The Angels announced a series of roster moves today, placing right-handers Chase Silseth and Guillo Zuñiga on the 15-day injured list, Silseth due to right elbow inflammation and Zuñiga a right pectoral strain. Taking their spots on the active roster will be taken by right-handers Carson Fulmer and Hunter Strickland, with each having their contract selected. To make room on the 40-man roster, the club has designated infielder Liván Soto and right-hander Zach Plesac for assignment.
It’s not yet clear how severe the injuries to Silseth and Zuñiga are, though the club clearly feels that each hurler needs an IL stint. In the case of Silseth, he recently underwent an MRI but is still awaiting the results, per Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register. While the club awaits to find out the severity of that ailment, José Soriano will step into the rotation and start on Wednesday, per Fletcher.
Soriano was a starter as a prospect but required Tommy John surgery in February of 2020 and then again in June of 2021. Obviously, he hardly pitched from 2020 through 2022, but he returned to the mound in a relief role last year. He tossed 23 1/3 Triple-A innings with a 4.24 earned run average and posted a 3.64 ERA in 42 major league innings. His 12.4% walk rate in the majors was very much on the high side but he also punched out 30.3% of batters faced and kept 51% of balls in play on the ground.
The Halos stretched him out this spring but he got squeezed out of a rotation spot with each of Reid Detmers, Patrick Sandoval, Tyler Anderson, Griffin Canning and Silseth staying healthy through the end of camp. Soriano has been working a long relief role of late, with a pair of three-inning appearances thus far. Now that Silseth is on the shelf for a little while, it seems he’ll get stretched out again.
Soriano’s move means that the bullpen is losing two members, between him and Zuñiga, so the Halos will add Fulmer and Strickland to fill those spots. The 30-year-old Fulmer was with the Angels last year but was non-tendered at season’s end, eventually returning on a minor league deal. He has made one minor league appearance already this year, tossing three innings, meaning he could perhaps provide the bullpen with some length.
He was only able to toss 10 major league innings last year, with a 2.70 ERA in that time, but his larger body of major league work has thus far resulted in a 6.14 ERA over 140 2/3 innings. His 19% strikeout rate, 13.2% walk rate and 40.7% ground ball rate are all a few ticks worse than league average.
Strickland, 35, has a 3.41 ERA over his 408 major league appearances dating back to 2014. However, it’s been a while since he’s been in impressive form. He was limited to just 11 Triple-A innings last year with an 11.45 ERA before being released by the Reds in May and sitting out the rest of the year. In 2022, he was able to make 66 appearances for the Reds in the big leagues but with a 4.91 ERA. But in 2021, he was able to finish with a 2.91 ERA over 57 appearances.
To add those two arms to the roster, the Angels have removed Plesac and Soto. The 29-year-old Plesac once looked like a rotation building block in Cleveland, as he posted a 3.32 ERA over 29 starts in 2019 and 2020. But his ERA jumped in the next two seasons, as he posted a combined 4.49 ERA over 2021 and 2022. His first five starts of the 2023 campaign led to a disastrous 7.59 ERA and he was outrighted off Cleveland’s roster, becoming a free agent at season’s end.
The Angels gave him a roster spot via a one-year major league deal with a $1MM base but he’s quickly been bounced off the roster. He had a lackluster 5.68 ERA in his three spring appearances and has a 4.66 ERA with a 17.5% walk rate after two Triple-A starts this year. The Angels will now have a week to trade Plesac or put him on waivers. If he were to pass through waivers unclaimed, he would have the right to elect free agency as a player with more than three years of service time. However, he lacks the five years of service time necessary to both reject the outright assignment and retain his salary, so he might decide to stay and keep his $1MM in that scenario.
As for Soto, 24 in June, he has an excellent career batting line of .375/.414/.531 but in a tiny sample of just 71 plate appearances. In 1,505 minor league plate appearances since the start of 2021, he’s hit a combined line of .246/.340/.355 for a wRC+ of just 86. Despite that fairly tepid offense, Soto can steal some bases and is capable of providing solid defense at the three infield spots to the left of first base.
The Angels put Soto on waivers in February and he was claimed by the Orioles, though the Halos claimed him back a couple of weeks later. The Halos will now have a week to figure out how to proceed this time, whether that’s a trade or putting Soto on waivers again.
As a Guards fan, I’ve never been less surprised someone was DFA’d
He went of the rails somewhere along the line.
Get better soon, guys!
Sounds like another convenient use of the IL. Both of those guys stink. Suarez needs to go next and now.
The front office did this to themselves. No way was that rotation ever going to be competitive. Same strategy every year and it has never worked.
Neither of these moves are remotely suspicious. They both have options. I have no doubt they are both hurt.
Convenient? Were they that anxious to call up retreads Fulmer and Strickland?
That’s the problem with no decent depth pieces. You ditch one just to replace him with another.
With as many starter injuries as there are, you’d think Plesac might have some suitors. He’s not what he once was, but he is a healthy arm that could eat some innings and not kill your bullpen by summer.
He just doesn’t get enough outs
He could get more than injured guys.
He was cut by the Angels….
Harsh Jade, harsh. lol
The Angels give him a guaranteed contract and cut bait after two AAA starts. He went 0-2 but he didn’t get rocked. Everything that team does makes me scratch my head. With that being said, could see a team like the Braves snatch him up and he wins the CY. All jokes aside, he has the pedigree and is still on the right side of 30. Wouldn’t be surprised to see a claim. Bit of a head case, needs the right pitching coach/team.
It just makes sense for a team without a lot of depth. The worst thing you can do to a young pitcher that is not ready for the majors is to bring him up too son and wreck his confidence. Even if he stinks in 50% of his starts, it would be better than wrecking a young pitcher.
Nothing wrong with the move. No one expected it to work out and it didn’t.
Figured plesac would be the fill in for silseth. Guess not
Maybe Arte is going to sign Trevor Bauer
It would be a bold move and he would help the Angel Cause
Someone should! Never charged for a crime and the evidence he presented proves it was a setup! Evan Julio Urías got a second chance after being guilty and suspended for 20 games! Bauer should Sue MLB for collusion!
I don’t know if he should sue, but Im am hoping that he gets second chance and Arte might just be the person to do it
The issue with Trevor Bauer and Yasiel Puig is similar to the circumstances with Barry Bonds before them as well as with Alex Johnson and Bobby Bonds before him and others before them. They don’t even try to get along with ownership, management, team mates or the media.
No MLB team is ever going to sign Bauer. He’s done. People need to move on. You can disagree if you want but he’s not playing MLB baseball ever again.
Trevor Bauer is Colin Kaepernick for incels.
Evidence of this by checking knees?
@66TheNumberOfTheBest Now that’s projection if I’ve ever seen it.
@jim anchower
i agree Bauer already was burning bridges before his alleged off field issues, only reason he was still was around the talent outweighed him being a major bell end. now add in the pr nightmare off the field issues and lack of any sympathy even if its fake has made it easy for everyone to hate him. now he’s on the wrong side of 30 pitching overseas last few years and not mlb add all that together the math says stay away
@brodie-bruce Where’s your sympathy for 9/11 and the Israel-Hamas war?
@padreswschamps2024
what does my post have anything to do about major terror attacks separated by 23 years?
also for what it’s worth i have plenty of sympathy for 9/11 given 2 years later i was serving in the usaf (was 16 during 9/11)
A league minimum deal for a pitcher who’s remained durable (in a league where pitchers are going down at an alarming rate), the math says Bauer needs to be an option for teams.
i agree but the problem is bauer did it to himself, outside bb i’ll put a pin in because we may never know the truth on that, but being a major bell end that his teammates disliked and wanted him gone. now add in what allegedly happened off the field and that baggage that’s a pr nightmare no team wants to touch, and he also put himself in that situation regardless of what happened, i get it if your into that kind of rough play kool and the other is kool with it. regardless if it was ok’ed beforehand bauer should of know he is a target because of his wealth and fame should of save that type of play with a long term partner instead of a 1 night stand.
Don’t you see anything wrong with this comment?
Yes he did. However, if we’re forgiving Ozuna and Aroldis and others, Bauer deserves that same treatment. One has to think Bauer has learned his lesson given the rollercoaster he put himself on.
The PR would not be as bad as people think. If that were true Bauer’s social media platforms would not be as strong as they are. He’s a draw.
@brodie-bruce Just going by your logic of saying Bauer should have sympathy for things he didn’t even do.
Bauer didn’t put himself in any situation because Lindsey Hill shouldn’t be trying to extort him in the first place. And signing him wouldn’t be a PR nightmare it would be a story for maybe a day or two. We saw what happened when the Chiefs signed that punter. And Bauer would have much more of an effect on games he pitches in than a punter.
What ever happened to innocent until proven guilty? She claimed he beat and chocked her the first time yet returned for a second go at it! This was a chick looking for a big payday! No other woman in his dating history has confirmed this type of activity! There is zero evidence to support her claims Hanse the police refused to file charges!
It’s not even about that. He’s a horrible teammate.
Arte does not want anything to do with Bauer.
Does anyone really know?
Yes. It’s been reported. Minasian wanted him and Arte said NO!!!!!
@halo11fan his second accuser the case that was thrown out, and seemed like she was trying to extort him said the last one still pending has video evidence on him I guess he recorded it. Probably why he hasn’t been signed
Unless a player is caught taking PEDs, I’m very slow to judge.
In the era of vendetta and fake journalism, we don’t know what we think we know.
@halo11fan who knows she been proven to be a liar, but she did say the mlb has seen it. That’s why he’s playing in Mexico and he isn’t signed.
The Angels oddly gave Plesac a guaranteed $1M and have now DFA him without making a big league start this season.
Giving him a roster spot was a real head-scratcher to anyone who watched him pitch last season.
Supposedly his issues were in his head, and the team did “due diligence” to make sure those issues had been resolved… but he still can’t pitch.
1 million bucks is nothing.
It doesn’t matter if $1M is nothing. The fact is paying someone $1M guaranteed to never play for your team when you weren’t in a position to need to do so is a horrible misuse of funds. I think every non-Angels fan would agree with this take.
They do it with draft picks all the time.
Who cares?
That’s apples to oranges. Draft picks are an inherent risk which teams have to take to build out future rosters. Throwing around $1M to a dude who couldn’t even break camp, however, is just stupid business. And who cares? Nobody. I’m just pointing out how idiotic of a move it was. If it was normal to do this, teams would do it every year. Alas, they don’t. In fact, it’s extremely rare.
It’s not apples and oranges. It’s money invested in hopes of future profit.
You are really stretching it. It’s possible It’s possible he may even stay with the Angels.
It’s not even a sunk cost yet.
They took out a $1M lottery ticket. It most definitely did not pay out. MLB clubs do it all the time. Sometimes it pans out, even works spectacularly. Sometimes it busts.
If he reports to SLC, it might.
But Tehran just signed for a 2.5 million dollar lottery ticket.
This is a big “So What”
It’s 100% apples to oranges. Regardless, I’m not saying it was the worst signing ever, but it was dumb to give him a major league deal, especially so early in free agency with better options on the board who ended up settling for MiLB deals. He did nothing to deserve a big league contract. And reportedly, nobody else was even interested in giving him guaranteed money.
Also, Teheran’s contract was a non-guaranteed split signing and resulted in only a $54k tab. Plesac’s was not.
It’s a 1 million dollar investment.
For you to cry about this shows how delusional you are.
The 40 man roster spot is worth much more than a million dollars.
Silseth is good one time through the order. Always been the case.
Should’ve signed a starter instead of Stephenson, who isn’t even on track to pitch.
@halosheavenJJ Stephenson is the only guy signed over a year. He could still be decent if we had a redo I would say sign lorenzen or clevinger over garcia. Heck could’ve had both and waived saurez and stretched out loki since he fades towards the end of season.
No faith in Soto dude, he has legit tools but the Angels take no chances on him
Moniak should be next. I don’t why he keeps getting put in the lineup over Adell
The Angels have mishandled him since the beginning, There is no way that either Hicks, nor Moniak, not Sano should take away a single at-bat from Adell. I don’t even dislike these guys. But two of them are leaving anyway. And Moniak has struck out 142x in 384 ABs with the Angels and can’t hit lefties.
It almost feels like they are trying to prove how smart they are by getting these guys for nothing.
Joe, in my opinion, Rengifo (who I don’t think is good), Adell, Moniak, Schanuel, Neto and Rendon should be getting a ton of ABs.
The Angels need to find out if those guys fit into 2025 plans.
The Angels should be willing to replace each of then in 2025.
Angel pitching is really bad behind Detmers.
Not that I trust him, but Wantz is being used as a starter in the minors right now.. I guess they figure he’s not quite ready yet.
When you want to sell tickets you verbalize that your fielding a competitive team. I guess stating the obvious that you’re rebuilding doesn’t sell tickets. When you’re serious about winning you throw the politics aside and make the moves that illustrate that. Reliable starting pitching was a glaring need coming out of 2023. We did nothing to address it. We have Soto who can out play Rendon at this time but we waive Soto instead of sending Rendon down to find his swing. So instead of rewarding Soto we penalize him. Last year I saw a lot of selfish at bats. Hitters going all or nothing. Moniak is an example of that in my opinion (there are others too). It makes him an easy strike out victim. I don’t dislike Moniak and I hope that he evolves and that is basically what this year is about I think. It is a recognition that the parts are missing, that there are too many holes to fill and that there is a lot of teaching that needs to take place as far as team work. I hope I am wrong and suddenly everything comes together but this ownership isn’t serious about winning this year or the moves would look a lot different.
Anthony Rendon won’t accept an assignment to find his swing.
The Angels should simply bench him like the Tigers did to Javier Baez last season.
@oldhalo most of the problem is hicks, and sano taking playing time from rengifo, moniak, and adell. Having Soto, and marisnick on the bench as defensive replacements/ pinch runners would solve it. I don’t think this a Washington decision it was the same thing they did last year with lamb and Phillips before they cut bait. Was mad last year because Phillips was blocking adell, and moniak, and lamb was starting when they could’ve had fletcher and moved the infield around.
@Rex. Those are valid points and I agree with you. If you’re not serious about contending, which the actions thus far suggest that their not, then let the kids play and get acclimated, and don’t put other players in positions that prevent these kids from developing.
Maybe they are played according to matchups and strengths. If anyone of those players proves he can hit on a consistent basis regardless of pitching matchup and gets hot, I doubt they will get taken out of the lineup.
Who is steering the SS. Titanic?
Why doesn’t jo play ever? They need to trade him. Aaron hicks is in the way!? How does that sentence make any sense for a team that’s not going anywhere
I thought the reason Joe Adell doesn’t play is because he has a slow bat and is a poor defender.
He can join the White Sox and play with ole buds Clevinger
I would like the Tigers to take a run at Zach Plesac. I can’t believe the wheels completely came off.