The Angels and veteran right-hander Johnny Cueto are in agreement on a minor league deal, according to Jon Heyman of the New York Post. The news comes on the heels of Cueto opting out of his minors deal with the Rangers earlier this month.
Cueto, 38, is a two-time All-Star and a veteran of 16 MLB seasons. From 2010 to 2016, he was among the very best starters in the entire league with a 2.86 ERA (141 ERA+) that was second to only Clayton Kershaw among qualified starters with at least 500 innings of work during that span. As the righty entered his 30’s, injuries began to cost him more and more time on the mound, and after a dominant 2016 season in the first year of his $130MM pact with San Francisco he managed just 394 1/3 innings of work over the next five seasons, with a middling 4.38 ERA (95 ERA+) during that time.
Cueto ended up signing on with the White Sox on a minor league deal entering the 2022 season, and things appeared to be turning around for the veteran upon his arrival in Chicago. The deal could hardly have gone better for the South Siders, as the right-hander enjoyed a return to form with a 3.35 ERA (118 ERA+) and 3.79 FIP in 158 1/3 innings of work across 25 appearances (24 starts.) Those ERA, ERA+, and FIP figures were all the best Cueto had posted in a full season since his dominant 2016 campaign in San Francisco, though his career-worst 15.7% strikeout rate offered reason for concern.
That didn’t stop the Marlins from pursuing Cueto during the 2022-23 offseason, however, and they signed him to a one-year deal that guaranteed him $8.5MM that winter. It’s a contract that did not go how either side was hoping, to say the least. Cueto struggled badly with Miami during his age-37 campaign, posting an ugly 6.02 ERA with a 7.02 FIP in 52 1/3 innings of work amid trips to the injured list for biceps tightness and a viral infection. While it’s at least feasible that Cueto’s injury and illness issues last season played a role in his deep struggles, the right-hander was unable to find a big league deal this winter and eventually settled for a minor league deal in Texas back in April.
The veteran ultimately made eight starts with the Rangers at the Triple-A level, struggling to a 5.92 ERA in 38 innings of work as he did so, before opting out to return to the open market. He’ll now get a chance to prove himself with the Angels, and it’s relatively easy to imagine the pitching-hungry Halos affording Cueto a big league opportunity as long as he proves able to hold his own at Triple-A. After all, lefty Tyler Anderson and righty Griffin Canning are the club’s most established starters at the moment, and both of those arms have been the subject of plenty of trade speculation ahead of the deadline. Even if a trade doesn’t open up a spot in the club’s rotation, however, there’s plenty of room for Cueto to push his way into a mix that currently features the likes of Carson Fulmer and Jack Kochanowicz.
Champions 2025!! It’s so obvious
They’re adding arms as they plan to trade a few pitchers in the next couple weeks. The Angels are the team players who are hanging on know they have one last chance.
Took about eight years to finally rebuild instead of throwing journeyman patching the team with Band-Aids, Moreno in devils costume
Alexa, make out the lineup for Sunday’s game. What’s the hot stove scoop yes, Johnny bravo Yankees are interested in Field help Brewers and the Red Sox are looking for pitching. Pirates have there eye on Taylor Ward. Has Perry Minasian been in the office? No he said he’s working from home this year
Insert punchlines below.
Dumpster diving angels
Light the dumpster on fire please.
The Reds should have signed him instead of Montas. Hell, they should have given him the money they paid Homer Bailey. Everybody was stunned when they signed Bailey and left Cueto standing there. Back in a familiar park and with a city that loves him he may have been able to coax a few more quality innings out of that worn down arm. I have always been a fan. That crazy Luis Tiant like delivery and the his sly smile when he maybe got away with something are sorely missed.
Tyler Anderson hasn’t pitched after the break and we signed Cueto.
Got it.
He hasn’t pitched because they’re working on a deal to trade him and they don’t want him to get hurt.
Hurt=have his ERA return back to the high 4s
“Hurt=have his ERA return back”…I’m sure both injury and diminished performance are logical considerations for the Angels. For those very reasons the Angels need to trade Tyler Anderson sooner rather than later. It’d be nice to see the Halos win a trade at least once in a while.
I think some team’s 15-20 prospect and a lotto ticket while the team takes all salary will be the best possible return.
He’s walking a tight rope to get to his performance so far, and I’m sure all teams know it.
Yeah. If Arte would eat some salary it’d help on the return. But he won’t.
You’d think he’d be used to eating smart by now.
his performance looks almost exactly how it looked on his big dodgers breakout. So this is pretty standard. Soft Tossers tend to have different peripherels.
Almost but worse. Double the HR rate, more walks, fewer strikeouts. His FIP is over a run higher than with the Dodgers.
I’d bet he’s going to the Dodgers. They found the magic in him when he was pitching there and they really need a SP.
Why pitch Tyler Anderson and Jose Soriano when you can start Canning and Kochanowicz after the all-star break.
Nothing they do makes much sense.
Anderson will be traded. Every pitch at this point is an injury risk.
Soriano has never pitched a full season in a rotation. Limit his innings and keep him healthy.
Oh, and picking third is better than picking 6th.
So, Anderson won’t pitch again until he’s traded? And Soriano is being shutdown for the season?
Why play Neto and O’Hoppe and risk injuring them?
Picking first is better than picking third.
Anderson probably won’t pitch again as an Angel. If so, it will only be once.
Soriano is getting good experience as a starter. He’s at 87.1 innings after pitching a previous career high of 65 between the minors and MLB last year. He’ll pitch more but there’s no reason for him to get much beyond 100 innings due to injury risk.
Position players are different. Repetition is great for them and Neto and O’Hoppe are young guys who need the reps.
Why not
This tells you Anderson is close to gone and they will need bodies to throw out there. For the love of God sell this team. I don’t now how much more I can take?
Writer left out a lot of cueto down & injured years. Jeff sudmardja signing soon next? Trade ‘em to the giants!
If he shows he can still hit his spots I wouldn’t be surprised if he threw 140 innings of league average ball next season if someone gives him the chance.
Cueto or Anderson cause Cueto didn’t do that in AAA this year no reason to assume he will next year at a higher level and a year older. He’s done congrats on a long and lucrative career Johnny
Based on what?
It’s been a way better and longer career than Harvey,Syndargard, and Matz.
I always liked Cueto and thought he was underrated. I remember wanting the Dodgers to sign him but he ended up going to the Giants.
I had no idea he was still even around.