Infielder Luis Rengifo won his arbitration hearing against the Angels, tweets MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand. He’ll earn the $2.3MM salary at which he and his representatives from MVP Sports Group filed, rather than the team’s $2MM submission.
Rengifo, 26 later this month, appeared in a career-high 127 games in 2022 and tallied 511 plate appearances, batting .264/.294/.429 with 17 home runs, 22 doubles, four triples and six steals. He bounced all over the infield, logging 693 innings at second base, 250 innings at third base and 99 innings at shortstop (in addition to a 15-inning cameo in the outfield).
That marked the most productive season of a four-year career for Rengifo, who entered the season as a .216/.293/.325 hitter in 702 trips to the plate. The strong showing perhaps contributed to the Angels’ decision not to make a strong push for shortstop help this offseason. Instead, they’ll likely rely on a combination of Rengifo, David Fletcher and perhaps trade acquisition Gio Urshela to handle the bulk of the workload at shortstop.
Slick-fielding Andrew Velasquez remains on the 40-man roster as well, though he also has a minor league option left. Infield prospect Livan Soto is another candidate, although his brilliant .400/.414/.582 showing in an 18-game MLB debut last year was propped up by a .500 batting average on balls in play that clearly can’t be sustained over a larger sample. He’s also yet to play a single inning at the Triple-A level, so the Halos might want to give him some additional development time. A free agent like Elvis Andrus could conceivably fit in Anaheim still, but the Angels generally appear set with their infield depth given the combination of Rengifo, Fletcher, Urshela and free-agent pickup Brandon Drury.
This was the first trip through the arbitration process for Rengifo, who’ll be eligible for arbitration twice more before reaching free agency upon completion of the 2025 campaign.
only roster spot of the angels’ that appears to be unsettled (assuming tucker davidson is given the swingman role to start the year, given he is out of options) would be the fifth outfielder spot behind phillips, between adell and moniak. hopefully whoever has the better spring will be given that opportunity
Just FWIW, Roster Resource projects a bench of backup C (Stassi/O’Hoppe), Fletcher (with Rengifo starting), Urshela and Phillips – not sure there’s room for another OF.
I know. That scares me to death.
I doubt we carry a fifth. If there’s an in game need, they’ll send Fletcher or Drury out there.
HalosHeavanJJ don’t forget Walsh played some outfield as well. Would not surprise me at all to see him in the outfield with Urshela at first base for a few games here and there.
True. I’ve dubbed this Perry’s Swiss Army Team in my pieces lately.
Most regulars have MLB experience at multiple positions.
HalosHeavanJJ…I like the moniker
Perry’s Swiss Army Team.
crashingthepearlygates.com/2023/01/11/how-deeps-is…
Here’s a piece from a month or go about it.
HalosHeavanJJ….I plan on becoming a patron!
Great. Thank you. It is a great group of fans.
HHJJ, very nice article! You pretty much nailed it. I didn’t notice the pitching side of things thou? or is it my ADD.? Haha.. But it looks solid thou, same would apply to pitching I’d say. No more than 2, not named Ohtani.
Nice.
There won’t be a 5th OF used.
IF
Walsh
Rengifo
Urshela
Rendon
Drury
Fletcher
OF
Renfroe
Trout
Ward
Phillips
C
O’Hoppe
Stassi
DH
Ohtani
That is 13.
Unless Adell or Moniak impress enough in camp that Minassian DFAs Phillips or a trade is made, that is our squad.
Will Davisdson or Chris Rodriguez get that swingman/6th starter spot?
i always forget the way ohtani counts on the roster, hes really such a unicorn yikes. if C Rod or Canning have a really eye popping spring, they could claim the role, but as far as the roster crunch goes it looks like davidson’s to lose
I don’t see Adell or Moniak making the team. They need regular at bats and no way they get that on the Angels.
dang!
Pay that man. 2.4 WAR last year and he was 3% better than average. Hard to find guys who are 3% better than the average player.
Best part about this is it makes him a non-tender candidate next year.
or a dumb team like dodgers would trade for him.
Deservedly so
He’s the worst defensive player on the Angels by far. When you take in situation batting, his RE24 was 14 runs lower than league average and cost the Angels 2 wins.
For his career, he’s 47 runs lower than average and 5 wins below league average.
Worth every penny.
I really hope there are people in organization who have a clue about this.
Halo11Fan…we get it you don’t like the guy.
I do not understand your incessant need to go on the same tirade every time his name is posted on here.
I don’t like the guy. He’s a terrible fielder, can’t hit, and in situations where he needs a hit, the pitcher doesn’t have to throw the ball anywhere near the strike zone. He’ll swing at it,
He literally ranks in the bottom 10 to 15 percent in every predictive category.
Statcast has him the worst defensive player on the Angels, by far.
He had one good month last year. The last 2 months of the year he hit 245 with a 261 OBP. He walked 4 times and struck out 34 times. That’s unplayable.
I don’t like him because he’s a really bad player. People don’t like Adell because he’s been a really bad player. But no one is advocating playing Adell.
Halo11, Rengifo was literally a Gold Glove Finalist in 2022 for Utility players.
We have all read your opinions. By now you seem more like a troll than a fan of the Angels.
A utility guy with 17 HRs, a .264 AVG, 6 steals, a gold glove finalist and you constantly act like we have the worst guy in the league. I am thinking its about time to mute you.
troutfishing….agreed
It is one thing to have an opinion about whomever or whatever, but Halo11 will no doubt throw a tantrum about how being a Gold Glove finalist is over rated. Or…come back with regurgitated “internet jargon” he found.
0.6 dwar last year according to b-reference. he is below average defender.
aragon…you are missing the point.
If you think he’s an adequate defensive player, that’s on you. No one with a clue thinks that. Statcast has him the worst defensive Angel by far.
Halo11Fan…right on queue
Regurgitated and defensive. You are like a broken record.
He is a Gold Glove finalist. I am guessing by your “logic” Ozzie Smith should throw away his Gold Gloves since they mean nothing.
i have seen ozzie play in person. rengifo is not even close to ozzie when he was 34 years old.
what am i missing? that he is a great defensive wizard?
I actually listen to a group of people that measure everything. Everything. Which is doable.
That’s a lot better than throwing numbers in a blender and coming up with something else.
I trust statcast because they do the work. And the results speak for themselves.
Def on fangraphs has Walsh and Ward the two worst fielders on the Angels… dWar has Rendon more valuable defensively than Rendon.
Per inning Stefanic is the best defender on the team…. Machado dWAR is zero.
I’ll take statcast.
I’m kind of but not all the way with you.
He definitely doesn’t have the glove for short or the arm for third. And his hot month really made his overall line look better than it was.
But he’s always hit well against lefties and looks to be OK at second (not sure what all the metrics say on him).
He’s probably a twice a week starter on this team, a bench bat vs. a lefty reliever, and at 26 should be in his prime with room to improve a bit.
Not bad for $2.3 million but I’d trade him for somebody interesting in a heartbeat.
aragon…once again you are missing the point of it all.
There is no need for you and Halo11″fan” to constantly belittle the guy. Your shtick is getting OLD.
If he does as well this year as he did in 2022, he will have been a bargain at 2.3 million.
aragon…I was not comparing him to Ozzie.
If you tell me he hits well against LH pitchers and he’s useful as a guy who gets 200 to 250 ABs, I’ll say fine. I’ll take him everyday of the week and twice on Sunday over Rojas. But that isn’t what he’s getting paid for. Two point three million bucks is a lot of money. If he gets 500 ABs again, we’re in trouble.
My dislike comes from fear. I’m scared to death this guy is going to play.
Halo11Fan….How is hitting .264, 17hr, 22 doubles a bad thing?
Get off of FaceBook and go watch a few games. I probably should put the disclaimer, you need to watch without getting on your phone and “looking up stats”.
what you dom’t seem to understand is why trot out a player whose stats say is a below average defender with no clutch hitting. he strikes out a lot and in turn has low obp. his ops+ was barely over the average in his break-out season! so, he is nothing but a player with average offense and below average degense. those kind of players are dime a dozen.
aragon….what you don’t seem to comprehend is that the shtick of Rengifo bashing is OLD. I am not saying he has to start above all others. I am saying you stated your point, MOVE ON!
I am not a fan of Adell, but out of respect for the fans of Adell, I keep my opinions to myself, and not force them down the throats of other fans. Have a little respect. There is no need to go on the same tirade every time Rengifo’s name is posted on here.
In today’s MLB, that actually is a $2.3 million player.
your fear is warranted. He’s gotten quite a bit of run the last two years.
I’m a big fan of Urshela. I think that pickup was sneaky great. If I see Rengifo out there with Urshela on the bench I’ll be pissed.
you have been thrusting your opinion not based on facts.
I’ve listed why. All his value came in one month. He stunk the last two months of the year. All his predictive stats are in the bottom ten fifteenth percent of the league. He minus 2 wins against league average hitters last year, five in his career. He’ll swing at the rosin bag which is why his situational stats are so bad…. Two outs runners in scoring position 144…for example. High leverage situations. 204\237 OBP for example.
AND Statcast has him the worst defender on the Angels by far.
Did you really not know why I feel this way about him?
aragon…where have I thrust my opinion except to say I am tired of the Rengifo bashing? What other “opinion” are you referring to?
Halo11Fan…quit defending your bullying mentality.
I have repeatedly stated you “bash” him every time his name is mentioned. It is OLD. It doesn’t need to be repeated every time his name is brought up.
@Angelsfan1972 — Keep in mind that with all of this info at our fingertips, it becomes much easier for fans to break down every player, right down to the last man on the roster. So fans like these guys are going to put the utility player under the microscope while forgetting that there’s a reason a player like Luis Rengifo is a utility player and not a Carlos Correa at SS. It’s a waste of energy when the focus should be more on how healthy Walsh and Rendon are, and the fact that we’ll probably see a lot of reps from all of the pieces the Angeks brought in to keep those guys fresh and to bridge the gap. When it comes to Luis Rengifo, I’ll take a .264 BA and 17 HR’s from any utility player regardless. That’s hard to find.
RyAnWKrol….you get it!
My issue is with the constant belittling of a player. They have no idea how much talent you have to have to reach that level.
I don’t get lost in the stats. I enjoy the game. I enjoy the teams. I enjoy the players.
Get off of Rengifo’s back and let him go play the game.
The history of the Gold Glove awards is replete with winners who didn’t deserve the award, so I’m not sure that being a “finalist” matters.
Halo11 has a limited understanding of stats or baseball in general. People say he defended Heaney and Adell when it was quite obvious that these guys were not helping the team. If that is the case, I think it is fair to say player evaluation isn’t his thing even if he wants you to believe otherwise. Anything he says shouldn’t be taken too seriously.
Statcast uses outs above based. This is range based metric and not an all around defensive measure It was initially released as an outfielder only metric. It would only count for balls that outfielders catch in the air and how far they had to run to get there. It doesn’t care if the outfielder misplays a grounder or if the outfielder has assist. It has been modified to include infielders over the past few seasons, but is still based on how far the player moves. It also factors in runner’s speed. If there is no database on the player’s speed it uses the league average, which may give you false results if the player is faster or slower than average.
A player can have average range and still be a good fielder. Case in point. Aristides Aquino for the Reds last year. Offensively, he is a worse hitter than Adell, but he had quite a defensive season last year. In 80 games with the Reds, he had 12 outfield assists and a DRS of 20. Yes 20 in 80 games played. DRS is the main factor in determining dwar, which is factored into overall WAR. Aquino overall WAR was 1.4 last year despite how bad he was offensively. If you look at his OAA, it was only 1, so unremarkable based on his range.
GoogleMe – You said,”Halo11 has a limited understanding of stats or baseball in general. People say he defended Heaney and Adell when it was quite obvious that these guys were not helping the team. If that is the case, I think it is fair to say player evaluation isn’t his thing even if he wants you to believe otherwise. Anything he says shouldn’t be taken too seriously.”
I think you might be a little over stating things. I think he can be a little ridged with his thinking at times IMO. I do agree with a lot of what he says, but not everything. Alex Claudio was a player I agreed with him about, but I think he was too strongly against this move that he had to complain so much. I think this might of been he thought no one else saw what the Angels were doing with the bullpen over and over. The thing I think he puts people off is that he seems to impart that if anybody disagrees he must be stupid or uninformed. By the way, I think when Perry signed Claudio he was looking for different arm angles and looks on top of everything else. He was replaced with Herget.
About his “defending” of Heaney and Adell If that means he thought they could be good, and you say “fair to say player evaluation isn’t his thing”. Well, Adell is only 23 his defense markedly inproved from the start. I think it is way too early to shut the book on yet. Heaney had good stuff with the Angels then fully blossomed with the Dodgers. He pitched worse with the Yankees but many teams saw his potential. that is why the Dodgers had to pay him so much to sign him.
@Tim I doubt anyone thought of Claudio as a game changer. He was signed for one reason, because he was cheap. You need to be realistic. The Angels have had a set budget until this year. At that time a lot of money was tied up in dead money, namely Pujols, Upton, and Rendon. Realistically, who do you think the Angels should have signed for $1M instead of Claudio that would have changed the course of history.
GoogleMe – “Tim I doubt anyone thought of Claudio as a game changer.”
I agreed with Halo11 that there were reasons to worry about his effectiveness going forward and the fact that he was not to minor contract. meant he would take a roster spot away from someone without options.
Having said that, I think you should reread my post as I agree that he was not a game changer and always did think that. I would have signed because the easy answer would be someone to a minor contract. It also should be noted that although I was against this signing, I also thought that Perry had a plan and I thought that it might work out. I think he wanted to get different arm angles, velocities. I think he was worried about an overused bullpen and probably wanted someone that could be used a lot and not get hurt.
There are concerns with any veteran signing for $1M in this day and age. A team can’t get a player coming off a good year for that amount. By the same token, a player isn’t going to take that amount if he is coming of a good year and has no concerns.
I think most of us fans are passed the Claudio. He is such an insignificant part of Angel’s history. Basically, he is non-factor. He signed for $1M. Compared to Gary Matthews for $50M, Pujols for $205M, and Upton for $105M. The fact that Claudio gets mentioned as the source of all the Angel’s problems is amazing. The Angels have a lot of issues and have made a lot of bad decisions the least of which is Alex Claudio. The fact that he mentioned so often by a couple of you posters like is amazing. You would think he was the source of all the problems, but the problems were here before Claudio and have persisted after he is gone. It is time to move past Claudio like the rest of us.
You are not going to get 264 with 17 HRs. He doesn’t hit the ball hard, he swings at everything and those numbers are not maintainable.
I feel Ike I’m talking to walls. Take away that 1 abnormally hot period and he’s not getting better.
As for defense, he’s by far the worst defensive player on the team. Outs above average, the three best over the last three years are Fletcher, Marsh and Trout. The worst are Gosselin, Adell and Rengifo. Rengifo is minus 18.
I don’t want him as my utility player. And I certainly don’t want him starting. You guys are looking at one month and saying his future is bright. I look at all the other month and say it’s not.
If I’ve done all this bashing, how do you not even know how I feel about him?
Halo11 – I think Rengifo has at least increased his power. I don’t like his defense especially at SS . He has been working on it but has been inconsistent. You have said you think it is due to bad footwork. I haven’t paid attention to. That, but if so that is something that can be taught. No matter what I think by 2024 Neto is the SS.
Halo11…then pick a different team and quit trolling here.
I think I’m going to get flack for my punctuation. Well deserved.
Tim…it was said with enthusiasm. I will give you a pass
We are obviously a better team if Rengifo is good, and we all want that. I just see stuff that doesn’t align with other fans opinion.
Twenty two barrels. A 5.4% barrel rate. A 33% hard hit rate. Those are all low. Sixteen HRs on 22 barrels is not sustainable.
Because he swings so hard, he can run into pitches, but he’s not going to run into good pitches, and because he swings at everything, why would a pitcher give a good pitch to hit in a high leverage situation?
Last year he hit 220/235/350 in high leverage situations. His approach leads to that.
I hope I’m wrong, but I don’t see what other people see. I hope statcast shows him to be an adequate defensive player next year, but he was -8 last year.
Everyone wants what is best for the team. I don’t think that includes Rengifo, others do. I hope they are right, I hope I am wrong.
Trolling? When people can’t counter, they call people names.
I completely understand.
I would agree that he has some holes in his game but he is only 26 and will mature. Besides, I’ve seen us throw far more money at worse. I’d call this a good deal. Also, the Dodgers seem to know a thing or two about talent and they were willing to let 2 major league players walk for him. Let’s sit back and see how this all plays out.
He doesn’t have some holes in his game, his game is all holes.
It’s why I don’t like him.
Halo11Fan….says the guy sitting in the stands watching the athletes play the game on the field!
Says the guy who knows how to use the sort feature on a statistical spreadsheet.
I rest my case. You do NOT watch the game. You read spread sheets.
Try watching a few games it is actually enjoyable
I love the arbitrary attacks. There is a reason people don’t attack me using data driven analysis.
Of course I watch the game, but by your argument, I can’t tell you about Joe Dimagio because I’ve never seen him play. Almost no one can tell you about Willie Mays because relatively few people saw him play 100 games.
Nothing arbitrary about it. I think the Rengifo bashing over played. My argument had nothing to do with how Joe Dimaggio or Wille Mays played.
The second someone acts as a “fan” towards Rengifo, you go on the attack. With you around no one is allowed to be a fan unless they see it your way.
I don’t think Rengifo should start, unless he has a great spring, but I do think he has a place on this team.
As someone who gets paid to do data driven analysis, I haven’t seen you do it effectively yet but please continue to tell us how smart you are.
First of all you created a strawman that I don’t watch baseball. Which means you are not sincerely discussing this with me. I’m not bashing Rengifo the person, I’m bashing Rengifo the player and I’m backing that up with data driven analysis. I could say I watch him flail with the bat in critical situations, but I find it much more useful to show you the data that supports my claim. I can tell you he has horrible feet, but I find it much more useful to talk about statcast outs above average data and why dWAR is not a good stat.
And I already wrote as a utility player who get 200 to 250 ABs is ok, but I’m scared to death he’s going to play shortstop.
Like I said. Nothing arbitrary about it. Unless you are out on the field playing with them. I don’t honestly care what you do with your spreadsheets.
My point has been all along, that every time his name is brought up on here you reiterate your dislike for him over and over. It is old and played out.
Angelsfan, chill man. It’s clear there is a difference of opinion, but no need to escalate and fight this much. Let’s root for Rengifo to take his game to the next level and get the Halos on a nice postseason run.
Just tired of Halo11’s constant negativity on players I like to cheer for. He did the same with Lorenzen last year. Takes the fun out of these forums so I call him out for his repeated negativity. If he can manage to cheer for these guys instead of bash them, I’ll cheer alongside him. ⚾
Trout. It’s more about the Angels depending on these players. These are not the moves that winning clubs make.
Without the shift and all these LH pitchers, defense is going to be more important than ever. I trust my eyes and statcast.
The Angels have fully serviceable big league starters at all infield positions between Walsh, Drury, Fletcher, Rengifo, Rendon, Urshela, Soto with Zach Neto waiting on the horizon.
Nevin made it clear, whoever does the best wins the playing time. I am excited to see how it plays out. All of those players have potential to excel.
Personally, I would like Walsh to come back with a vengeance and solidify 1st. Rengifo continue to improve and have a real break out season with consistent starts at 2nd, Soto pick up right where he left off and become a league wide talked about SS, and Urshela provide every day consistency at 3rd.
Unless Rendon goes through Spring Training on fire, he lost me a bit. I believe the talent is there, but its been a long time since we have seen it on a consistent basis. I like Fletcher a lot, but the other guys have more offensive upside and Fletcher has been looking a bit brittle in the past couple years. Id love to see him shine with an awesome OBP, but like Rendon, he will need to win me back with an awesome Spring.
One thing I love about Rengifo is his constant improvement. The guy comes to out ready to play every day and its clear by his body that he is taking his workouts and diet seriously. Compare him a couple years ago to last season. He looks strong and healthy. He seems like the type of guy who would love to play all 162 if you let him.
When the Angels slumped, he didnt.
He is still young and its a ton of fun watching him raise the ceiling on his upside. Ill definitely be cheering him on this year.
He clearly didn’t improve the last two months of the season…
On June 21st he was hitting 205 with a 260 OBP. Then he got hot. Then last 28 games he hit 226 with a 255 OBP. His first 400 big league ABs, he hit 238, with a 321 OBP.
If you are expecting those few hot weeks to show up again, your going to be disappointed.
Just going on memory, didn’t Rengifo hit better the last week or so. Maybe just his power numbers. There is room for some optimism IMO. I also think by the start of 24 Neto will be the starting SS.
One more thing. Out of 132 players with 500 plate appearances he was number 10 in swinging at pitches out of the strike zone, number 5 in swinging at pitches. If he ever does hit, they never have to throw him strikes. Which maybe why he was unplayable the first third of the year and the last third of the year.
I think you are putting entirely too much weight on the middle part of the year. You think I’m putting too much weight on everything else.
Well, let’s just see how it goes. Since I assume you are an Angels fan too, lets hope for both of our sake I am right haha.
I couldn’t agree more. If push comes to shove, and he’s needed, I hope you are right. People confuse my fear for bashing.
About his offense, he clearly had a stretch where he was great. He’s demonstrated a skill. Lets hope you are right and it’s sustainable.
As far as defense, I don’t mean to be a jerk, but he hasn’t demonstrated a skill. I showed why dWAR is not reliable. I trust statcast. I don’t think he can handle short.
You are right, people do confuse your fear as bashing, because you throw out what you are reading on spreadsheet versus who we are cheering for, the player.
The last time I checked the game is still played by real people and the stats are numbers plugged in as a result of their actions on the field.
I can appreciate your enthusiasm, I just don’t understand the need to “fear” a player each time his name has been mentioned on here with the same repeated statcast #’s.
truce????
I fear how the player will be used. I fear that Nevin will play him at short. I have feared for years that our GMs have too high.a regard of our bullpen, and I’ve been proven right time and time again.
You are “enthusiastic” but no one is right 100% of the time..
That’s true. But have you been a fan since 72? After the 79 season, we’re you afraid the Angels were not going to resign Nolan Ryan?
I think all baseball fans fear their team is going to do something stupid.
You invest your heart into the team you love. It becomes part of your identity, and sometimes they do something so stupid that you are convinced they are about as smart as a teenager in a horror movie.
Rengifo can’t play short. He has 1,000 big league at bats, and as soon as he showed he was anything but an instant out, pitchers adjusted, and he became an instant out again.
To depend on this guy is as crazy as depending on a teenager in a horror film. But there is always one teenager that defies the odds, but to depend on Rengifo being the one to defy the odds is a very bad bet.
Obviously we are both emotionally invested in the Angels.
The biggest difference I see is that I don’t feel the need to defend my opinion.