The Braves pulled off a massive buzzer-beater just before the deadline, acquiring closer Raisel Iglesias from the Angels in exchange for pitching prospect Tucker Davidson and righty Jesse Chavez, reports Robert Murray of FanSided (Twitter link). Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic tweets that the Braves will pay the remainder of Iglesias’ contract — a four-year, $58MM deal that covers the 2022-25 seasons.
It’s a last-second surprise to bring one the game’s most established late-inning relievers to an already deep Atlanta bullpen. Iglesias has tailed off since an outstanding start to the season but still possesses a reasonable 4.04 ERA with an excellent 32.9% strikeout rate and a 6.2% walk rate so far this season. Dating back to 2017 — Iglesias’ first as a full-time closer (then with the Reds) — he’s pitched to a combined 2.99 ERA while striking out 32% of his opponents against just a 7.1% walk rate.
Iglesias’ 95.3 mph average fastball is down about a mile per hour over the 2021 season, and his 14.9% swinging-strike rate is the second-lowest mark he’s posted as a full-time reliever. Those are both at least minor red flags, particularly when paired with his recent slump, but for most of the season Iglesias has looked the part of a quality leverage reliever, even if his numbers have dipped a bit from last year’s career-best performance.
Braves GM Alex Anthopoulos has a history of acquiring high-priced closers. He recently shipped out the marginalized Will Smith, the top reliever from the 2019-20 free agent class, for starter Jake Odorizzi. In March of this year, he signed Kenley Jansen to a one-year, $16MM deal. The Iglesias trade is reminiscent of a Braves deadline deal from three years ago, when Anthopoulos acquired Mark Melancon from the Giants and was surprisingly willing to take on all of his remaining contract. In Iglesias, the Braves take on over $51MM through 2025. Anthopoulos explained today, “We had a lot of things in the works. Iglesias is someone we had our eye on and it came together really late, like with two minutes to go.”
The Braves now boast a high-priced tandem to close out games in Jansen and Iglesias, as well as A.J. Minter, Collin McHugh, and Tyler Matzek. Rookie Dylan Lee is making an impact as well, succeeding in high leverage spots of late.
For the Angels, the Iglesias deal serves as an escape hatch from an expensive contract. Ultimately the Angels will only pay out about 11% of the contract they entered into eight months ago. The Angels are in an odd place, as they’ll fail to reach the playoffs for the eighth consecutive year. They shed over $58MM in contractual commitments for Iglesias and Noah Syndergaard today, yet they owe over $75MM to Mike Trout and Anthony Rendon next year and only control MVP candidate Shohei Ohtani for two more seasons.
Angels owner Arte Moreno allowed GM Perry Minasian to listen to offers for Ohtani in recent weeks, but decided not to pull the trigger. Ohtani’s future, and the direction of the Angels in general, will be a question looming over their offseason.
Aside from bailing on a large financial commitment, the Halos add Davidson, a 26-year-old southpaw with Major League experience. Prior to the season, Baseball America considered Davidson a 45-grade prospect, a potential back-end starter with perhaps three average pitches. Currently working in his third and longest stint at Triple-A, Davidson has a 4.59 ERA owing to a high home run per flyball rate, but he’s got a strong 20.9 K-BB%.
Chavez, soon to turn 39, returns to the Angels after spending the 2017 season with the team. The Angels are one of nine teams for which the veteran reliever has pitched in his venerable 15-year career.
wow. AA had his protege on speed dial.
What’s REALLY concerning is the Angels strategic plan. Why was it the right move 9 mos ago to sign Iglesias to a large 4-year deal and go with Marsh as a starter then dump them months later? What’s going on in the front office?
Last year they thought they were contenders.
Every year they think they’re contenders. Then July rolls up and they decide to retool for the next year. Rinse/repeat.
They’ve been stuck in that loop forever it seems.
Then isn’t it apparent the evaluation by the front office of their roster and players is insufficient?
Yes. Exactly. Except that I think the Angels are an insular organization where most is an echo chamber.
Everyone else knows. But they don’t know what they don’t know.
My cent.
The Angels don’t typically make these deals. They’ve been staying the course and not dealing away players. This is different.
starting the savings acount early for the 500 million for Othani!
Yep. Salary dump for a player that won’t resign with the angels. Ugh.
They expected to be contenders and they aren’t. Also, new skipper may have asked to move a different direction. Also, it’s sometimes called Buyer’s Remorse.
Iglesiases FB lost velo and his contract turned bad fast. There is no mystery here.
Damn, poor Chavez. He has done so much for the team. Wish they kept him.
Disappointing overall deadline for the Braves. The fact the Cubs didn’t trade Happ at all makes me feel a bit better tho. Wish they acquired outfield help.
They did. Grossman is an outfielder that should be very good in that park and lineup
Good BB%, has power. In a different lineup and park, he could be very good
It is all speculation and there is nothing that indicates he will be good unless the Braves have another miracle here like they has last season. This team has among the worst outfields in baseball and they did nothing.
Ya there is indication. His track record and numbers against lefties.
Don’t feed the troll. This guy has plenty of spare time, yet no time for actual facts.
“This team has among the worst outfields in baseball and they did nothing.”
We have Acuña and Harris….
“….among the worst outfields in baseball”?
You know there re only three outfielders, right?
I remember gasoline costing half as much 2 years ago. There’s a fact.
By watching him pitch. I’m old enough to have seen a lot of Glavine and a little of Tucker.
Resign
Seriously. is this your true baseline? I recall being like that when I was maybe twelve as a pessimist to make my dad mad..
How are you tolerated in the real world? Why would someone choose to be that sour and completely alone.
@Sack67 Isn’t this a baseball page?
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Guess what? There’s a war on in Ukraine with Russians shelling hospitals, schools, day care centers, retirement homes and residential buildings and gang-r_ping women in front of their traumatized children. And you’re whining about having to pay more for gas. Boo-effing-hoo. I don’t expect shame from the likes of you because the survival of democracy in Europe, much less here, means nothing to you, does it? During WWII, people in the U.S.A. rationed everything from gasoline and heating oil to butter to save the world from fascism. Cry me a f–ing river.
The Braves really don’t have much in terms of prospects to give to the Cubs (or others). Not sure how you can call the Braves deadline disappointing.
They got rid of Will Smith (and actually got something for him in return no less), extended Riley on a team friendly deal, and now managed to add Iglesias.
The reality is the Braves don’t have the prospect capital to make a splash this year. So if you were disappointed by their deadline you should probably recalibrate your expectations a little more realistically.
What MJ said
Here here!
Not only that they also upgraded from Cano to the switch hitting UT Adrianza, added a solid bounce back candidate in Grossman for their OF, who has an excellent track record against LHPs and can replace Duvall and his side of the platoon with Rosario, AND they added a solid, veteran starter for the backend of their rotation in Jake Odorizzi, who can help fill up several starts and innings with Strider already almost reaching his professional career high in IP for a season at 90…
They might not have made a big time splashy move like adding Happ, but instead they kept their few big time prospects, got rid of the up and down Will Smith, added quality SP depth, added INF and OF depth improving their bench and starting lineups for their respective platoon situations, and they now have another closer candidate and excellent RHP in Iglesias who is already familiar with the NL and one they can now reliably turn to on a regular basis..
Very solid deadline for AA, with the upside of being an A+ deadline if Grossman and Adrianza both bounce back in their new, yet familiar specified roles…
You’re talking to a guy that made his user name tradeAdamDuvall, because the RBI leader means nothing
Dude this was an excellent deadline
If I’m Chavez, when I sign my next 1 year deal (possibly his last) I demand a 1 team no trade clause – that team would be the Braves.
The Braves are the only team he is productive for, I hate they traded him
It sounds like he might have wanted to go closer to the West Coast, and that’s why they included him in the deal
At this rate, we’ll see him next year!
Nice Angels, good move
This was a salary dump. They are probably trying to clear space for an Ohtani extension. It won’t work unless they clear Rendon’s contract.
Agreed ; there’s better ways for Ana to spend a 3/48 this offseason; Ohtani or not
Interesting they thought signing him to a 4-year deal was a good idea 9 months ago but not now. Makes me wonder about their strategic planning.
Enter the most roller coaster Angels season in recent memory. I can say with confidence most Angel fans winced at the 3-year contract when it was announced, but felt this season (and maybe next) was worth it.
Now the Angels are out from this contract and that is a good thing.
Hope he does well in Atlanta.
Check that – a 4 year contract. Yeah, glad to be out of this one.
Iglesias has been a great closer for quite a while. He was having one of his worst years. He is making top dollar. The Angels needed to free up money. They have too many holes to fill. With Upton, Syndergaard, and Iglesias off the books, the Angels have plenty to sign Ohtani this off season, but Ohtani wants to win. They are going to need to spend a lot more on the other holes in order to have a chance to retain Ohtani.
I knew they weren’t done. Nice add. Better than Smith that’s for sure.
I don’t know who your looking at but Smith is 100 times better than Iglelsias
Not even kind of… Do you even watch baseball?
Smith is horrible.
You sure about that?
Will Smith: 4.38 ERA 5.22 fip/4.77 xfip
Raisel Iglesias: 4.04 ERA 3.17fip/3.05 xfip
Iglesias has been unlucky and pitched better than his ERA. I venture to guess since he’s pitched in the NL before and was solid, he’s going to get better.
go home baseballguy_128, you’re drunk
Lmao what? Smith is a trainwreck that couldn’t even cut it in garbage time this year.
Maybe you should review Raisels 2021 stats before making that negative comment.
Great move, Smith has A 10.0 ERA in the last 30 days
Well done. That closes out one of the most exciting 24 hours in deadline history.
Woah
Wow. Didn’t see that coming.
Buzzer beating shocker
Cheap move by LAA
Just a salary dump. The Angels got nothing back.
I’m not the least bit impressed with Perry.
An hour ago you said they should grade Iglesias
lol but he probably thought a decent GM would have had the Braves fork over Strider at least.
LoL no GM was getting Strider. Why would the Braves deal him?
Strider? What are you talking about?
I wrote they should trade him if they got something, and you change that to Strider?
My son asked me how you can tell if someone is full of manure. My response had to do with someone spouting hyperbole because they couldn’t argue the point without it.
You aren’t very smart are you…… The comment directly above mine specifically says “a decent GM would have had the Braves fork over Strider at least”
YaySports.
What are you talking about? And who is this response to?
Obviously, the initial Strider comment was completely hyperbole. No serious person would have made that post.
What exactly did I write? I think I said if they could get something.
They didn’t. They got nothing.
There is NOTHING in that trade that helps them in 2023.
Basically, the Angels traded Marsh, Syndergaard and Iglesias for NOTHING that is going to help them in 2023.
There is a 3/48 commitment to player X coming
That’s not nothing, Angels did well here
You have the biggest love hate relationship with the bullpen. All winter it wasn’t good enough. Then they got loup and tepera and you were stoked. Then you were fine with our minor league depth to build a bullpen. Which is it
Tucker Davidson will be a solid #3 with potential for more
Cap, I think that’s a fair point.
I wanted something back, The people who are happy with a salary dump didn’t need something back.
Neither opinion is wrong. It’s just two different opinions.
I don’t trust this team to spend the money wisely, but if data changes, my opinion will change.
Cook.
I blamed Perry for the pen last year because it was obvious it was an issue, and he didn’t do much about it.
I have NEVER ONCE blamed Perry for the pen this year… At least he recognized it was a problem and TRIED.
The pieces he added stunk. Which means the foundation is gone and supplementing the pen with minor league talent when it doesn’t have a foundation is not going to solve the problem.
Are you being dense on purpose? Or are you this clueless? I really don’t know which.
What in his background suggest that?
Nothing I can see.
I don’t blame you w not trusting Arte with the checkbook
Yes Cap, I absolutely don’t.
I don’t anyone for the pen this year. But the problem can’t be ignored next year. The Angels have to try again.
Don’t write off Tucker Davidson so fast, the young man is a gamer, will stay healthy, and can go out every 5th day and give you a quality start.
That says ALOT MORE than the Angels have been able to say for their backend of the rotation over the last several years…
All I know about him is what the data shows me and the data is really bad.
The Angels traded Thor, Iglesias and Marsh, and I’d be surprised if they got back anyone who will help them in 2023.
I don’t understand these trades either. Salary dumps for Ohtani who won’t stay.
Tucker Davidson goes into the starting rotation NOW and he’s ready. The Angels desperately need catching, and the kid they got is close to the majors– his hitting has taken a big leap. Worst case he’s the backup next year, or he spends the rest of this season and part of next developing in the minors, but he’s close. Moniak needs a change of scenery, but probably needs another year, or he might work as their fourth outfielder.
Bullpens aren’t being built the same was as they use to be
. Look at teams like the Dodgers and Yankees, they don’t really stick a ton of money (and especially yrs) into 1 or 2 guys anymore….more a shuffle of arb (ex starters mostly) guys that either hit or you cycle thru. I agree the Angels need to improve their bullpen moving forward (use to be a strength round the mid 2010’s) but you can’t just go throw a buncha money at it and pray
The unfamiliarity on some guys might lead to uncertainty preseason but you want to lean into variance (Rp’s) Imo rather than try to swim uphill against it ($$). Yall got some young arms brewing, that def helps the process
Halo11Fan
What you clearly dont understand is freeing cap for 2023 means you are getting something back…that’s budget to allocate to player/s in the off-season for 2023 that would have else been going to Iglesias. So we are getting something back. You’ll see what that something is in the offseason when free agency starts and we start spending money.
Scott, I get it, but there was enough money on the books and now they need to add a closer.
It’s better to draw poker cards than hope the other guy folds. The Angels need to spend and draw cards or their bullpen will fold.
Spend and pray is a lot better than hope and pray.
Angels drafted a guy that throws 105mph. I would not be surprised if he is not at the back end of our bullpen next year. Iglesias is making top dollar and is coming off one of his worst years. He velocity had a down tick this year.
Signing a closer on a 1 yr deal sounds so much more optimal. For eg. The Kelley Jansen signing with the Braves. Sign a closer this way while working Joyce in as well becasue anyway who throws 105 should definitely be closing ball games.
Probably more of a #4 with a ceiling of a #3. Davidson is a decent prospect with 4 solid pitches but none of them are plus and there’s control issues. If he can gain some command he could be a solid #3 but there’s not much upside for more there.
Davidson doesn’t throw hard, can’t throw strikes, allows home runs, and doesn’t miss bats. And his numbers suck. .
Seriously people.
And today… 95MPH isn’t hard. That’s his fourseamer.
Disagree… Tucker will be a middle to lower rotation starter that’s decent or a hell of a reliever…. Angels have got to build on something… Trout and Othani(sp) need something next year
Braves4410.
What in his background suggest that. He doesn’t miss bats, doesn’t throw strikes and can’t keep the ball in the park.
Sounds like Kyle Wright last year. He’s doing okay now…Braves saw enough in this guy to let him start a World Series game. That’s not nothing.
You’re clueless
@Halo we have seen Tucker pitch, he’s close. He’s not some guy that doesn’t have it, he can be dominant for about 3-4 innings and then get in trouble.
I’m not saying he will be your future ace, but he will be at minimum a reliable 3rd starter or late inning lefty set up. But he has potential for more.
Iglesias has been meh this year. Chavez has been better. Not really a great trade here
Chavez was terrible with the Angels the first time. Then they signed him to a minor league deal a couple years ago and released him. Maybe third time’s a charm? But I’m not impressed with him. Surprised he’s put up decent numbers in Atlanta.
Chavez was over performing. He’s not good
He goes through peaks and valleys. He’ll get shelled with the angels, they’ll release him, and Braves will resign him and he’ll start pitching better again.
On a team like the Braves he would have been in jeopardy of losing his spot on the 40-man roster this off-season. This deal was really all about the contract taken on. Now they have two good closing options in place for the next couple years after Jansen.
He pitches to contact. If the defense is good, he’s effective. But yes, he has no margin for error.
Iglesias is a stud and Chavez is a journeyman. Iglesias is a huge get– he’s been playing on a horrible team, and pitched in some bad luck. Angels fan– you got a huge bullpen piece.
Cheap move by the Angels, guess Arte is penny pinching on pitching again.
Nice. That makes the back end of the pen stronger, for sure.
Perry is a bad GM
why?
You can start with the fact he is trading someone he just signed for 52 million
Ummm that’s usually a sign of a good gm
That was Raisel thin getting this deal in by the deadline.
If this joke required any more labor it could form its own union.
Braves needed to get going. Better late than never
Basically traded for a more expensive, less reliable closer. Nicely done
Wut
He’s not going to be a closer for the Braves…
And your squad is paying him as such. Nice
How did we pull this off?
Great trade for the braves. Hard to believe you got a closer for one prospect lol.
Agree, and Davidson’s performance this year & years prior has him headed for ex-prospect status.
I actually liked Tucker. Reminded me of a young Glavine.
No offense, but besides the fact he is left handed, how does Davidson remind you of Glavine?
AA continues to show the jays he’s their biggest mistake
AA made some really bad trades when he was with the Jays-
Glad to see he may have learned from his mistakes
He made one bad trade but the good ones definitely out weighed anything bad, it’s not even close
My closer lol should of known when all it took was Noe Ramirez to get em
The Mets are finished. I just hope that we get a wildcard spot at this point
They’re still the better team. The Braves just got fluff.
I don’t think they really needed anything. Got some nice pieces though, at basically no prospect cost. Raisel stacks up pretty well against most teams’ 7th inning guy
Braves got better. Phillies got better. The Mets are done! Best they could do was to call up some guy that was pitching in the minors last week, Decrumb? or something like that… pathetic Mutz! lol
Chavez has been the better pitcher this year but Atlanta has a tendency to fix guys with issues. We will see.
Or simply have the wherewithal to buy low & sell high. Stats ≠ ability
Lol I like Chavez too but he’s not in iglesias’s stratosphere. You can’t just conclude one pitcher is better than another based on 30 innings
Hmmm. That’s how many each pitched and Chavez has better numbers so far, which is what I said. Is that hard to interpret?
Crafty guy vs a fastball guy that lost his location here
Oh. Will Smith > Iglesias too
The Braves have committed some serious money to the payroll in the last 2 days!
Indeed, well balanced club. They seem to spend their savings from Acuna Albies Riley rather than pocket it- I don’t like RI @ 16 per but he’s borderline elite, Kenleys gone next year and they are turnkey today so I’m ok w/ s small overpay here as they are smack dab in their window
AA is no doubt top 5 today
For sure. Iglesias money in the future slots into what Smith and Jansen were making I reckon. He’s probably the closer next year once (if) Jansen walks
Angels have to be happy to get out from under that deal. Iglesias’ last 8 outings:
7.1 IP
11 H
5 ER
4 BB
6 K
LAA salary dump. Good move for them but what a cluster of an org. Plus ATL is really going for it all, even if Iglesias is deeply overpriced.
Not a good contract. I like LA moving on from it.
Agree
Who closes for the Angels?
Ohtani
What makes you think they’ll have another lead this season? Lol
Now, now, we lose games in the 9th, too.
They also need to find ‘professional’ hitters who can hit with runners on base. Soon they’ll be taking the A off their hats and replacing it with K.
They won’t be winning enough games for that to matter.
They won’t be winning enough games for that to matter
His contract essentially replaces Will Smith moving forward.. just sucks paying him through ages 33-36
Bowman just stated that the Braves are intending to have a top 5 payroll in the near future, which would entail a dramatic rise in payroll. Even factoring in some level of hyperbole this team has got a lot of space to add. They have a core of 4 superstars in their primes that amount to less than $68 million per year at the peak.
The team needed a 5th starter, trading Smith wasn’t a salary dump insofar that they got an effective (& more expensive) starter in return.
Wow! The Angels continue to show why they are classless and pathetic! Horrible ownership & horrible front office!! Enough already!! This team is a joke!!
should have signed Michael Taylor, why we picked up Grossman is anyone’s guess oh well we need a closer for 2023
Not sure about this one, Alex.
The Angels organization is classless & pathetic! Horrible ownership & horrible front office! What a joke!
Braves did very well to add Grossman and Iglesias. I though it was a bit of a mistake to add Odorizzi for Will Smith though
I know he’ll usually put in his five innings but it might be a counter productive influence
Help me out here. What, exactly, is a “counter productive influence”?
His odor?
AA at his best. I will surely miss Jesse but it can be argued that the closer role is tenuous right now
@wifflemeister Maybe we have another Sean Newcomb to get him back?
I read an interesting story this morning that Chavez has been the most traded player in MLB history – tied with one other player (and I forget who now). He now stands alone. Fascinating.
Crazy things happen when you have something to look forward to like a shot at a ring.
Perhaps the Angels can use Iglesias’ money to get some starting pitching. Oh wait…
Angels are so bad. They were shopping Iglesias and only got Davidson and Chavez? Then they dealt Syndergaard for only Moniak and Sanchez. Nobody in his right mind would want Moniak
Not good enough returns for two of the more coveted players on the market
Iglesias comes with a high price contract and Syndergaard is only a rental. Not sure why you expected more than what you got.
If anything, the Braves overpaid for Iglesias, Davidson is a nice back of the rotation SP with potential to be better.
Ehh I don’t think Davidson will end up a part of a major league rotation unless he makes serious advances in command
These were salary dumps by Arte. I read that the Angels could have received better prospects in return had they agreed to take on some of Syndergaard or Iglesias salary. With the exception of O’Hoppe, the Angels received junk today.
Agreed. It’s easy to say a certain trade sucks. But it takes two to tango. We all want the next MVP in return.
Liked the 1st trade but not the last 2. Both from 2016 draft that haven’t panned out. Davidson looks like a walk machine. I thought they couldve gotten a better prospect if they packaged syndergard and Iglesias. It seemed like teams were interested in both.
Davidson doesn’t have great stuff & isn’t that projectable unfortunately. He’s in AAA in a contending organization or maybe the 5th starter on a rebuilding team or one with a lot of injuries.
This is strictly a salary dump from the LAA perspective
What a great move by the Angels. I would trade Shohei as well this off-season. The dude can’t keep it up at this rate… just no way… not the two-way ball. Get all you can for him while his stock is sky high.
The Iglesias trade leaves the Angels with just over $100M in payroll next season, without potential trades for Loup, Tepera, Stassi, and Fletcher, which could free up another $27M if they dealt those guys.
The Angels recovered some decent prospects today and what we already have puts us in a unique situation to spread the wealth out over the many holes they have.
Excellent job by Perry today!
I liked the Angels day-
I wonder if the Marsh for Philly C deal was a sign they are going to do a small re-boot now pushing back the window a year or two –
Trade Ohtani in the offseason is the move Id make (Ida done it today tbh) but still many hurdles for that to happen. Hopefully Arte changes a bit, does happen. Couple years re-tooling the farm paired with Arte wiling to spend could have them healthy come the 2nd half of the decade
Keep Fletcher! But yes, finally an Angels fan that understands
I like how you think but you may be valuing todays returns of prospects a bit too high.
– If Mickey finds himself then yes its a win
– Why would we trade for Jesse Chavez? Doesnt seem logical.
Chavez was included because Atlanta needed to free up a 25-man spot, and because he’s a good reliever for the next two months.
Not sure about this one. Should’ve gotten Mahle and Givens/Robertson
Now the Angels fans can understand why us Reds fans were happy when the Reds gave him away to you all.
Iglesias was actually very impressive last season with the Angels. He’s been more inconsistent this season, but his bad numbers are mostly due to his struggles in non-save situations.
Don’t know what you’re talking about. Iglesias was an absolute beast last year, and he’s pitched in bad luck on a bad team.
Speak for yourself, I and many other Reds fans were royally pissed off.
The last salary dump was Cozart and 2019 1st rounder Will Wilson to the Giants in order to make room for the Cole free agent signing and Rendon. The Giants are still high on Wilson though.
Sorry to see Jesse go. He was a quality reliever and a good guy.
Gross return for a great closer! What are the Angels doing?!?
Going to trust A.A. on this one. Chavez fills a unique roll between long relief and opener that’s going to be missed. Haven’t paid much attention to Iglesias this year but the Braves have to see something they can work with.
Iglesias is known for working multiple innings
This is great for Angels
Have you watched him pitch this year? Braves fans should be concerned
It’s not like he needs to fit in a 9th inning role. Braves have had one of the best bullpens this season. He just needs to be comparable to what will smith was bringing
I’m surprised no team acquired Carlos Rodon. He seems like the kind of gamble who could win you a world series, and you wouldn’t have had to trade away half your farm system to get him.
Maybe the Giants were asking for half the farm. They said wanted “full value” for him.
I think that Iglesias should be a great pick up, but I don’t understand trading away Chavez.
Chavez has been a great contributor this year and I can’t figure out why the Angels would have needed him included.
I sit here wondering the same, its a slight uptick this year in production. Though obv a great deal long term since Chavez was on a 1 yr deal.
Probably 40 man crunch
After listening to AA talk about the deal during tonight’s game, Chavez was the victim of the numbers crunch. You can only carry so many pitchers and the only braves relievers with options left were Lee and Minter. They are performing too well, so it ended up costing Chavez.
Who’s the closer in Atlanta now?
Jansen.
It might be easier to predict the closer for next year than for next week.
Iglesias was a top closer…last year. We extended him and this year he has stunk overall. This was a good salary dump. I wish he got more in return for Thor.
Braves needed to clear some spots on the 40-man. They’ve got Kirby Yates and Ozzie coming back soon.
Yep, that was the whole point. Would have been a roster crunch. Good move by the Braves, but another expensive contract for a reliever. Not sure where this leaves guys like Fried, Swanson; but I’m sure they wouldn’t have made the move if they didn’t have the additional payroll space projected to lock up some of their other core players.
Jansen, Smith and Duvall are all gone next year. They’re making $37M. Charlie may be gone as well, and he’s making $20M.
Please show this GM the front door and fire him he’s done nothing but ruin his team besides the owner
Another lost season for the Angels.
You know when a player lands that fat contract, then loses focus since he doesn’t need to focus any more to get paid, then goes on to perform below their potential? That’s how it feels with Raisel Iglesias. Perhaps the allure of the playoffs will help him to get back on track.
Most people need purpose…
I agree with most that they are clearing salary to sign Ohtani, which I still don’t know how you win a world series with only 3-4 above average players??? I’m not that bright though and I am certain that Angel management has better insight on whether it’s better to have a couple of super stars than it is to win a world series to be a profitable organization.
Regardless, I think that off loading this contract was a good move because the player wasn’t playing to his potential.
Another arm down there with closer experience. Yates comes back another closer guy. Braves want to shorten the game and throw bulldogs last 3/4 innings.
Angels are pathetic!
has minasian gone mad? why get an effing 40 year old nothing and a terrible nothing? or is morono selling the team to an even cheaper cheapo?
For a team with as many holes as the Halos have, there was no reason to hold onto a reliever making that much money — particularly if another club was willing to absorb the entirety of his contract.
Definitely gives Minasian and co. a bit more flexibility heading into the offseason.
As for the Braves — obviously they view getting Iglesias now as a way to help them this season, but it may prove an early brace if Jansen departs.
Poor Chavez
I am a fan of Perry’s and have supported him throughout. That said, I’m not a fan of trading prospects – Marsh. Nor am I a fan of trading for non prospects – 38 year old Chavez. The Angels, and any non-contender, should be collecting as many controllable assets as possible.
LAA dumped some salary here.
I am furious about this trade. Manasian has proven to be a very incompetent GM. Dude, gets only one back-end starter with average stuff, former 19th rounder? At least should have returned a decent prospect, for a top closer in Iglesias.
well, if the angels are really starting over, they might end up finally losing 100 games in a season.
useless trivia fact:
the angels are the only team to never lose 100 games in a season (they’ve lost 95 twice, though, for their most losses in a season).
dodgers and yankees never have, sorta (the franchises have lost 100 or more games in a season, but not in any years they’ve played as the dodgers and yankees).
I can’t believe the hate for Will Smith, the guy that was 100% in the post season. Most closers go 83-87% success rate at closing games, Smith went 100% in HUGE situations against really good hitters, that is something I will never forget. The other thing is that he’s a good team mate and clubhouse guy and he had a big influence on Jackson Stephens, so for those saying he was a “cancer”, you can’t have any clue.
As for Jesse, he pitched lights out for the Braves when called into games, so I will miss him.
There’s no way that Iglesias will ever be able to do what Smith did in the post season. I don’t have great confidence in Iglesias, I’ve seen him blow it up for the Reds on many occasions.
I hate the deal for the angels, davidson is a non prospect (26 year old quad A guy) and so this deal is a pure salary dump.
man pretty upset about Chavez being including. He has been the most consistent BP guy and could pitch in any scenario, and multiple innings. Our bullpen was garbage before we traded Newk for him. Plus, the Angels have no use for him. We traded a guy who has had big league success and took on a huge contract. if they wanted another player why Chavez?????
Congratulations to Jesse Chavez becoming the most traded player ever after being traded for the 10th time in his career
…and of course Chavez allowed three runs in the ninth last night to blow the Angels shut out and allow Seattle to tie it up. Then he steals the win from Sandoval because the Angels were able to sneak home the ghost runner in the tenth.