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Robert Stephenson Questionable For Opening Day

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Angels right-hander Robert Stephenson is still dealing with some shoulder discomfort and may not be in game shape by the time the season starts, per Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register. Manager Ron Washington tells Fletcher that José Soriano may move back to the bullpen to take Stephenson’s spot.

Stephenson, 31, came into camp with some shoulder soreness and he hasn’t yet appeared in an official Spring Training game. As relayed by Fletcher, Stephenson has resumed throwing full bullpens and still plans on being ready for Opening Day, but he has to get over the discomfort and advance to live batting practice before getting some game work in.

Barring a late March signing of Blake Snell or Jordan Montgomery, the Angels’ most significant move of the offseason will be their three-year, $33MM deal for Stephenson. He got that nice deal for himself based on his stint with the Rays in the second half of 2023, when he was one of the most dominant pitchers in the league.

He made 42 appearances for Tampa last year with a 2.35 earned run average, thanks to a new breaking ball. Statcast classified it as a cutter but Fletcher describes it as a tweak to his slider. Regardless of the terminology, it helped him strike out 42.9% of batters faced while walking just 5.7%. His 28.9% swinging strike percentage was more than double last year’s 11.6% league average for relievers.

The Angels were primarily focused on bullpen upgrades this winter with Stephenson the highlight. The only free agent they signed to a major league deal that wasn’t a pitcher was Aaron Hicks, who only requires the Halos to pay the prorated league minimum since the Yankees are still on the hook for the majority of his contract. Pitchers Matt Moore, Luis García, Adam Cimber, José Cisnero, Adam Kolarek and Zach Plesac got one-year deals with Moore’s $9MM the largest of them.

Stephenson’s deal was larger than all of those, in length and in average annual value. It’s unclear if he will miss much time, or even any at all, but it’s not the ideal start to his tenure with the Angels.

In response to his status, the club may be pivoting with Soriano, as mentioned up top. It was reported a couple of weeks ago that the Angels were planning to stretch him out as a starter, though Washington admitted earlier this week that he wouldn’t be able to secure a rotation spot unless there was an injury to one of Reid Detmers, Patrick Sandoval, Tyler Anderson, Griffin Canning or Chase Silseth. Now with Stephenson behind schedule, Soriano might return to the bullpen.

“First, you take care of need, and then you can start thinking long term,” Washington said. “We decided we wanted to try to see if Soriano can start, and so far he has proven to us that he possibly can. Now, Stephenson down that means we’ve got a void in the bullpen. Now we’re going to make a decision on our need right there. Long term would be Soriano being a starter. But if we can’t fill that void in the bullpen, Soriano has done it before. We’ve got an option.”

Soriano came up as a starter in the minors but was significantly delayed as he required two Tommy John surgeries in fairly quick succession, one in February of 2020 and the other in June of 2021, which naturally led to him hardly pitching at all in that 2020-2022 period. He was finally healthy last year and tossed 42 innings for the Angels with a 3.64 ERA. His 12.4% walk rate was on the high side, but that’s hardly surprising given the time he missed. He also punched out 30.3% of batters faced and got grounders on 51% of balls in play.

Based on Washington’s comments, it seems the club still thinks Soriano is a viable starter down the road but he may be used in the bullpen for now. In addition to his 42 innings of major league work last year, Soriano also tossed 23 1/3 innings in Double-A, bringing his tally for the year to 65 1/3. After missing most of the previous three seasons, he would probably run into an innings cap at some point this year if he were acting as a starter the whole time, speculatively in the range of 100 to 120 or so.

He does have a couple of options, so the Halos could perhaps use him as a reliever in the big leagues for now but send him down and stretch him back out later in the year if they want to have him log some innings and perhaps get towards a full starter’s workload in 2025.

MLBTR Podcast: Injured Pitchers, Brayan Bello’s Extension, Mookie At Shortstop And J.D. Davis

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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…

Plus, we answer your questions, including…

  • Who had the worst offseason and why is it the Angels? (25:15)
  • Fact or Fiction? The Red Sox are going to trade Masataka Yoshida. (28:50)
  • Considering the amount of effort the Tigers front office has put into fielding a major league team in the past 10 years, should Tiger fans feel slighted? “They can wait” seems to be the attitude. Should Tiger fans just stop buying Little Caesars pizza and encourage their friends to buy their pizzas elsewhere? I am sure franchise owners enjoy being associated with a cheap loser. (31:20)

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, Mets Remain Engaged With J.D. Martinez

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Regular season baseball is just over the horizon but many free agents remain unsigned. Two of the most notable of those free agents are left-hander Blake Snell and designated hitter J.D. Martinez, both of whom are represented by the Boras Corporation. The Halos were connected to both of those players back in December and Jon Heyman of The New York Post reports that the Halos are still talking about both of them. In a separate column, Heyman adds that the Mets also remain involved with Martinez, to whom they were connected last month.

It’s unclear if the Angels are making a serious push for a late signing or merely keeping tabs as the players linger on the open market into the middle of March, but they are one of the few clubs that make for a logical fit for a notable deal at this point. Many teams around the league have exhausted their respective budgets by this stage of the calendar, with some of them having concerns around luxury tax payments or uncertainty around TV revenue streams.

But the Angels are below their previous levels of spending, both in terms of pure payroll expenditures and competitive balance tax calculations. RosterResource currently lists their payroll at $174MM and their CBT number at $189MM for 2024. Per Cot’s Baseball Contracts, the Halos had an Opening Day payroll of $212MM last year, $38MM above where they are now. The base threshold of the CBT is $237MM this year, which gives the club $48MM of space if they want to stay below the tax, which is a line they hovered around last year.

Owner Arte Moreno has previously stated that the club is planning on operating with a lower payroll this year, but without specifics about exactly where they want to end up. Given the gaps between last year’s spending and this year’s, it’s possible to envision another signing coming together while still fulfilling his plan of reduced overall expenditures.

Many observers wondered if the club would look to mount a rebuild in the post-Shohei Ohtani era, but general manager Perry Minasian firmly stated at the start of the offseason that the club would not be doing that and was actually planning an aggressive offseason.

Thus far, the club has directed most of its efforts to the bullpen, signing Robert Stephenson, Matt Moore, Luis García, Adam Cimber and José Cisnero. On the position player side, their most notable addition was signing Aaron Hicks, who they will only have to pay the league minimum since the Yankees are still on the hook for his contract. Their most significant rotation addition was a $1MM signing of Zach Plesac, who has already been optioned to the minors.

Adding Martinez would be a clear upgrade to the club’s lineup, as he has a long track record of effective hitting and is coming off a 33-home run campaign with the Dodgers. The roster fit is a little awkward since Martinez is primarily a DH at this point, having only played 12 innings in the field over the last two years combined. The Angels technically have an open DH spot with Ohtani’s departure but may want to use that for their various aging or injury-prone players. Both Anthony Rendon and Mike Trout are the club’s two highest-paid players and each has missed significant time in the past few years as they have pushed into their 30s. Giving them occasional DH time and keeping them fresh might be preferable to locking up the DH spot with Martinez. Similar logic could apply to other players in their 30s like Brandon Drury or Hicks.

Previous reporting has suggested that Martinez turned down an offer of $14MM from the Giants while looking for either a two-year deal, a salary near $20MM or both. The Angels could accommodate that without reaching last year’s spending levels, though they would have to weigh the benefits of adding his bat to the lineup against the reduced ability to rest their other players, as well as the financial cost.

Snell would certainly cost more but it’s much easier to imagine him fitting onto the roster. The Halos have a rotation of Reid Detmers, Patrick Sandoval, Tyler Anderson, Griffin Canning and Chase Silseth. Everyone in that group can still be optioned apart from Anderson, while Silseth has just 81 major league innings under his belt. At this late stage in the offseason, Snell would likely have to miss the opening of the schedule anyway and injuries may have popped up by the time he’s fully stretched out. Even if he can’t be expected to repeat last year’s Cy Young-winning season that finished with a 2.25 ERA, he’s one of the best pitchers in the league and would upgrade any rotation.

The lefty reportedly turned down an offer of $150MM over six years from the Yankees, average annual value of $25MM, with Snell looking for either a salary in the $30MM range or a longer pact. MLBTR’s Contract Tracker shows that Anderson’s three-year, $39MM is the largest the Angels have given to a starting pitcher since 2012, both in terms of years and guaranteed dollars.

Despite that apparent distaste to giving lengthy free agent pacts to pitchers, it’s possible to imagine the two sides coming together. Snell is reportedly open to a shorter pact with higher AAVs and opt-outs, similar to those signed by fellow Boras clients Cody Bellinger and Matt Chapman. That type of deal is difficult for a club that has already spent a huge chunk of its budget or has tax bills to think about. The Yankees, for instance, would have to pay $33MM in taxes in order to give Snell a contract with a $30MM AAV this year. As mentioned above, the Halos have plenty of spending capacity before they even reach last year’s payroll or come close to the CBT line. Snell rejected a qualifying offer from the Padres so signing him would also cost the Angels their second-highest pick in this summer’s draft as well as $500K of their international bonus pool.

Until a deal comes together, the rotation will project to be that fivesome of Detmers, Sandoval, Anderson, Canning and Silseth. The club has been stretching out some other guys, such as Andrew Wantz and José Soriano, but they are apparently behind the front five. Manager Ron Washington tells Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register that Wantz and Soriano will stay stretched out for now but won’t earn a rotation spot unless there’s an injury to one of the other five guys.

As for the Mets, they have been connected to Martinez previously, but with the caveat that they were leaning towards giving at-bats to younger players like Brett Baty or Mark Vientos. Those two could split the third base job and the DH slot, with Joey Wendle perhaps filling in at third on defense from time to time while DJ Stewart could perhaps take some plate appearances as the DH.

Both of Baty and Vientos are optionable and could therefore be sent to the minors, but it makes sense that the Mets would want to give them some run at the big league level. Vientos has hit just .205/.255 /.354 in the majors but has slashed .290/.369/.554 at Triple-A over the last two years. Similarly, Baty has hit .210/.272/.325 in the big leagues but .311/.405/.554 in the minors over the past two years.

Since neither of them have much left to prove on the farm and the Mets are planning a sort of bridge year in 2024, there’s logic to letting them face big league pitchers to see if either takes a step forward. Signing Martinez would also come with a hefty financial cost, as the Mets are set to be third-time payors of the CBT and are above the fourth tier of penalization. That means they face a 110% tax on any money they add to their books. Giving Martinez $15MM for this year, just as an example, would also involve paying $16.5MM in taxes and a total expense of $31.5MM.

If the club is willing to consider such an expenditure, it would lengthen the lineup as they walk a tightrope in 2024. They mostly limited themselves to one-year deals this offseason as they look to field a competitive team but without sacrificing too much of their future flexibility. Signing Martinez could lengthen their lineup here in 2024 but would also come with the opportunity cost of having less playing time for guys like Baty and Vientos, as well as the aforementioned financial elements.

In addition to the Angels, Snell has continued to garner interest from other clubs, with the Giants connected to him earlier this month. The Yankees may revisit their talks with Snell if they get bad news regarding Gerrit Cole’s MRI, though recent reporting has suggested they may be more likely to trade for Dylan Cease due to his lower salary and tax hit. Martinez was recently connected to the Marlins, in addition to the talks with the Mets and Angels.

Latest On Blake Snell, Angels

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The Angels were linked to Snell back in December, with Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle writing at the time that Snell was “their priority” as a front-of-the-rotation pitcher to replace Shohei Ohtani.  There hasn’t been much public movement between the two sides since, though the Halos also haven’t done anything else to upgrade their rotation, as their offseason pitching moves have been largely focused on bullpen additions.  The Angels have traditionally been reluctant to sign pitchers to big multi-year commitments, though since Snell is reportedly open to taking a shorter-term contract (likely with at least one opt-out clause), this could help find common ground towards a landing spot in Anaheim.

In a recent edition of the Willard and Dibs podcast, ESPN’s Buster Olney predicted Blake Snell will sign with the Angels, based on “conversations with people…who know Blake” and Snell’s apparent enjoyment of pitching in southern California.  Olney added the natural “depending on where the money falls” caveat, and things could also change depending on how the pitching market might yet play out, in regards to injuries suddenly changing the outlook for a would-be contender.  Agent Scott Boras said this week that he’d been hearing from some new suitors in regards to Snell and Jordan Montgomery since Spring Training opened, though both pitchers remain unsigned as we’re now into the second week of March.

The Angels were linked to Snell back in December, with Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle writing at the time that Snell was “their priority” as a front-of-the-rotation pitcher to replace Shohei Ohtani.  There hasn’t been much public movement between the two sides since, though the Halos also haven’t done anything else to upgrade their rotation, as their offseason pitching moves have been largely focused on bullpen additions.  The Angels have traditionally been reluctant to sign pitchers to big multi-year commitments, though since Snell is reportedly open to taking a shorter-term contract (likely with at least one opt-out clause), this could help find common ground towards a landing spot in Anaheim.

Angels Release Richie Martin

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The Angels announced last night that they’ve released infielder Richie Martin, who’d been in camp with them as a non-roster invitee after signing a minor league contract back in January.

Martin, 29, appeared in 170 games with the Orioles from 2019-22 after Baltimore selected him with the top pick in the 2018 Rule 5 Draft. He lasted the entire 2019 season on a rebuilding O’s roster and shed that Rule 5 designation, but he’s also never managed to replicate the Double-A production he showed in 2018 that contributed to his Rule 5 selection in the first place.

Martin, a former first-round pick (20th overall by the A’s in 2015), hit .300/.368/.439 with six homers and 25 steals as a 23-year-old in Double-A that year but has since been below average in parts of three Triple-A seasons (.229/.333/.341) and parts of three MLB campaigns (.212/.261/.311). He spent the 2023 season with the Nationals’ Triple-A club, hitting .217/.329/.314 in 425 trips to the plate. He went 1-for-10 with five strikeouts for the Angels this spring before being cut loose.

The addition of Martin was always a depth add for the Halos, who project to have Zach Neto at shortstop, Luis Rengifo at second base, Anthony Rendon at third base, and veteran Brandon Drury to bounce around the infield and spend time at designated hitter as needed. The Angels also brought veteran utilityman Ehire Adrianza aboard as a non-roster invitee last week, and he’ll have a chance to win a bench spot as a backup infielder.

Miguel Sano Discusses Return To Affiliated Baseball

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  • Prior to signing a minor league deal with the Angels this past winter, veteran slugger Miguel Sano spent the 2023 season hard at work at improving his health after being unable to secure even a non-roster deal with a club last winter on the heels of a 2022 season that saw him slash a ghastly .083/.211/.133 while being limited to just 20 games by knee injuries. During his season away from affiliated ball, The Athletic’s Sam Blum writes that Sano not only focused on keeping his knee healthy after undergoing surgery on it the year prior but also completely overhauled his diet and exercise regime. The results speak for themselves, as Sano entered the Halos’ camp this spring having shed 58 pounds since he last took the field in the big leagues. If Sano can work his way back onto the big league roster, he could be a source of right-handed power in Anaheim after hitting 162 homers in just 694 games during his eight years with the Twins.

Ed Ott Passes Away

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The Pirates announced today that former major league catcher Ed Ott passed away today at the age of 72. “We are saddened by the loss of such a beloved member of the Pirates family,” said Pirates President Travis Williams in a statement. “Ed spent seven of his eight years in the Major Leagues with the Pirates and was a valued member of our World Series Championship team in 1979. It was great to see him last summer when he was in Pittsburgh to support former teammate Kent Tekulve at our Hall of Fame induction ceremony.”

Born in Muncy, Pennsylvania in 1951, Ott was part of both the football and wrestling teams at his local high school although he did not play baseball there on account of the school not having a baseball team. Instead, Ott participated in American Legion Baseball during the summers as a third baseman before being drafted in the 23rd round of the 1970 draft by the Pirates, at which point the club converted him from the infield to the outfield. Ott spent three seasons as an outfielder in the Pirates’ minor league system before the club once again asked him to change positions, this time moving him behind the plate.

While Ott had previously made his major league debut in 1974 as a bench bat with a brief two-game cameo in right field, he’d spend the next six seasons of his career as a catcher for the Pirates. After making just 10 trips to the plate across his first two big league seasons combined, Ott impressed in a 27 game stint as an emergency catcher behind injured backstops Manny Sanguillén and Duffy Dyer. While his playing time remained limited, Ott made the most of the opportunity by slashing .308/.349/.359, an above average slash for the era. That winter, the Pirates shipped Sanguillén to the A’s as compensation for hiring away manager Chuck Tanner, a deal that opened the door for Ott to take on primary catcing duties in the 1977 season.

In his first season as a major league regular, Ott performed well with a respectable .264/.334/.395 slash line in 347 trips to the plate across 104 games while spending 712 2/3 innings behind the plate. That combination of reliability behind the plate and roughly league average offense continued for the rest of Ott’s time with the Pirates, as he slashed .268/.316/.383 across the next three seasons while appearing in at least 112 games during each season. Ott is most famous for his role as a key piece on Pittsburgh’s 1979 team, which won 98 games before sweeping the Reds in the NLCS and being crowned World Series champions after beating the Orioles in a seven-game set. It’s the fifth and most recent championship in franchise history. Ott went 7-for-25 during that postseason, knocking in three runs during the World Series and scoring the game-winning run against Baltimore in Game 2.

Ott’s time in Pittsburgh came to an end following the 1980 season when he was traded to the then-California Angels alongside southpaw Mickey Mahler in exchange for All Star first baseman Jason Thompson. Ott appeared in 75 games for the Angels in 1981, though he batted just .217 with .545 OPS before undergoing surgery on his rotator cuff that winter, causing him to miss the 1982 campaign. Ott spent the next two seasons in the Angels’ minor league system before retiring in 1984. Following his playing career, Ott went on to serve as a minor league manager in the Pirates organization and a big league coach with the Astros and Tigers.

We at MLBTR join the rest of the baseball world in sending our condolences to Ott’s family, friends, loved ones, and former teammates and colleagues around the league.

Angels Stretching Jose Soriano Out As Starter

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The Angels will build José Soriano up as a starting pitcher in camp, manager Ron Washington announced this morning (link via Rhett Bollinger of MLB.com). The right-hander is scheduled to start tomorrow’s matchup with the D-Backs, in which he’ll throw three innings.

Soriano is going into his second big league season. He pitched exclusively out of the bullpen as a rookie, logging 42 innings across 38 appearances. Soriano was one of the team’s better relievers, working to a 3.64 ERA. He punched out 30.3% of opposing hitters behind an excellent 14.8% swinging strike rate. Over half the batted balls he did allow were hit on the ground.

While his MLB work was in relief, Soriano had a track record of starting in the minors. He worked from the rotation into Low-A ball in 2019. Prospect evaluators considered the 6’3″ hurler an intriguing starting pitching prospect at that time, but injuries wrecked his next three seasons.

Soriano blew out his elbow in Spring Training 2020 and underwent Tommy John surgery. The Angels left him off the 40-man roster despite being eligible for the Rule 5 draft. Pittsburgh selected him with the first pick in that winter’s Rule 5 proceeding, aiming to stash him on the injured list while he completed his rehab.

That netted Soriano big league pay and service time but not the major league opportunity for which he’d been hoping. He felt recurring elbow pain during his minor league rehab and required a second Tommy John procedure that June. Pittsburgh sent him back to the Angels that winter instead of carrying him on the 40-man roster for a second rehab. Soriano missed almost all of 2022, only throwing 13 low minors innings on his rehab.

With almost three full seasons wrecked by elbow injuries, using Soriano in relief last year was prudent. He stayed healthy and was able to tally 65 1/3 frames between Double-A and the majors. The organization evidently hasn’t given up hope of him as a starter over the long haul. They’ll at least give him the chance to compete for a rotation role in camp.

The Angels aren’t alone in that regard. Teams like the Braves (Reynaldo López), Giants (Jordan Hicks), White Sox (Garrett Crochet) and Rays (Chris Devenski) have at least considered rotation roles for former relievers this spring. Tampa Bay has been particularly successful with this kind of move in recent years, moving each of Drew Rasmussen, Jeffrey Springs and Zack Littell from bullpen to rotation jobs.

Of course, injuries suffered by Rasmussen and Springs hint at the downside. Some pitchers (e.g. Jameson Taillon, Nathan Eovaldi) have stuck as starters despite having two Tommy John surgeries in their past. It’s not particularly common, though, so Soriano’s injury history could lead to questions about whether he’d hold up as starter. He’d at least be on an innings limitation in 2024. Soriano has never thrown more than 82 1/3 innings in a professional season. The Angels aren’t going to ask him to make 30 starts this year.

There’s also simply the question of whether Soriano has the command to stick. While he’s capable of overpowering hitters, he walked more than 12% of batters faced a year ago. He’d need to improve upon that as a starter, with the Angels hoping he can dial in his command as he gets further from the three-year layoff. Soriano worked mostly with a mid-80s curveball and a pair of upper 90s fastballs (sinker/four-seam) in relief. His breaking ball is already one of the best in the majors, but he didn’t use a changeup at any point in 2023.

The Angels have built this offseason around their bullpen. They’ve added Robert Stephenson, Luis García, Adam Cimber, Matt Moore and José Cisnero in free agency. The Halos haven’t directly addressed the rotation, although their volume approach to the bullpen could increase their comfort in giving Soriano a real chance to crack the starting five.

Washington has made clear the Halos will go with a five-man rotation in the post-Shohei Ohtani era. Barring a late addition from outside the organization, they’re set to go with Reid Detmers, Patrick Sandoval, Griffin Canning and likely Tyler Anderson as the top four. Soriano joins Chase Silseth, Zach Plesac, José Suarez and another potential rotation convert Andrew Wantz in the battle for the last spot.

Angels Notes: Wantz, Stephenson, Suarez

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The Angels are stretching reliever Andrew Wantz out as a starter this spring, manager Ron Washington revealed today in chatting with the team’s beat writers (X link via The Athletic’s Sam Blum). The 28-year-old righty has worked almost exclusively as a reliever dating back to the 2021 season, but the Halos feel they need more rotation depth than they have at present, per Washington.

Wantz has been a frequent contributor in the Anaheim bullpen in each of the past three seasons, posting particularly solid results in 2022-23. Over the last two big league campaigns, he’s totaled 89 1/3 frames and worked to a 3.51 ERA, albeit with more dubious underlying numbers.

Wantz sports a roughly average 23.4% strikeout rate in that time but has walked just under 10% of his opponents and averaged 1.2 big flies per nine frames. He’s had some good fortune on balls in play (.232 BABIP), although as an extreme fly-ball pitcher, he’s more apt to carry a lower-than-average mark in that regard. Fielding-independent metrics like FIP (4.32) and SIERA (4.17) feel he’s been solid but perhaps not quite to the extent his ERA would suggest.

While Wantz is no stranger to working multiple innings — he had 11 appearances lasting two innings in 2023 — he’s never pitched more than 2 1/3 innings in a single big league outing. The transition won’t be entirely foreign to him, given he made 18 minor league starts during the 2019 season, but it’s been a good while since he’s been tasked with working in longer stints.

Of course, if the Angels are truly concerned about their rotation depth, there are some rather straightforward ways to address that need. The free agent market is still rife with options, including top names like Blake Snell and Jordan Montgomery, in addition to solid mid-rotation/back-end arms like Mike Clevinger and Michael Lorenzen. There are a handful of rebound candidates who could likely be had on low-cost one-year or even minor league deals, including Eric Lauer, Jake Odorizzi and Johnny Cueto (among others).

From a payroll vantage point, the Angels should be able to accommodate just about anyone — even Snell or Montgomery. After opening the 2023 season with a payroll north of $212MM, they’re projected for a $173.4MM mark, per RosterResource. The Angels are also nearly $50MM shy of the first tier of luxury penalization, so they could accommodate either a long-term deal or a short-term, high-AAV deal with multiple opt-out opportunities, depending on the preferences of Snell/Montgomery. Moving further down the free agent pecking order, someone like Lorenzen or Clevinger could be signed without pushing payroll anywhere close to record levels.

Historically speaking, however, Angels owner Arte Moreno has steadfastly refused to commit long-term deals to pitchers. As shown in MLBTR’s Contract Tracker, last year’s three-year, $39MM deal with Tyler Anderson was the first time the Halos inked a free agent pitcher to a multi-year deal since Joe Blanton’s two-year deal in 2012. You’d have to go way back to C.J. Wilson in 2011 to find the last time the Halos went more than three years on a pitcher.

The Angels haven’t eschewed spending entirely, but they’ve once again focused their free agent efforts on the bullpen. That’s been a familiar trend for the Angels in recent years. Already this offseason, they’ve committed a combined a combined $50.6MM to Robert Stephenson, Matt Moore, Adam Cimber, Luis Garcia, Jose Cisnero and Adam Kolarek. Dating back to the 2021-22 offseason, the Angels have given out 13 big league deals to free-agent relievers — including five multi-year pacts (topped by Raisel Iglesias’ four-year, $58MM deal).

It’s been a questionable strategy for them, given the team’s results over the years. And this year’s group is already off to a somewhat dubious start. As Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register reports, Stephenson — who signed a three-year, $33MM deal this winter — is dealing with shoulder soreness and is behind schedule in camp. The right-hander believes he’ll be able to pitch at some point this spring but might not be ready for Opening Day.

It’s a suboptimal start to his Angels tenure after the team made a weighty three-year investment on the heels of Stephenson’s four-month breakout with the Rays. The hard-throwing righty was long viewed as an interesting prospect and has had flashes of excellence in his big league career. He’d never put together any kind of run like he did with Tampa Bay last year, though.

After being acquired from the Pirates in a trade sending infielder Alika Williams to Pittsburgh, Stephenson snapped off 38 1/3 innings of 2.35 ERA ball with a gaudy 42.9% strikeout rate against just a 5.7% walk rate. Beyond the eye-popping strikeout rate, Stephenson posted a superhuman 28.9% swinging-strike rate (nearly triple the 11.1% league average) and induced chases on pitches off the plate at a stunning 47.2% clip that topped the league-average 31.9% rate by nearly 16 percentage points.

The Angels are surely envisioning Stephenson as a critical part of their high-leverage relief corps, but word of an early shoulder issue that’s slowed his progression is obviously somewhat ominous. To this point, there’s no indication of a serious issue, but given the magnitude of the team’s investment in the righty, it’s understandable if the Halos want to proceed with caution. Stephenson played catch yesterday and felt good after throwing, Fletcher notes.

Stephenson isn’t the only pitcher in camp who’s a bit banged up. Washington also revealed today (via Fletcher) that lefty Jose Suarez hasn’t pitched yet due to a “dead arm” following winter ball. He’s expected to get on the mound at some point this spring and could yet be ready for Opening Day, but that’s not a given.

It’s a tough way to start a pivotal spring for the 26-year-old Suarez. As recently as 2021-22, he looked the part of a controllable fourth starter who could hold a rotation spot in Anaheim for several years. The 2023 season was an unmitigated disaster for the southpaw, however. Shoulder trouble limited him to just 33 2/3 big league innings (plus another 3 1/3 frames of rehab work), and he was shelled for an 8.29 ERA in that time. Suarez served up a massive ten home runs in that small sample (2.67 HR/9), saw his strikeout rate plummet from 22.3% to 17%, and watched his walk rate spike from 7.1% to 12.1%.

A 2024 rebound for Suarez is particularly critical, given that he’s now out of minor league options. If he opens the season on the injured list, that’d actually give the Angels a few weeks to take a look at Suarez in the minors on a rehab assignment, but whenever he’s healthy, he’ll either need to be on the big league roster or else be traded to a team who’ll carry him or exposed to outright waivers.

Angels Release Francisco Mejia From Minor League Deal

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The Angels released catcher Francisco Mejia from his minor league deal today, as noted by Sam Blum of The Athletic. Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register adds that, according to manager Ron Washington, the club decided to part ways with Mejia after deciding they want to offer their young catchers additional at-bats and hoped to allow Mejia the opportunity to catch on with another club by releasing him early in Spring Training.

Mejia, 28, was once a consensus top-30 prospect in the game and was a key piece in two major trade deals in recent memory: the deadline swap that shipped relievers Brad Hand and Adam Cimber from San Diego to Cleveland and the more famous blockbuster that saw the Padres acquire Blake Snell from the Rays just months after the club secured the 2020 AL pennant. At the time of his arrival in Tampa, Mejia had made just 362 trips to the plate throughout his four years in the majors, slashing just .225/.282/.386 during that time. That unimpressive slash line didn’t stop the Rays from installing Mejia as their primary catcher, however.

Upon getting playing time behind the plate in Tampa, Mejia took a step forward to become a roughly league average hitter behind the plate, slashing .251/.292/.397 in 576 trips to the plate between the 2021 and ’22 seasons, though that 95 wRC+ combined with generally negative reviews for his glove work behind the plate made him more of an average regular than the potential star his prospect pedigree once suggested. Even that level of production proved unsustainable for Mejia in 2023, however. Mejia split time with Christian Bethancourt behind the plate throughout the first half last year, though he struggled to a .227/.258/.400 slash line in 50 games before his time with the big league Rays came to an abrupt end in late July due to an MCL sprain.

While Mejia managed to return in mid-July, by that point his role on the Rays had been taken over by youngster Rene Pinto, leaving the Rays to outright Mejia off the 40-man roster. He finished out the season at the Triple-A level, hitting a solid .293/.324/.525 in 105 trips to the plate at the level before electing free agency at the start of the offseason. His first trip through free agency brought him to the Angels, where he entered camp as the likely third catcher on the club’s depth chart behind Logan O’Hoppe and Matt Thaiss. Based on Washington’s recent comments, however, it appears the Halos are comfortable with fellow non-roster invitee Chad Wallach as a veteran depth option behind the plate and hope to offer the likes of Caleb Hamilton and Zach Humphreys opportunities during camp.

That’s left Mejia in search of a job for the second time this offseason, though it’s unlikely he’ll remain on the open market for long. Teams are always looking for veteran catching depth on minor league deals given the unique demands of the position, and Mejia’s previous prospect pedigree and past success as a regular with the Rays figure to make him one of the more attractive depth options at the position available in free agency at this stage of the winter.

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