slashed .297/.358/.437 in 311 plate appearances.
Villar is too young to be this toast.
He’s 31. Tons of players, perhaps even most, nose dive in production exactly around that age.
And the good ones don’t. 31 is too young to call it quits. I guess if speed is all you got though, then I suppose it’s true.
Most good ones decline at 31. It’s a myth that they don’t. Look up random “good ones” and see. 31 is the general age of decline.
White Sox!!
Nose dive at 31 is a bit of an exaggeration. Most might lose a tick, but the way you worded it, you have them almost finished at 31. Now that said, speed mainly players, like a Villar.those are more of an concern at that that age.
Well, sure, not nose dive, but those greats with far to fall often do fall far even if they land comfortably in the “still good” zone for a year or two, if that makes any sense.
A lot of times, the peak is 27.
I thought the same thing but there are many players who are roasted this upping. Brett Lawrie always comes to mind.
He’s a pretty good utility infielder with some pop who usually plays better the more regular reps he gets. He would be a good pickup for a contender with a hole in the utility infielder spot.
He had a massive drop-off. It seems like just a season or two ago he was pretty good with Milwaukee and then Baltimore.
#n2thecards: he was good in Baltimore. Too good. Which meant expensive (in Orioles money speak), so Elias traded him to the Marlins (2019?). Got a minor league pitcher who’s still in the system. Easton Lucas does relief work for AA Bowie. Seems to be no buzz about him here locally.
“He didn’t fare much better with the Angels”
He didn’t fare better at all. He fared worse.
Glad I’m not the only one who saw that as a mistake! Ha, Villar didnt fare ANY better with the Angels. 🙂
Told me a lot about Perry with the Angels season spiraling, he’s their solution. That said he didn’t care about this season
He has been the problem with the first year dumb signings and not getting a starting SS. And he must have thought a relef pitcher would make a fine SP instead of adding a real one.
Infield depth was his only real sin and it was extra exposed with Rendon and Fletch goiing down more or less immediately.
Another player that should have never have been on the 40 man roster released. Are Angel fans still impressed with Perry? I can’t imagine Moreno is the guy that is pushing for signing these minor league players.
what do you want him to do right now? he should be seeing what depth they have and trying players/strategies out, since the formula they came into the season with was unsuccessful. i dont think he has made any real head-scratching acquisitions, and less than two years is not enough time to judge a gm
LMAO! He has been a disaster of a GM!
Naw, his process was mostly fine. At this point he should be cycling all our minor leaguers in though. Finding a gem or two is the only thing that would make this silver lining. Like why on earth are Thaiss and Gatewood still down? Mckinnon? Give him more ABs. Trotting out goose and rojas is crazy. Give them all a shot.
aragon – He hasn’t been a disaster but he has been ineffective for sure. I believe that he can only do what Moreno allows him to do. We’ve had half a dozen GMs over several years who have had exaclty the same result, The only commonality has been the owner. It’s the only thing that makes sense.
Pohle, Minasian hasn’t really made any head-scratching acquistions, but in each of his two off-seasons as GM he has failed to address an obvious need. In his first off-season, he acquired Raisel Iglesias and then did nothing else to significantly improve the bullpen (no, signing Alex Claudio did not significantly improve the bullpen), despite it being an obvious area of need. The last weekend of the spring, Cishek and Watson fell into his lap; otherwise the bullpen would have been a bigger disaster than it was. And this past off-season he failed to acquire a starting caliber middle infielder despite the obvious need for one. I would say Minasian’s sins have been sins of omission rather than comission.
What do I want hi. to do? Build a roster with depth and a shortstop,
Not the dregs he’s playing has been playing with.
Yes but who hired Perry in the first place..
Of course Arte did. They are a perfect match. A cheap, over certain amount, and a dumb GM.
Given the Angels top heavy payroll and desire to keep payroll under $180MM, any Angels GM should be measured by their ability to gain Arte’s confidence to spend on an analytics staff, as well as, scouting, drafting and development. Building a pipeline of cost controlled talent to fortify the 40-man roster is essential if $100MM is tied up in three players. Alas, it takes several drafts and years of development to build a minor league system.
If the Angels choose to keep payroll under $180MM and not trade off desirable assets, they will continue to piece together a roster with low cost free agent signings, waiver wire pick ups and not ready for prime time minor league guys; until such time as the minor league system bears fruit.
This is a good take that Ive never conisdered as a good judgement vector. Nice work here.
It’s clear that Maddon wasn’t the problem. In addition to a GM with real experience, we also need an experienced field mgr.
Perry’s putting all their eggs in Neto at SS. And why not more IF depth? The Dodgers picked 8 SS’s. that’s 2 years in a row since they got all pitchers last yr. And more OFs this yr.
YOU have to blame the players, at least I do, and most all should. Of coarse the GM looks terrible when a lot of key players under perform. I can’t sit here and blame 1 SS roster spot on there terrible season. Yes, it should have been up graded at the start, but it’s not the closest part to there current record. Injuries don’t help, but every team has them. See below
#1 reason: Close ball games and moving runners over and in. Screw moving them over, they can’t even get them in, with a runner at 3rd and less than 2 outs. Without looking it up they have to be the worst in the league at it. This is where the injuries hurt most.The Angels best 2 players at this are Renton and Fletcher. Now some might appreciate the Fletch.
#2: The Pen, what projected to be pretty solid with the new guys, is a disaster again. This coupled with the above and not getting runners in, is another disaster. Hints the close game record, and record overall.
The bottom line: I think Arte should Trade Ohtani and get a haul to fill some holes. UNLESS, he plans to resign him, in that case. He better blow up his payroll and spend with the big Boyz.
He is not perfect, but he has made moves that were good. His bullpen moves have not worked at all , He got a good closer for cheap resigned him and added what I think we both thought were good pieces and might be later. The infield is a problem, but it does not help to have Rendon, Fletcher and even Duffy injured. I think he has done great with the Starters though. Again, I think we both thought the rotation would be better. I think It should be noted that the depth at starting pitcher is light years better. The thing he has done great in my mind is drafting and developing pitching. I know he drafted all pitchers there was more to that than what the Angels needs were. it was good value in that draft. then signed a bunch of NDFA . Some of them have made it to AA already. The drafted players have done well too. How many 11th rounders have the stuff that Silseth has . I think the Angels just had another good draft and have already signed all but 3 (14th,15th,17th). If he keeps doing what he has the team will start winning. I think they have the talent to win on the team right now. Will they put it together Even without a good infield they should be alot better than what they have shone since may.
Sorry to see. He was very useful and productive for NYM last season
As a Cub fan, I was happy when they signed Villar. Aside from shaky defense, he has always been a solid contributor and I believed he could fill some holes on the roster. Wow what a disappointment, hope he figures it out somewhere.
I think he has some ‘kill the Mets’ left in his bat. The Braves should get him.
The Braves would not sign him he is not better than anyone of their current roster. He would be a wasted piece
I always liked his combination of power and speed and ability to play all over the field. Maybe Seitzer can get him back on track. He has too much talent to not take a chance on.
He puts up great numbers for a utility guy but he’s in rapid decline and his low baseball IQ seriously mitigates his value even in up years. He’s a minor league pickup waiting to happen.
The Jays made a play for him last year I think.. offer and he went elsewhere..
Why not grab him just for the switch hitting…
So they dump Villar for a guy that has 25 RBI’s in 500 pa.
RBIs, really. You’re judging a player on that stat? A no power speed guy at that.
Magneuris Sierra was a lot of fun to watch when he was first brought up by the Cardinals!!
His Speed was lightning Fast!!! With his speed he could obviously control half of the outfield, plus after getting on first base—— in a blink of an eye—- he’d be standing on second!!!
He and Sandy Alcantra were waisted in a trade by the Cards to the Marlins for an injured Marcel Ozuna. Ozuna washed out with the Cardinals in just 2 seasons.
2 waisted young Cardinals players traded for a head case. That’s how John Mozeliak and the Cardinals generally operate!!! Backwards!!
I wish Magneuris and Sandy the best of luck!!
So wish they were still in the Cardinals system and Mozeliak could take up residence on Mars!!!!!
Marcel Ozuna is a good player he has very hot and cold steaks. He is going hit close to 30 home runs which a lot of people don’t do.
Also heard lots of talk about him being a clubhouse leader and that the cardinals miss that leadership
Ozuna seems like he could be a future manager.
Yep, I’m happy Sierra is getting another shot. Paul DeJong is available if the Angels want to take another flyer on a SS who can’t hit. He is a better defender than anyone they have tried so far this season.
@DonOsbourne, I think a change of scenery could help Paulie D quite a bit. I remember following him when he played against Missouri St. in NCAA. He definitely has talent and here’s hoping someone else can tap into it
Zac Gallen was the other major part of that Ozuna trade. Sierra is a 4th or 5th OF.
The cards also qo’d ozuna and got a pick for him leaving. That pick was Alec Burleson who is destroying triple A. So the trade isn’t as crazy as everyone remembers. Still a misstep but I think Burleson will be a great major league hitter.
That is such a surprising twist… Well not really but I can see him catching on with the Phillies or Giants…
The next person who calls them the “Trashstros” or refers to the “cheating” thing in any way (all teams “cheat”- hate to break it to the deniers), there’s going to be a problem
Alright….. settle down Francis
How are the Astros involved in this post in any way?
A lot of people still blame them for the Angels not making the playoffs- especially in 2019
Yeah, what are you gonna do about it? Mute them?
Hate to break it to you, but the 2017 Astros will always be seen as a team that cheated their way to the top. I know you hate to hear it, but it’s reality.
“Trashtros”. Maybe you can change your username to “357MagnumsBiggestVictim” if theres really going to be a problem you can try with me.
If the Cubs DFAd him, he’s toast
And yet, Andrew Velazquez is still with the club.
That’s a mystery.