Headlines

Go To Pro Hockey Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Angels Rumors

Angels Place Jose Soriano On Injured List, Outright Cole Tucker

By | at

The Angels placed starter José Soriano on the 15-day injured list, retroactive to June 17, with an abdominal infection. Los Angeles is off tonight, so they didn’t immediately reveal the corresponding move. The Halos also announced that Cole Tucker went unclaimed on waivers and was outrighted to Triple-A Salt Lake after being designated for assignment on Monday.

Soriano has been a rare bright spot in a rough season. Los Angeles transitioned the hard-throwing righty to the rotation this year. It was a gamble, as Soriano had been one of the club’s better relievers as a rookie. The second-year hurler has taken well to the starting role. In 72 1/3 innings, he carries a 3.48 earned run average. While Soriano’s strikeout rate has plummeted from last year’s 30.3% clip to a modest 20.3% mark, he has offset that with a drastic uptick in grounders.

Among pitchers with 50+ innings, only Framber Valdez has run a higher ground-ball rate than Soriano’s 60.2% clip. The Angel hurler has also trimmed his walk rate by almost three percentage points. This year’s 9.5% walk percentage still isn’t great, but it has been sufficient for Soriano to work to mid-rotation results. He has held huge velocity in extended stints, averaging 97.8 MPH on his sinker.

Tucker, 27, signed a minor league deal in April. He hit well in 10 games for Salt Lake to earn an MLB look a couple weeks later. Tucker didn’t carry that success over in 25 contests for the Halos. Over 57 trips to the plate, he hit .180/.263/.300 while striking out nearly 30% of the time. A former first-round draftee of the Pirates, Tucker has played in the majors in six consecutive seasons. He owns a .213/.266/.316 batting line over 536 plate appearances between Pittsburgh, Colorado and Los Angeles.

This is the fourth career outright for Tucker. He has the right to test free agency each time he clears waivers. The Angels didn’t announce whether he’ll rejoin Salt Lake or head back to the open market in search of a minor league opportunity elsewhere.

The Jesus Luzardo Alternative Who *Should* Be Available Next Month

By | at

Find virtually any primer for the 2024 trade deadline and you'll see Jesus Luzardo's name at or near the top of the discussion. He's probably even the feature image on many of those pieces. It's not hard to see why. A hard-throwing 26-year-old lefty with two seasons of club control beyond the current campaign and big strikeout abilities is always going to be in demand. And the Marlins, sitting at 23-48 on the season, have effectively been out of postseason contention since the second week of the season. A 1-12 start to the year will do that to you.

Luzardo might be the most talked-about name on the trade market this summer and has a far better chance to move than your standard prime-aged starting pitcher with two-plus seasons of club control. The Marlins already traded Luis Arraez in early May, after all. They're clearly open for business.

Nearly everything I just said about Luzardo applies to another lefty on the opposite coast. And yet for all the Luzardo chatter we've already heard and will continue to hear, the trade buzz between the two southpaws doesn't align.

Unlock Subscriber-Exclusive Articles Like This One With a Trade Rumors Front Office Subscription

BENEFITS
  • Access weekly subscriber-only articles by Tim Dierkes, Steve Adams, and Anthony Franco.
  • Join exclusive weekly live chats with Anthony.
  • Remove ads and support our writers.
  • Access GM-caliber tools like our MLB Contract Tracker

Angels Designate José Suarez, Cole Tucker For Assignment

By | at

The Angels announced that they have reinstated infielder Brandon Drury from the injured list and selected the contract of right-hander Zach Plesac. In corresponding moves, left-hander José Suarez and infielder Cole Tucker have been designated for assignment.

Suarez, 26, had a solid two-year run as a swingman for the Angels. Over the 2021 and 2022 seasons, he made 45 appearances for the club, with 34 of those being starts. He logged 207 1/3 innings, allowing 3.86 earned runs per nine. His 21.5% strikeout rate, 7.9% walk rate and 44.5% ground ball rate were all around league average in that time.

But things have been dire since then. He spent about four months on the injured list last year with a shoulder strain and had an ERA of 8.29 in the 33 2/3 innings he was able to pitch. The Halos clearly hoped for a bounceback, tendering Suarez a contract. The two sides eventually went to a hearing, with the club winning and paying Suarez $925K instead of his requested figure of $1.35MM. He’s avoided the IL this year but the results haven’t improved, as he has an 8.15 ERA in 35 1/3 innings pitched so far this season.

It’s likely not as bad as that seems, as his .375 batting average on balls in play and 57.1% strand rate are both on the unlucky side. But his walk rate has been over 12% this year and last year, which hasn’t helped him. Since he’s out of options, the only way for the Angels to get him off the active roster was to remove him from the 40-man completely.

They will now have one week to try to trade him or pass him through waivers. Perhaps some pitching-needy club with a plan to get him back on track will be intrigued, though his recent struggles will obviously tamp down interest. If he were to pass through waivers unclaimed, he would be able to elect free agency since he has more than three years of service time. But since he has less than five years of service, he would forfeit the remainder of his salary by doing so. Given those circumstances, he’s likely to end up sticking with the Angels as non-roster depth.

Tucker, 27, was once a highly-touted prospect with the Pirates but has continually struggled in the major leagues. He signed a minor league deal with the Angels in mid-April and was added to their roster a couple of weeks later. He has since received 57 plate appearances in 25 games but has struck out at a 29.8% rate and produced a meager line of .180/.263/.300. That brings his career output to .213/.266/.316.

The Halos will have a week to figure things out with Tucker as well, but interest is likely to be very low based on his limited production. He has a previous career outright and would be able to elect free agency in the event he’s outrighted again.

When the Angels added him to their roster, Tucker told reporters that he was offered a coaching position by the Mariners but wanted to keep playing. Perhaps he will continue pursuing playing opportunities but it sounds like he will have some fallback plans for whenever he decides to hang up his spikes.

Plesac signed with the Halos in the offseason, a deal with a $1MM guarantee, but later ran him through waivers. He had the right to reject an outright assignment by virtue of having more than three years of service time, but since his service clock is below five, doing so would have meant forfeiting the rest of that money.

He reported to Triple-A and has made 13 starts at that level with a 5.42 ERA, 15.8% strikeout rate and 8.1% walk rate. The Angels announced that José Soriano was scratched from tonight’s start with lower abdominal pain and that Plesac will take the mound instead. Plesac could stick in the rotation but also has a couple of options and can be sent back down to Salt Lake without being exposed to waivers again.

Angels Place Adam Cimber On 15-Day IL, Select Jose Marte, Release Ehire Adrianza

By | at

The Angels made a trio of roster moves this afternoon, including the placement of right-hander Adam Cimber on the 15-day injured list due to right shoulder inflammation.  Right-hander Jose Marte’s contract was selected from Triple-A to take Cimber’s spot on the active roster, and infielder Ehire Adrianza was released to create space on the 40-man.

One of several relievers signed last offseason to bolster the Los Angeles bullpen, Cimber’s first year with the Angels has been difficult.  The veteran righty has a 7.03 ERA over 24 1/3 innings and 28 appearances, with a garish 13.1% walk rate that is more than double the career average (5.9%) he posted over his first six Major League seasons.  Cimber’s 4.77 SIERA is still not particularly impressive, but it does reflect some of the misfortune of his very low 54.5% strand rate.

Cimber also had a 7.40 ERA over 20 2/3 innings with the Blue Jays last year, and his last appearance of 2023 came on June 18 after a shoulder impingement brought a premature end to his season.  The fact that Cimber has again been shelved with a shoulder problem isn’t a good sign, though it isn’t known if his later injury is anything some general soreness.

Speaking of season-shortening injuries, Marte threw only 21 total innings in the majors and minors in 2023 due to a stress reaction in his right elbow.  The Angels chose to non-tender him in the wake of that lost year, but then re-signed the righty to a minor league contract.

Marte is now set to receive his first Major League action of 2024, after receiving sporadic big league looks in each of the last three seasons with the Angels.  Marte has an 8.14 ERA over the small sample size of his 24 1/3 career innings in the Show, but he has looked quite sharp at Triple-A this season, with a 2.61 ERA in 20 2/3 frames for Salt Lake even in the hitter-friendly environs of the Pacific Coast League.

Adrianza has been on the 10-day injured list for over five weeks while dealing with back spasms, so either the Angels released him while off the IL, so his activation wasn’t made public.  Adrianza joined L.A. on a minors deal in February, and that contract was then selected to the active roster in April, leading to eight games and a .596 OPS in 28 plate appearances prior to his trip to the injured list.  Never much of a hitter over his 12 Major League seasons, Adrianza has carved out a lengthy pro career as a bench piece who can play all over the diamond, and he figures to catch on with another team (or a new minors deal with Anaheim) in need of a depth piece.

Angels Reinstate, Option Sam Bachman

By | at

The Angels announced that right-hander Sam Bachman has been reinstated from the 60-day injured list and optioned to Double-A Rocket City. The 40-man roster already had a vacancy with infielder Niko Goodrum being claimed off waivers by the Pirates earlier this week, but the roster is now full with this move.

Bachman, 24, underwent arthroscopic shoulder surgery in the fall and wasn’t fully healed by Opening Day. He was placed on the 60-day injured list when the club selected Miguel Sanó in late March. Bachman began a rehab assignment at the end of May and has been getting stretched out, throwing three innings in each of his last two outings.

The Angels currently have a rotation mix consisting of Tyler Anderson, Patrick Sandoval, Griffin Canning, José Soriano and José Suarez. For now, Bachman will continue getting stretched out but could be a candidate for some major league starts later in the year. The Halos are 26-42 and one of the few clubs firmly in the seller camp ahead of the trade deadline. If any of those starters get traded or suffer an injury, Bachman could perhaps get a look in the majors, though Reid Detmers will also be in the mix after being optioned a few weeks ago.

Bachman made his major league debut last year with a 3.18 earned run average in 17 innings. He was placed on the injured list in July due to right shoulder inflammation and stayed there the rest of the year, eventually undergoing the aforementioned surgery. He was able to get 129 days of service time last season, mostly on the IL, leaving him 43 days shy of the one-year mark. He was able to get over that line here in 2024 by spending over two months on the injured list but his clock will stop ticking forward now that he has been optioned.

MLBTR Podcast: Injured Astros, The Chances Of Bad Teams Rebounding In 2025 And More

By | at

The latest episode of the MLB Trade Rumors Podcast is now live on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and wherever you get your podcasts! Make sure you subscribe as well! You can also use the player at this link to listen, if you don’t use Spotify or Apple for podcasts.

This week, host Darragh McDonald is joined by Anthony Franco of MLB Trade Rumors to discuss…

  • The Astros have lost several players to injury but general manager Dana Brown insists they will be deadline buyers (0:45)
  • With so few teams clearly out of contention, signs are pointing towards a seller’s market at the deadline (7:20)

Plus, we answer your questions, including…

  • Out of the five worst teams right now (Athletics, Angels, White Sox, Marlins and Rockies), who most needs to replenish their farm system and who could possibly turn things around by 2025? (11:20)
  • The Guardians need a right-handed right fielder with power. Who is a viable target? (20:40)
  • Will the Marlins to try trade Jesús Luzardo and Jazz Chisholm Jr.? (24:30)
  • Could you see Alex Anthopoulos of the Braves trying to get Kevin Gausman from the Blue Jays? (28:35)
  • How active will the Reds be at the deadline? (32:15)
  • Should the Dodgers acquire Javier Báez from the Tigers and move Mookie Betts back to the outfield and/or option Gavin Lux? (35:40)

Check out our past episodes!

The podcast intro and outro song “So Long” is provided courtesy of the band Showoff.  Check out their Facebook page here!

Angels Sign Keston Hiura To Minor League Deal

By | at

The Angels informed reporters (including Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register) that they’ve signed infielder Keston Hiura to a minor league contract. He’ll report to Triple-A Salt Lake after being released by the Tigers last week. He is a CAA client.

Hiura is a Southern California native who starred at UC-Irvine. The Brewers selected him ninth overall in the 2017 draft. Hiura was a top prospect who looked like a budding star when he hit 19 homers in 84 games as a rookie for Milwaukee during the ’19 season. That huge debut showing came with a 30.7% strikeout rate that unfortunately previewed massive swing-and-miss problems. Hiura’s strikeout rate increased in each subsequent season, leading to a cumulative .205/.293/.394 slash between 2020-22.

The Brewers outrighted Hiura off their 40-man roster on the eve of the 2023 season. He spent the year in Triple-A and qualified for minor league free agency at year’s end. Hiura signed a minor league deal with Detroit and played in 49 games for their top farm team. He slumped to a .232/.312/.401 batting line across 199 trips to the plate. Hiura walked at a strong 10.6% clip but fanned 28.1% of the time and only hit six homers. The Tigers released him in conjunction with their decision to option former first overall pick Spencer Torkelson, who’ll play regularly at first base in the minors.

While Hiura didn’t have a great couple months with the Tigers, he has a strong minor league résumé. Hiura owns a .289/.382/.550 batting line in nearly 1100 Triple-A plate appearances over parts of five seasons. He blasted 23 homers in 85 contests as recently as last year.

Initially drafted as a second baseman, Hiura scuffled defensively and has moved primarily to first base. The Tigers played him exclusively at first base or designated hitter. Whether the Angels will give him any work at the keystone isn’t clear, but Hiura offers an alternative to struggling first baseman Nolan Schanuel. Last year’s #11 overall pick is hitting .211/.279/.333 over 231 plate appearances in his first full professional season.

Pirates Claim Niko Goodrum From Angels

By | at

The Pirates have claimed infielder Niko Goodrum off waivers from the Angels, per announcements from both clubs. The Pirates optioned Goodrum to Triple-A Indianapolis. To open a 40-man spot, right-hander Ben Heller was designated for assignment. There wasn’t any previous indication that Goodrum had been removed from the Angels’ roster, so their 40-man count will drop to 39.

Goodrum was only with the Angels a short time. He was claimed off waivers from the Rays about a month ago and only got into four games with the big league club, as they kept him on optional assignment for the most part. In his 15 big league plate appearances, he drew two walks but didn’t get a hit and struck out four times. In Triple-A Salt Lake, he hit a tepid .200/.333/.200 in 30 plate appearances.

Now 32, Goodrum was once a solid regular for the Tigers. He slashed .247/.318/.427 over 2018 and 2019 for a 98 wRC+, indicating he was just barely below average at the plate for that time. He also stole 24 bases in that stretch while bouncing around to all seven positions outside of the battery.

But things have been a struggle since then, as he’s slashed .190/.267/.321 in 582 major league plate appearances over the past few years. There were some encouraging signs pointing towards a bit of a bounceback lately, though Goodrum hasn’t been able to maintain them. He .280/.448/.440 for Boston’s Triple-A club and then hit .295/.373/.387 in the KBO last year, leading to a minor league deal with the Twins for 2024. He was acquired by the Rays just before Opening Day and didn’t perform in the majors but hit .316/.422/.605 in Triple-A Durham before the Angels claimed him and his performance dipped again.

It’s been quite the up-and-down stretch for Goodrum but the Bucs evidently are intrigued enough to give him a roster spot and bring him aboard for some extra depth. Even as he has struggled more generally, he has drawn walks here and there. He has a 14.7% walk rate in the minors this year and had a 23.1% rate with Worcester last year before going to Korea, then walking in 11.4% of his plate appearances over there.

The Pirates have several position players struggling this year, with guys like Jack Suwinski, Rowdy Tellez, Edward Olivares, Jared Triolo and Michael A. Taylor having posted fairly lackluster numbers. Since Goodrum can move all around the diamond, he could be a viable replacement if the Bucs decide to make any kind of move with anyone in that group or if someone hits the injured list. He also has less than five years of service time and could be kept around for next year via arbitration, the Bucs are so inclined.

Heller, 32, signed a minor league deal with the Pirates in the offseason. He posted a 4.91 earned run average and 10.1% walk rate in Triple-A before being selected to the big league roster last week, though his 43% strikeout rate was certainly enticing. He tossed two innings for the Pirates in the past week but allowed an eye-popping 11 earned runs.

The Pirates will have a week to trade Heller or pass him through waivers. His career numbers are naturally much better than the 49.50 ERA he currently has in the 2024 season. In 52 frames going back to his 2016 debut, he has a 4.85 ERA, though he missed much of the 2018 to 2022 seasons due to injuries. The major league results have obviously been poor this year but it was just two outings after he struck out a bunch of guys in Triple-A. If any club were to claim him, Heller is out of options but less than four years of service time.

Hank Foiles Passes Away

By | at

Former All Star catcher Hank Foiles passed away late last month at the age of 94, as noted by various sources including Jami Frankenberry of The Virginian-Pilot. An veteran of 11 major league seasons, Foiles played for the Reds, Indians, Pirates, Athletics, Tigers, Orioles, and Angels throughout his time in the big leagues.

Foiles started his professional career at the age of 19 as a member of the Yankees organization back in 1948, but he didn’t make his big league debut for several years. He was selected in the 1951 Rule 5 draft by the Reds but didn’t make his big league debut with the club until 1953. He appeared in just 12 games at the big league level that season between Cincinnati and Cleveland and collected three hits across his first 20 major league at-bats. Foiles wouldn’t play at the big league level in 1954 but split time with Hal Naragon as the backup to five-time All Star Jim Hegan in 1955. In 132 plate appearances that year, Foiles hit .261 with a solid .354 on-base percentage.

Foiles would appear in just one more game with Cleveland before being traded to Pittsburgh during the 1956 season. Although he had a down season at the plate during his first year with the club, his years in Pittsburgh would prove to be the most significant of his career as he earned the everyday catching job for the Pirates in 1957 and 1958. Foiles made the lone All Star appearance of his career in 1957 when he combined his glove-first profile with above average offense to slash .270/.352/.431 in 109 games.

On the 1957 NL All Star team, he joined legends of the game such as Stan Musial, Frank Robinson, and Henry Aaron opposite AL legends like Yogi Berra, Mickey Mantle, and Ted Williams. Foiles pinch-hit in the bottom of the ninth inning with Willie Mays on third base and drew a wild pitch to score Mays and bring the NL within two before delivering a single against longtime White Sox ace Billy Pierce. Foiles later scored from second on a single by Ernie Banks, though the NL would go on to lose the game 6-5.

Foiles would remain in Pittsburgh for two more seasons following his All Star season, and though his offense took step backward with a .209/.314/.355 line between the next two campaigns, he nonetheless made 157 appearances and 402 trips to the plate across those two seasons. 1960 saw Foiles change organizations multiple times, as he was traded from the Pirates to the then-Kansas City Athletics during the 1959-60 offseason but appeared in just six games with the club before being returned to the Pirates. He was then traded to Cleveland to act as their back-up catcher before a late July deal sent him to the Tigers. He finished the 1960 season in Detroit but was selected in the Rule V Draft for the second time that November, putting him in five different organizations over the course of one calendar year.

Over the next two years, Foiles would find his groove at the plate again as a back-up catcher for the Orioles and Reds with a combined slash line of .275/.338/.482 across 43 games. Foiles found himself on the move again in 1963 when he joined the Angels, and he appeared in 45 games for the club over the next two seasons with a roughly league average slash line of .216/.289/.386. He played his final game in the big leagues just a month before his 35th birthday on May 2, 1964. A career .243/.321/.392 hitter who appeared in 608 big league games, Foiles tallied 353 hits, 46 home runs, and 166 RBI during a solid major league career.

We at MLBTR offer our condolences to the Foiles family and to his friends, fans, and others who are mourning him around the game.

Taylor Ward Drawing Trade Interest

By | at

The Angels have begun “listening to inquiries” on players on the roster and one of them is outfielder Taylor Ward, according to Robert Murray of FanSided. Earlier this week, Jeff Passan of ESPN listed Ward and fellow outfielder Jo Adell as plausible trade candidates but said that general manager Perry Minasian is “asking for giant returns” for either of those two.

It’s unsurprising that the Angels are exploring a selloff this summer. Despite the departure of Shohei Ohtani in free agency, the club still made an attempt to field a competitive roster here in 2024. That has not panned out, thanks to some injuries and some underperformance. Face of the franchise Mike Trout has been on the injured list more than a month due to knee surgery. The club’s biggest offseason acquisition, Robert Stephenson, required Tommy John surgery and will miss the entire campaign. Players like Anthony Rendon, Brandon Drury and Chase Silseth are also on the IL. Meanwhile, Reid Detmers struggled enough to get optioned down to the minors while guys like Mickey Moniak and Nolan Schanuel have also underwhelmed.

All of those elements have combined to chip away at whatever chances of competing the club may have had at the start of the schedule. They are currently 24-38, 11 games back in the American League West and nine back of the final AL Wild Card spot. The FanGraphs Playoff Odds have the Angels down to a 0.6% shot at the postseason while the Baseball Prospectus PECOTA Standings have them down to a 0.1% sliver of a chance.

Last summer, the club was hovering around contention and decided to go for it while they still had a few months of Ohtani left. That ended up being a mistake and several players they acquired at the deadline wound up on waivers, but the move for this year is much easier. Minasian and his team will look to acquire some younger players that can help bolster the farm system and help in future seasons.

Ward is a sensible candidate for such a trade. He can still be retained for two seasons via arbitration but the Halos will have a hard time getting back into contention in that time frame, given that they have a poorly-regarded farm system. On top of that, Ward is a bit on the older side for a guy in his arbitration years since he was a late bloomer. He’ll turn 31 in December and will be on the cusp of his 33rd birthday by the time he reaches free agency.

But all that should make him appealing to clubs looking for an upgrade in the present. Ward has 11 home runs this year and his walking at a solid 9.7% clip. His .253/.322/.445 batting line translates to a wRC+ of 116, indicating he’s been 16% above league average this year. That aligns with previous seasons as well, with Ward having hit .265/.346/.449 over the 2021-23 campaigns for a 121 wRC+.

Defensively, Ward is no slouch either, having racked up three Outs Above Average in his career. His tally of -12 Defensive Runs Saved is less impressive but that metric has had him closer to league average since the start of 2023. He’s making a modest $4.8MM salary this year and, as mentioned, has two years of club control remaining beyond this one.

That salary could fit into the budget of just about any club and the extra control would make him appealing even to clubs that may be looking beyond 2024 to the next two seasons. With his strong work at the plate and solid defense, there should be plenty of clubs calling the Angels about him.

The Phillies have the best record in the National League but the outfield is a relative weak spot, with Brandon Marsh on the injured list while Nick Castellanos and Johan Rojas are struggling at the plate. The Royals are 37-26 despite getting almost no contributions from their outfield, something that MLBTR’s Steve Adams recently explored in a piece for Front Office subscribers. The Mariners are leading the AL West but their offense is struggling so much that they recently fired their offensive coordinator and took a cheap flier on Víctor Robles. Atlanta’s looking for outfield help with Ronald Acuña Jr. out for the rest of the year. The Cardinals, Dodgers, Rangers, Diamondbacks and plenty of others could make sense as well.

A controllable position player can bring back plenty of value. Just over a month ago, the Marlins were able to trade Luis Arráez to the Padres for a four-player package. One of them, Woo-Suk Go, has already been outrighted off the roster, but they also got three intriguing youngsters who are each now listed in the top 10 Miami prospects at Baseball America. Ward is a few years older than Arráez and is arguably not the same level of hitter, but Ward brings an extra year of control and his salary is less than half the $10.6MM that Arraez is making this year.

With the expanded postseason and several teams hovering around .500, it has been theorized that there could be a seller’s market this summer. With the Halos clearly out this year, they could be in a good position to take advantage, with Ward one of their best chances to do so.

Show all

MLB Trade Rumors is not affiliated with Major League Baseball, MLB or MLB.com

hide arrows scroll to top