Angels Still Seeking Multiple Relievers

The Angels are positioned as well as any team to make some late-winter additions as free agents linger on the market — arguably even better-positioned than most. They’ve primarily been adding depth on minor league deals over the past couple weeks, but they’re still looking to improve the big league roster. Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reports that they’ve told “at least one agent” that they have two or even three bullpen spots they’d still like to fill.

A look at the current composition of manager Ron Washington’s relief corps underlines that area of opportunity. Presumptive closer Ben Joyce is the game’s hardest-throwing pitcher by a wide margin, averaging 102.1 mph on his four-seamer. He enjoyed a breakout showing with a 2.08 ERA in 34 2/3 innings this past season and is all but assured a spot, barring injury. Veteran lefties Brock Burke, Jose Quijada and Jose Suarez are all out of minor league options and were all tendered contracts in arbitration. Health permitting, they’ll be on the Opening Day roster as well.

Beyond that quartet, there’s basically no certainty. Righty Chase Silseth, with 1.071 years of MLB service, is next up in terms of “experience.” The aforementioned trio of lefties are the only relievers on the Halos’ roster with even two years of MLB service time. Right-hander Robert Stephenson, signed to a three-year deal last winter, will of course take over one spot once he’s healthy, but he had Tommy John surgery on April 30. He could miss most or all of the season’s first half.

The Halos have their share of interesting candidates for relief spots. Righty Ryan Zeferjahn, acquired from the Red Sox in exchange for Luis Garcia, looked outstanding … in a sample of 17 big league innings. He’s had substantial command problems in the minors, however. Sam Bachman is a former top-10 pick with a sinker that sat nearly 97 mph in relief in 2023, but the Angels have continued to work him as a starter in the minors (to mixed results). Rule 5 pick Garrett McDaniels posted gaudy minor league numbers with the Dodgers last year but topped out in Double-A (where he only pitched three innings).

Suffice it to say, there’s room for multiple veterans to supplement the group — or at the very least for one more veteran arm. The Angels are nowhere close to the luxury tax barrier at the moment, sitting a bit under $206MM in CBT obligations, per RosterResource. That gives them more than $35MM, assuming the luxury tax is some form of hard barrier that owner Arte Moreno would prefer not to cross. The Angels have only paid the luxury tax once under Moreno’s ownership, which came way back in 2004 and saw the team pay out under $1MM in total penalties. The Angels were close to the tax threshold in 2023 but narrowly ducked under the line thanks to a massive late-August waiver purge after a failed deadline push for contention.

The relief market has been the slowest corner of free agency this winter, although it’s picked up steam in recent weeks with Tanner Scott, Jeff Hoffman, A.J. Minter, Jose Leclerc, Andrew Kittredge, Paul Sewald and Chris Martin (among others) all coming off the board since Jan. 10. Kirby Yates and the Dodgers have reportedly been working to finalize their own deal, though as of yet nothing has been formally announced.

The remaining collection of free agents still features several notable names, headlined by Carlos Estevez, David Robertson, Kenley Jansen, Kyle Finnegan, Tommy Kahnle, Phil Maton, Andrew Chafin and Tim Hill, among many others. As shown in MLBTR’s Contract Tracker, the Angels took a similar bulk approach to rounding out the bullpen last offseason, signing six relievers to big league deals — three of which came in mid-January or later. That didn’t work out as hoped, but it nonetheless seems they’ll take another run at using the late stages of the market to build out the bullpen this winter.