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Matt Moore

Marlins Designate Chi Chi González For Assignment

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The Marlins have designated right-hander Chi Chi González for assignment, per Daniel Álvarez-Montes of El Extrabase. His active roster spot will go to left-hander Matt Moore, who was claimed off waivers from the Guardians yesterday.

González, 31, signed a minor league deal with the Marlins in the offseason has been called upon a couple of times this year to help out a beleaguered bullpen. He was selected to the roster in May and was designated for assignment just over a week later after making two appearances. He cleared waivers and stayed with the organization, returning to the big leagues just a few days ago. He pitched an inning against Atlanta on Sunday, allowing two earned runs, and has now been bumped off the roster again.

Over those two stints, he has thrown 3 2/3 innings in the majors this year with a 7.36 ERA, as well as a 6.07 ERA in 121 2/3 innings at the Triple-A level. For his career, he’s tossed 288 1/3 innings in the big leagues with a 5.68 ERA, 13.5% strikeout rate, 9.4% walk rate and 42.6% ground ball rate.

The Marlins will place the righty on waivers in the coming days. Players with over three years of service or a previous career outright can elect free agency instead of accepting an outright assignment. González qualifies on both counts but may elect to stick with the Fish in the event that he clears, since that’s what he chose back in May and there’s so little time left in the season.

Marlins Claim Matt Moore From Guardians

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3:09pm: The Marlins have recalled Tommy Nance from Triple-A and placed him on the 60-day injured list, thus opening up a 40-man roster spot for Matt Moore, reports Jordan McPherson of the Miami Herald. The 32-year-old Nance last appeared for Triple-A Jacksonville on September 6, and he has not appeared in a major league game since last October.

1:35pm: The Marlins have claimed left-hander Matt Moore off waivers from the Guardians, reports Jeff Passan of ESPN. It’s the second waiver claim in recent weeks for Moore, who just went from the Angels to the Guardians at the end of August. He won’t be eligible to play in the postseason for the Marlins but will give their bullpen a boost for the final weeks of the regular season.

Moore, 34, has had an up-and-down career as a starting pitching but recently underwent a bullpen renaissance. He posted a 1.95 earned run average with the Rangers last year and parlayed that into a one-year, $7.55MM contract with the Angels. His ERA has ticked up a bit this year, but is still quite good at 2.77. He’s striking out 28.5% of opponents and walking just 7%.

He’s now set to join his third club of the year, which says more about his teams than anything he is doing. The Angels hovered around contention through the summer and decided to go for it at the deadline, holding onto Shohei Ohtani as well as giving up prospects for players like Lucas Giolito, Reynaldo López and others. But they then suffered a miserable August, losing both games and players. They fell back in the standings as Mike Trout was unable to get healthy in the wake of his hamate surgery, while Ohtani suffered a tear of his ulnar collateral ligament that kept him from pitching.

Ohtani would also suffer an oblique injury in September that stopped him from hitting as well, but that was after the club had already waved the white flag on the season, putting six players on waivers at the end of August. Since the trade deadline had already passed and each player was an impending free agent, the Angels were hoping other clubs would grab them and take on their contracts, allowing the club to save some money and dip under the luxury tax.

Moore was one of those players and he was claimed by the Guardians along with Giolito and López. It was a bit of a surprising landing spot, as that club has generally shied away from significant spending and were sporting a record of 64-70 at the time. But in the weak American League Central, they were actually only five games back of the division-leading Twins and decided to take a shot. By grabbing those three pitchers, they added roughly $3.727MM to their payroll but hopefully increased their odds of chasing down Minnesota.

But it now seems that they are following the Angels and waving their own white flag, having fallen to seven games back of the Twins with now less than two weeks left to play. It wasn’t known prior to this report that Moore was on waivers, but it seems the Guards put him on the wire with the hope of shaving off some of that money they took on. Moore is still owed about $529K for the remainder of the season.

It seems the Marlins consider that to be an acceptable expense for a handful of games from Moore. Since he is being acquired after the September 1 cutoff date, he won’t be able to pitch for them in the postseason, making this a very temporary bullpen upgrade. But unlike the Angels and Guardians, their season is still very much alive. The National League Wild Card race is extremely tight right now, with the Phillies in the top spot but a tangled mess beneath them. The Diamondbacks, Cubs, Reds and Marlins are all within one game of each other, with the Giants just a game and a half back of that pack. While all those clubs want to win, the Marlins are arguably the most motivated. Leaving aside the shortened 2020 season, they haven’t finished above .500 since 2009 and haven’t been in the playoffs since 2003.

Miami’s relievers have a collective ERA of 4.19 on the year, which places them 18th. It’s also been a bit worse of late, with a 4.45 ERA since the start of August. Adding in Moore will hopefully give the group a bit of a boost, though it’s not really about his left-handedness. The club already has four strong southpaw options in the bullpen but the Marlins seem to have decided they are willing to put some cash on the barrel in the hopes of squeezing out any possible upgrade, with the importance of each game magnified down the stretch.

Guardians Claim Lucas Giolito, Reynaldo Lopez, Matt Moore

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In a swift retooling of the pitching staff, the Guardians have claimed right-handers Lucas Giolito and Reynaldo Lopez and lefty Matt Moore off waivers from the Angels, Jeff Passan and Kiley McDaniel of ESPN report. It’s a sudden, jarring final push to salvage a postseason appearance by Cleveland — one that would have seemed impossible just 72 hours ago.

The Angels’ decision to place roughly a quarter of their roster on waivers — Hunter Renfroe, Randal Grichuk and Dominic Leone all hit waivers on Tuesday as well — stunned the industry, though the rationale behind it is at least sound. The Angels aggressively pushed for a postseason berth at the deadline, acquiring Giolito, Lopez, Grichuk and C.J. Cron, but have since lost two-thirds of their games and fallen from postseason contention in a stacked AL West. (Somewhat amusingly, their 64-70 record is the same as the Guardians, though the AL Central is the sport’s weakest division.)

That slate of trades pushed the Halos over the luxury tax threshold, which would reduce their draft compensation in the event that Shohei Ohtani signs elsewhere after rejecting a qualifying offer. They’d also face steeper penalties in 2024 in the event that they exceeded the tax barrier next year. But, by waiving this slate of players and seeing each of Giolito, Lopez, Moore, Renfroe (Reds) and Leone (Mariners) all come off the books, the Angels will duck back under the tax threshold. Their theoretical comp pick for Ohtani’s departure would come prior to the third round of the draft rather than between the fourth and fifth rounds. They also won’t face any escalating penalties in the event that they wind up as a luxury tax payor next season.

It’s a bad look for MLB to see such a brazenly non-competitive move by a team that just four weeks ago energized its fanbase and clubhouse with a bold win-now push. At the same time, the Angels can’t really be faulted for the decision at this juncture, given the manner in which things have played out. They’re merely taking advantage of the rules that have been collectively bargained between the league and the Players Association. None of the players they waived would’ve been eligible or considered for a qualifying offer anyhow, so there’s quite literally no incentive for the Angels to hold onto them and strong incentive for them to engage in this tactic now that their playoff hopes are all but mathematically dashed.

While Major League Baseball perhaps ought to look into ways to prevent mass roster purges of this nature in future Augusts, there’s little to be done about it now — and the Guardians stand to benefit. Cleveland has spent the entirety of the year looking up at the Twins in the American League Central standings, and after taking two of three from Minnesota in their just-completed series now faces only a five-game deficit. It’s worth wondering what might’ve happened if the Twins had swept or at least won the series — Minnesota was within one strike of winning yesterday’s game, but the bullpen couldn’t hold the lead — though perhaps Cleveland would’ve made the claims even if facing a six- or seven-game deficit.

A firm answer to that hypothetical probably can’t ever be known, but it’s a moot point anyhow; the Guardians’ comeback win yesterday brought them within striking distance of the Twins in the division, and they’ll now add three high-caliber arms to their pitching staff. Giolito, of course, is the most notable of the bunch and perhaps the most vital, given the extent of the pitching injuries that have ravaged the Cleveland rotation this year. Each of Shane Bieber, Triston McKenzie and Cal Quantrill has been out more seven weeks. The Guardians, acknowledging that their playoff hopes had slipped, traded Aaron Civale to the Rays prior to the deadline.

Giolito joins a rookie-laden rotation, adding a veteran arm to stand alongside the impressive trio of Tanner Bibee, Gavin Williams and Logan Allen. The expectation is that Quantrill will soon be ready to join that group, and the club has also expressed optimism that Bieber could return late in the month.

While the 2023 season has been Giolito’s worst in recent memory, that’s largely due to poor results with the team that just waived him. After pitching to a 3.79 ERA with a 25.8% strikeout rate and 8.3% walk rate in 121 innings with the White Sox, Giolito was torched for a 6.89 ERA with worse strikeout (22.8%) and walk (10.3%) rates as a member of the Halos. Most dramatically, an already too-high home run rate of 1.49 per nine innings pitched spiked to 2.76 as an Angel.

Looking at Giolito’s track record as a whole, however, it’s easy enough to see why he was claimed by several teams (the others all having lower waiver priority than Cleveland). Dating back to 2019, Giolito sports a 3.99 ERA in 743 innings. His strikeout rate has dipped over the past two seasons, but he’s still averaging 93-94 mph on his heater, punching out about a quarter of his opponents, and has generally shown good command throughout his MLB career. The Cy Young-caliber breakout many expected perhaps never came, but Giolito is a durable mid-rotation arm who misses bats, limits walks and is a playoff-caliber arm.

Meanwhile, an already excellent Cleveland bullpen will now add two formidable arms in Lopez and Moore. Guardians relievers already rank fifth in the Majors with a 3.48 ERA, and the addition of two veterans just in time for rosters to expand will put them in the conversation for best relief corps in baseball.

Lopez, 29, is one of MLB’s hardest throwers, averaging a blistering 98.4 mph on his heater this year. He’s seen his previously strong command erode in 2023, walking a career-worst 12.6% of his opponents, but he’s also fanning a career-best 29.8% of hitters and boasting a career-high 14.1% swinging-strike rate. In 55 innings of relief, the former top prospect has a 3.93 ERA. Lopez is limiting hard contact at the best levels of his career as well and throwing his blazing fastball more often than ever before — generally at the expense of his third and fourth pitches (curveball, changeup). He’s primarily been a fastball/slider pitcher this year, and while the results have been a bit mixed, he’ll add a power arm capable of missing bats in droves to Terry Francona’s bullpen.

Moore, meanwhile, gives Francona a second lefty alongside Sam Hentges. The 34-year-old has found new life in his career since moving to a full-time relief role last year. He’s pitched 44 innings for the Angels in 2023, working to a 2.66 ERA with a career-high 28% strikeout rate and a very strong 6.9% walk rate.

Once the game’s consensus top pitching prospect, Moore impressed early on with the Rays before Tommy John surgery derailed his career. The left-hander never seemed to fully recover. After pitching to a 3.53 ERA from 2011-14, he missed most of the 2014-15 seasons recovering from that surgery, and posted a 5.26 ERA over his next 620 2/3 innings post-surgery.

Moore had a one-year stop in Japan along the way and pitched fairly well there, but it wasn’t until signing a minor league deal with Texas last year that he became a pitcher of note at the big league level again. Moore’s 1.95 ERA set the stage for a $7.55MM deal with the Angels this year, and he’s now logged a combined 2.21 ERA in his career’s second act as a late-inning reliever.

All in all, it’s a borderline unheard-of boon to a Major League pitching staff at this stage of a season — and all it will cost the Guardians is the collective $3.727MM that remain on the trio’s 2023 contracts. Each of Giolito, Moore and Lopez will be a free agent after the season, and the Guardians won’t receive any compensation if and when they enter free agency. They’re still a long shot to erase that five-game gap in the standings, particularly with the Twins still having series against the A’s, Rockies, White Sox, Mets and a now-depleted Angels team. But the Guardians were presented an opportunity to do everything they could to boost their slim playoff odds, and just like the Angels did one month ago, they took their shot.

The Best Fits For Matt Moore, Reynaldo López, Dominic Leone, José Cisnero

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Yesterday saw a flurry of players placed on waivers, with the Angels making six players available to other clubs, while the Yankees, White Sox, Mets and Tigers also got in on the act. What those clubs all have in common is that their chances of competing this year are effectively gone, meaning that impending free agents that aren’t qualifying offer candidates have little use to them at this point. Since the trade deadline passed by a month ago, those clubs have no ability to exchange those players for any kind of younger talent, a player to be named later or even cash considerations. But by placing them on waivers, they could perhaps see another team put in a claim and take on the remainder of the salary commitments. For a claiming team, this is perhaps their best way of upgrading their roster after the deadline. As long as the player is acquired prior to September 1, they would be playoff eligible. That’s why all of this is happening now.

Before digging in, let’s clarify the process. This is different than the revocable kind of waivers that existed under the now-defunct August waiver trade system. These waivers are irrevocable, meaning that the players will be gone if any club puts in a claim. But the players have not been designated for assignment nor released. If they are not claimed, they can simply stay on the roster of their current club. Waiver priority will be in reverse order of the standings at the time of the claim and is not league-specific.

MLBTR is breaking it down by position, with this post focusing on the relievers. Let’s start with an overview of who is in that bucket.

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Matt Moore, Angels, LHP: $7.55MM salary, approximately $1.3M remaining

Moore, 34, had his ups and downs as a starter but he recently converted to relief work full-time and has been excellent since then. He had a 1.95 ERA with the Rangers last year and is at 2.30 with the Angels this year, coming into today’s action. In both seasons, he struck out more than 27% of opponents. His ground ball rate has fallen from last year, 43.9% to 34.3%, but he’s cut his walk rate from 12.5% to 7.1%. He has the highest salary of this group but has the best numbers and is the only lefty.

Reynaldo López, Angels, RHP: $3.625M salary, approximately $623K remaining

López, 29, was fairly mediocre as a starter but has been much better since his bullpen move, with a 2.76 ERA last year and 3.86 mark this year. He has bumped his strikeout rate this year from last year’s 24.8% rate to 30.7%, though his walk rate also jumped from 4.3% to 12.1%. He’s been the best of the righties on this list and his salary is about half of Moore’s.

Dominic Leone, Angels, RHP: $1.5MM salary, approximately $258K remaining

Leone, 31, has been fairly inconsistent in his career. He has three seasons with an ERA under 2.57 but also three above 6.32. This year, he’s in between at 4.64 while striking out 24% of opponents and walking 10.9%. He’s not having a dominant season but he had a 1.51 ERA as recently as 2021 and has the lightest salary of anyone on this list.

José Cisnero, Tigers, RHP: $2.2875MM salary, approximately $393K remaining

Cisnero, 34, had an incredible 1.08 ERA last year, though with some unsustainable elements in a .242 BABIP and 88.6% strand rate. This year, the wheel of fortune has spun him around the other way, with a .343 BABIP and 66% strand rate. That’s pushed his ERA to 5.36, a huge jump of more than four runs compared to last year. But his FIP, which takes those luck factors into account, went from 3.67 to 4.38. He has a 25.2% strikeout rate and 9% walk rate this year.

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Now that we’ve covered the process and the players available, who makes sense to put in a claim? We can start by crossing out all of the non-contending clubs. They have no need to pick up an impending free agent and his salary as they play out the string on a lost season.

Since the waiver order goes from the bottom of the standings towards the top, the fringe contenders will have a greater chance of a successful claim than teams at the top of the standings. Those teams will have to decide whether they want to add some salary to their books in order to obtain a marginal bullpen upgrade for the final month of the season.

The Padres have been on the edges of the playoff race all year but refused to sell off impending free agents like Blake Snell and Josh Hader and even added players like Garrett Cooper and Rich Hill. But they are still 7.5 games back of a Wild Card spot and their playoff odds are dwindling. The financials are also important as both Roster Resource and Cot’s Baseball Contracts have them between the third and fourth CBT threshold. As a third-time payor, that means they are paying a 95% tax on any cash they take on. Given their place in the standings and their financial ledger, it seems like a long shot they would be involved here.

The Red Sox love to cycle through players at the back of their bullpen, frequently making small trades or minor league signings for depth. But they are now 6.5 games back of a playoff spot with the Blue Jays in between. Speaking of the Jays, they are 3.5 games out of a playoff spot but their bullpen is already quite strong. Their relievers have a collective ERA of 3.48, the fourth-best mark in the majors. Rosters expand in a couple of days but they have Chad Green rehabbing and nearing a return from last year’s Tommy John surgery.

The Marlins are three games back of a playoff spot and will certainly be motivated to gain ground, having not made the playoffs in a full season since 2003. Their bullpen has been shaky of late, especially with deadline acquisition David Robertson posting a 7.20 ERA since coming over from the Mets and getting bumped from the closer’s role. Bob Nightengale of USA Today reports that the club is expected to put in a claim on at least one of the Angels’ relievers, though the typically-frugal club might be hesitant to take on some of the larger salaries listed above.

The Braves are last in the waiver priority list and already have one of the best bullpens in the league, making it less likely they will grab someone from this group. The Mariners have enough bullpen depth that they could flip Paul Sewald prior to the deadline and still thrive. The Phillies already have a strong bullpen and are in the second CBT tier and set to be a second-time payor.

As for the clubs that make good sense, there are plenty, as just about any contender could squeeze in a bullpen upgrade from a pure roster construction point of view. The Rangers, Astros, Cubs, Giants, Reds, Diamondbacks, Twins, Brewers, Orioles, Rays and Dodgers are each in postseason position or close to it, with another reliever being a sensible add.

The Rangers were leading their division for much of the year but have recently slid and are now in a cutthroat battle with the Astros and Mariners, with a few recent bullpen meltdowns part of the problem. They are already over the CBT but they have shown plenty of willingness to be aggressive in recent years. The Astros have a strong bullpen but it’s all right-handed, making Moore in particular a logical fit.

The Cubs love to build their bullpen via minor league deals and waiver claims, meaning they are surely intrigued. But Roster Resource and Cot’s have their CBT figure around $228MM, just a bit under the $233MM base threshold. Assuming those estimates are correct, they still have a bit of wiggle room, though those aren’t official. The Giants are one of the most creative clubs at patching together an improvised staff and could fit any of these guys into their budget if they are intrigued.

The Reds have a dynamic position player mix but a flimsy pitching staff that could use any help it can find. The Diamondbacks have a collective bullpen ERA of 4.71 that places them 25th in the majors. They added Sewald at the deadline but there’s room for further upgrades. The Twins’ bullpen is middle-of-the-pack and they are almost a lock for a playoff spot at this point, giving them incentive to further bolster the staff for October. The Brewers have a decent bullpen but have struggled to find second reliable lefty alongside Hoby Milner, which could perhaps lead to them claiming Moore.

The O’s have had a good relief group overall but it’s been a top-heavy unit headlined by Félix Bautista, who now has an injury of some sort to his UCL. The Rays have dealt with a mountain of injuries this year and aren’t shy about cycling through arms in their bullpen throughout the year. The Dodgers have been similarly bit by the injury bug, though these clubs are towards the back of the waiver line and will have to settle for the arms that the others pass on.

Angels Place Lucas Giolito, Matt Moore, Reynaldo López, Hunter Renfroe, Randal Grichuk On Waivers

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In a stunning development, the Angels have waved the white flag on their season, placing starter Lucas Giolito, relievers Matt Moore and Reynaldo López, and outfielders Hunter Renfroe and Randal Grichuk on waivers, according to Jeff Passan of ESPN. Each player is an impending free agent and the Angels are apparently hoping to save some money by having some or all of them claimed off waivers while simultaneously allowing the players to join playoff contenders before the September 1 cutoff. Dominic Leone is also on the list, per Bob Nightengale of USA Today.

The Halos also placed starter Tyler Anderson on waivers last week, reports Joel Sherman of the New York Post (on Twitter). He went unclaimed and elected to stick with the Halos. That no one took Anderson on is hardly a surprise. He’s only in the first season of a three-year, $39MM free agent contract that hasn’t gone well in year one. In 117 2/3 innings, the veteran southpaw has a 5.35 ERA.

The Angels have been making a strong push to contend in recent years, trying to put a competitive ballclub around their superstars Shohei Ohtani and Mike Trout. Part of their offseason upgrades included signing Moore and trading for Renfroe. The club hovered around contention through the trade deadline, deciding to hang onto Ohtani as well as making further additions, including Giolito, López and Grichuk.

Unfortunately, just about everything has gone wrong in the month of August, with the club having posted a record of 7-18 so far this month. As if that weren’t enough, Ohtani was diagnosed with a tear in the ulnar collateral ligament of his throwing elbow, which will prevent him from pitching again this season. Trout, meanwhile, attempted to return from his hamate surgery despite still being sore but was in too much pain to continue and landed right back on the IL.

This brutal month has pushed the Angels’ record to 63-69, which leaves them 11.5 games back of a playoff spot. Calculations from both FanGraphs and Baseball Prospectus give the club no hope of coming back, making this a lost season. All six of the players reportedly on waivers are impending free agents, meaning they have no real use to the Angels now. The only player of the bunch that would warrant a qualifying offer, allowing the Angels to recoup draft pick compensation, would be Giolito but he’s ineligible to receive one since he was traded midseason.

Since the trade deadline passed four weeks ago, there’s no way for the Angels to exchange any of those players for any kind of future value. But by putting them on waivers, they at least give themselves a chance of saving some money. Giolito is making $10.4MM this year, without about $1.9MM left to be paid out. For Renfroe, those figures are $11.9MM and $2.18MM. For Moore, $7.55M and $1.38MM. López, $3.625MM and $633K. Leone is $1.5MM and $275K. Grichuk’s case is slightly more complicated since he’s making $9.33MM this year as part of the extension he signed with the Blue Jays, though that club is eating $4.33MM of that while the Rockies also sent some cash considerations is to the Angels when trading them Grichuk and C.J. Cron. There’s about $1.71MM left to be paid out though a claiming team wouldn’t be responsible for all of it.

Beyond the strict cash savings, dumping some salary will have luxury tax implications for the Angels. Roster Resource calculates the club’s competitive balance tax figure at $234.4MM, just $1.4MM over the base threshold of $233MM. Cot’s Baseball Contracts has them even farther over at $241.7MM. Both of those numbers are unofficial but highlight that the club is likely over the line by a small amount. The Angels are sure to make Ohtani a qualifying offer at season’s end and would receive draft pick compensation if he signed elsewhere. That compensation would be a pick just after the fourth round if they are a CBT payor but would move to just before the third round if they can dip below. That would roughly move the draft pick from around the 140th pick to the 75-80 range. Being a repeat payor also has escalating penalties, so avoiding paying the tax now could benefit the club if they decide to spend aggressively again next year.

In prior seasons, the July trade deadline was followed by a second deadline in August, though the latter portion required players to clear revocable waivers before being dealt. In 2019, MLB and the MLBPA agreed to a single deadline, with no trades allowed at all after the first deadline. There’s no longer any way for a club to make deals at this part of the calendar but players are still playoff eligible if they join an organization prior to September 1. That means they may find interest on the waiver wire, so long as the claiming club is willing to take on the salary of the player in question.

The waiver order goes in reverse order of standings, regardless of league. The previous August waiver trade system used to be league-specific but that’s no longer in place. As of today, the Athletics would have first dibs on any of these players, followed by the Royals, then the Rockies and so on, simply going from worst record to best, regardless of league. Of course, there’s little reason for those clubs out of contention to claim an impending free agent and take on their salary commitments. The claims are more likely to be made by clubs still hoping to make the playoffs, with those with worse records having a better chance of a successful claim than those at the top of the standings.

This will lead to some interesting calculations in the days to come. Many contending clubs have already spent the majority of the money they had allotted for the season, but will have to decide on whether it’s worthwhile to suddenly add another $1.9MM just for one month of Giolito to help with a stretch run, for example. He’s been inconsistent since joining the Angels but had a 3.79 ERA for the White Sox prior to the deal and has a longer track record of success, with a 3.86 ERA from 2019 to 2022.

Moore made a transition to the bullpen in recent years with excellent results, with a 1.95 ERA last year and 2.30 ERA this year. López is fairly similar, having gone from a fairly mediocre starter earlier in his career to effective reliever, including a 3.86 ERA this year. Renfroe’s production has been up-and-down, with a .240/.300/.480 batting line in his career but a lesser .239/.300/.425 showing this year. Grichuk is having another season with his blend of power but a subpar walk rate, slashing .261/.317/.435. Leone has struggled with control but has generally posted above-average strikeout rates.

For the players, they likely aren’t thrilled about being subject to the whims of the waiver wire, especially the ones who only just became Angels recently. But they will at least likely find themselves moving from a sinking ship to a contender in the coming days, giving them a chance to compete in a playoff race and perhaps get into the postseason.

As for the clubs considering a claim, this will be their best chance to bolster their rosters for the final month of the season, now that the deadline is long gone. It’s also possible that a new precedent has been set for the end of August, as it’s not just the Angels that have taken this tack. Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic has reported that Carlos Carrasco of the Mets, Mike Clevinger of the White Sox and José Cisnero of the Tigers have also been placed on waivers, while Erik Boland of Newsday first reported that Harrison Bader of the Yankees is also on the list.

Though the moves make some sense for the Angels, it’s undoubtedly a frustrating low point as the attempts to contend have repeatedly failed. They gave up several notable prospects to acquire some of these players just a few weeks ago and are now trying to give them away for little more than cost savings. They are now sure to finish the season without having made the playoffs since 2014 and could potentially watch Ohtani sign with a new club this winter.

Angels Select Trey Cabbage, Outright David Fletcher

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The Angels announced a number of moves before tonight’s game with the Astros. Los Angeles selected first baseman/corner outfielder Trey Cabbage, recalled infielder Michael Stefanic and reinstated Zach Neto and Matt Moore from the injured list.

In corresponding moves, the Halos placed Anthony Rendon, Jo Adell and Sam Bachman on the IL. All three placements are retroactive to July 11. The position players will be eligible to return a week from now, while Bachman is out until at least July 26. In a final transaction, infielder David Fletcher has already cleared waivers and was outrighted off the 40-man roster to clear a spot for Cabbage.

On the positive side, Cabbage gets his first MLB look. The left-handed hitter was a fourth round selection of the Twins out of a Tennessee high school back in 2015. He played in the Minnesota system through 2021, topping out at Double-A. After becoming a minor league free agent, he joined the Halos.

Cabbage has spent the entire season at Triple-A Salt Lake. He has demonstrated interesting physical tools, connecting on 23 home runs and stealing 24 bases in 84 games. Even in the Pacific Coast League, his .287/.358/.576 batting line is better than average. He and Adell share the league lead in homers, and he’s fifth among 68 PCL hitters (minimum 200 plate appearances) in slugging.

He’ll add a left-handed power bat to Phil Nevin’s bench. Cabbage has gone down on strikes at a lofty 31.3% clip in Triple-A and has posted elevated strikeout totals throughout his career. The swing-and-miss has kept him from reaching the majors before his 26th birthday, but the huge power production in the upper minors earns him a look.

Cabbage is the latest member of an Angels’ infield that has gone through numerous recent iterations. Injuries to Neto, Gio Urshela and Rendon led the club to acquire Mike Moustakas and Eduardo Escobar. Neto is back at shortstop tonight after a month-long absence because of an oblique strain. That pushes Andrew Velazquez to the bench, while Luis Rengifo draws in at third base.

Rendon is dealing with a left shin contusion after fouling a ball off his leg a week ago. He told reporters the injury hasn’t healed as hoped and declined to answer when asked if he was engaged in any baseball activities (via Sam Blum of the Athletic). Adell has a left oblique strain. Bachman has inflammation in his throwing shoulder; Nevin told reporters he’ll be shut down for a brief period but isn’t expected to require a long-term absence (relayed by Rhett Bollinger of MLB.com).

Neto’s return squeezed Fletcher off the roster for the second time this season. The Halos also ran him through waivers in April. They re-selected his contract in late June but sent him back down after 11 games. Fletcher has gotten into 19 MLB contests on the season, hitting .213/.245/.298. He’s been far better in Salt Lake, putting up a .383/.431/.478 slash with more walks than strikeouts over 197 plate appearances.

Fletcher is making $6MM this season and under contract for the same amount through 2025. The $24MM extension he’d signed two years ago has given him ample financial security but ensured the Angels can send him through waivers without losing him. No other team is going to assume that money on a claim.

The latest demotion is timed so that the Halos can keep Fletcher in the organization as a non-roster player. He entered the season 61 days shy of the five-year MLB service threshold. He has picked up around 39 more days this year. Players with over five years of service time can decline a minor league assignment while retaining their entire contract; those with between three and five years would need to forfeit their guaranteed money to do so. Fletcher certainly isn’t going to pass on the money remaining on his deal, so the preemptive outright before he gets to five service years will keep him in Salt Lake.

Los Angeles Notes: Dodgers, Kershaw, Drury, Moore

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The Dodgers could see a shake up in their middle infield following the All Star break. As noted by The Athletic’s Fabian Ardaya, manager Dave Roberts recently told reporters that the club could consider optioning second baseman Miguel Vargas to the minors as he looks to correct his ongoing struggles, noting that “everything is on the table.” While Vargas got off to a solid start in 2023, with a .240/.341/.432 slash line in his first 44 games, he’s been trending downward ever since then. Since May 21,  Vargas has slashed just .139/.250/.287 in 129 plate appearances. While a BABIP of just .158 during that time could explain Vargas’s woes, the 23 year old is also striking out at an elevated 24.8% rate, a major leap from the 17% rate he was punching out over the season’s first two months.

Of course, the Dodgers have struggled to find production in the middle infield this season. Those issues have resulted in the club using outfielder Mookie Betts up the middle more often than usual. After appearing in just 15 games at second base during his first three seasons in LA, Betts has appeared at the keystone in 22 games this season while also recording 16 appearances at shortstop, a position he had never played in the majors prior to 2023. Those depth issues could be alleviated somewhat in the near future, however, as Roberts told reporters (including Mike DiGiovanna of the LA Times) that utility man Chris Taylor will be activated from the injured list following the All Star break. Taylor, who has ample experience all around the infield and outfield, could add another option in addition to Betts the club can utilize both on the infield dirt and the outfield grass.

More from MLB’s LA teams…

  • Sticking with the Dodgers, Roberts told reporters (including Ardaya) that veteran ace Clayton Kershaw was feeling good after throwing a few pitches off the mound earlier today. The club has yet to decide whether or not Kershaw will return when first eligible on July 15, though Roberts previously expressed confidence Kershaw’s stint on the shelf would be a short one. The 2023 campaign has been another fantastic season for Kershaw as the lefty has posted a 2.55 ERA and 3.54 FIP in 95 1/3 innings of work. That inning total puts Kershaw on pace to easily surpass his innings totals from the past three seasons, during which he topped out with last year’s 126 1/3 figure.
  • Angels infielder Brandon Drury is still struggling with shoulder woes after landing on the injured list with a shoulder contusion last week. Manager Phil Nevin told reporters (including MLB.com’s Rhett Bollinger) that an MRI on Drury’s shoulder revealed nothing but inflammation, indicating the infielder had avoided major injury. Drury will receive a cortisone shot and be re-evaluated after the All Star break. Drury’s absence is one of multiple key losses the Angels have suffered recently. Anthony Rendon hasn’t played since Tuesday after fouling a ball off his shin while Mike Trout, Zack Neto, and Gio Urshela have all landed on the shelf in recent weeks.
  • In more positive Angels news, Bollinger notes that left-hander Matt Moore threw 20 pitches to live hitters today, later telling reporters that he felt great afterwards. Moore’s return would be a major boost to the Anaheim bullpen, as the 34-year-old veteran posted a sterling 1.44 ERA in 25 innings this season prior to his placement on the IL at the end of May. While Moore’s been on the shelf, the club has relief on Chris Devenski and Jose Soriano alongside closer Carlos Estevez in the late innings.

West Notes: Campusano, San Jose, Urquidy, Moore

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Padres catcher Luis Campusano is making notable progress in his rehab from a sprained left thumb. As Jeff Sanders of the San Diego Union-Tribune notes, Campusano hit on the field prior to today’s game against the Nationals before catching a bullpen session for right-hander Yu Darvish. As noted by MLB.com, manager Bob Melvin considered today’s steps forward “significant” as Campusano continues his rehab process, but the club has not yet set a timeline for the catcher to begin a rehab assignment.

Campusano appeared in just seven games this season prior to going on the injured list, leaving much of the catching duties to Austin Nola, who’s struggled to a brutal .144/.263/.195 slash line this season. More recently, the Padres have learned on in-season addition Gary Sanchez behind the plate. In 80 plate appearances since arriving in San Diego, Sanchez has slashed .206/.275/.521 with a wRC+ of 114 while grading out as a roughly average defensive catcher. Still, Campusano’s eventual return figures to give the Padres insurance if Sanchez’s production takes a turn for the worse and an alternative to Nola as the second catcher on the roster.

More from around MLB’s western divisions…

  • As reported by John Shea of the San Francisco Chronicle, San Jose mayor Matt Mahan and four previous mayors of the city have issued a letter to commissioner Rob Manfred pleading the city’s case for an MLB expansion or relocation team. In the letter, the mayors argue that San Jose presents a unique opportunity for MLB considering its population, annual GDP, and its relationship with major tech companies. As Shea notes, the Giants currently have territorial rights over San Jose following an agreement between San Francisco and Oakland in 1990. That agreement was a major factor in the failure of a bid by the Athletics to move to San Jose back in 2013. While the idea of San Jose as a potential expansion team location farfetched considering MLB’s decision to support the Giants in their dispute with the A’s over territorial rights a decade ago, the situation is nonetheless worth noting as groups around the country such as those in Nashville and Salt Lake City prepare for the possibility of expansion in the coming decade.
  • Astros right-hander Jose Urquidy threw a bullpen session today and told reporters, including Matt Kawahara of the Houston Chronicle, that he was sitting 88-89 with his fastball, down from his typical velocity of 93-94. That’s not much of a cause for concern at the moment, however, considering how early it is in Urquidy’s rehab from shoulder woes that have kept him on the injured list since the beginning of May. Urquidy, who has long been expected to return sometime in July, told reporters that the current plan is for him to throw two more bullpen sessions before advancing to facing live hitters. It seems reasonable to expect a rehab assignment to be in the near future for Urquidy once he begins facing live batters, assuming everything goes well up to that point.
  • Angels lefty Matt Moore is making progress in his rehab from an oblique injury that has left his sidelined for nearly a month, though he told reporters, including MLB.com’s Rhett Bollinger, that today’s bullpen didn’t go well enough for him to be activated from the injured list on Monday. While how Moore feels tomorrow will decide a lot of the process, the Halos reliever indicated that he expects to throw at least one more bullpen before he’s activated from the IL. Moore has been stellar for the Angels this season when healthy, with a 1.44 ERA in 25 innings, though the club has managed to maintain a solid bullpen in his absence thanks to the efforts of players like Carlos Estevez, Jaime Barria, and Chris Devenski.

Angels Select Ben Joyce

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The Angels announced that they have called up hard throwing right hander Ben Joyce to the big leagues. To make room, left hander Matt Moore has been placed on the 15-day IL with a right oblique strain, and Austin Warren has been transferred to the 60-day IL.

Joyce has been working at Double-A this season, where he’s posted a 4.60 ERA over 15 2/3 innings, combining a 34.3% strikeout rate with an 18.3% walk rate. His calling card is undoubtedly the fastball, which as touched 105 mph in the past. Joyce ranked 19th on Keith Law’s Angels prospect rankings for The Athletic, with Law stating “he doesn’t have an average second pitch or particularly good command of the fastball … He’ll have to develop his slider to be a big-league reliever.”

That’s seemed to shine through in his minor league numbers, with Joyce walking more than seven batters every nine innings so far this season.  There’s obviously a big step up from Double-A to the big leagues, but it’ll be fascinating to see how such a hard thrower goes against the increased competition.

Joyce will be replacing one of the Angels’ best relievers in Moore. The left hander has worked to a 1.44 ERA through 25 innings for the Angels, following on from his impressive season in 2022 for the Rangers. Moore has reverse splits for a left hander, with left handed hitters going .250/.333/.625 against him while right handers have struggled to a .117/.194/.167 line against the veteran. There’s no timetable yet for Moore’s recovery, but he’ll miss at least the next two weeks as he recovers. 

Angels Sign Matt Moore

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The Angels added veteran help to their bullpen Thursday, announcing the signing of left-hander Matt Moore to a one-year, $7.55MM contract. Right-hander Davis Daniel, who’s dealing with a shoulder strain, was placed on the 60-day injured list to open a spot on the 40-man roster. Moore is represented by Apex Baseball.

Moore began his career in 2011 as a starting pitcher for the Rays and pitched effectively, even earning an All Star appearance and down-ballot Cy Young award votes in 2013. Unfortunately, Moore missed most of the 2014 season after receiving Tommy John surgery, and struggled to remain effective as a starter following the procedure. In 557 2/3 innings across the 2014-19 seasons, Moore struggled to a 5.08 ERA (83 ERA+) while spending time as a member of the Rays, Giants, Rangers, and Tigers.

These struggles led Moore to Japan, where he pitched well as a reliever during the 2020 season. In 2021, he returned to stateside ball, but struggled once again in a swing role for the Phillies, posting a 6.29 ERA (67 ERA+) in 73 innings. The following offseason, Moore had to settle for a minor league contract with the Rangers, who he had previously pitched for during the 2018 season. That minors deal proved to be a stroke of genius by the Rangers front office, as Moore posted an astonishing 1.95 ERA (203 ERA+) across 74 innings in 2022.

Moore’s extreme success last season wasn’t entirely supported by his peripherals. He allowed a BABIP of just .257, nearly 40 points below his career norms, and his FIP came in more than a full run higher than his ERA. That same FIP is still a strong 2.98, however, and many underlying metrics reveal plenty of reason for optimism about Moore’s future headed into his age-34 season. His fastball gained an average of 1.5 mph in velocity in 2022, which allowed Moore to rack up far more strikeouts than he had previously. In 2021, Moore struck out just 18.9% of batters faced, but 2022 saw that figure climb all the way to 27.3%.

In addition, his began to allow much weaker contact in 2022, with his hard contact rate dropping from 35.5% all the way to 22.5% while his soft contact rate leapt from 14.3% up to 22%. Striking out batters at a clip similar to that of Luis Castillo (27.2% strikeout rate) while generating nearly as much weak contact as Max Scherzer (22.7% soft contact rate) is certainly a recipe for success, so it’s easy to see why the Angels would want to add Moore to their mix at the back of a bullpen that currently features Carlos Estevez, Ryan Tepera, and Aaron Loup among its top options.

With that being said, the Halos are almost certainly hoping they can find a way to help their new reliever limit his walks. Moore’s walk rate of 12.5% was third worst in the majors among all pitchers with at least 70 innings pitched, ahead of just Yusei Kikuchi and Caleb Smith. Moore’s sensational 2022 proves that if you can strike batters out at an elevated clip while limiting hard contact it’s still possible to have success even when you walk too many batters, as does the success of pitchers like Jorge Lopez and Dylan Cease. Nonetheless, Moore’s penchant for allowing free passes puts more pressure on the rest of his skills to hold up at their current top-tier levels if he’s going to remain among the best relievers in the game, as he was in 2022.

Moore’s signing continues what has been a fairly aggressive offseason from the Angels. While the club didn’t sign a marquee free agent or swing a blockbuster trade, they’ve added much-needed depth to a roster that already had plenty of star power and made important upgrades to almost every position on the roster. Moore and fellow free-agent acquisition Estevez strengthen the bullpen, while the signing of Tyler Anderson improves the rotation. Meanwhile, the lineup is bolstered by the additions of Hunter Renfroe, Gio Urshela, and Brandon Drury.

The Halos still have an uphill battle in the AL West this year, as the 2022 World Series champion Astros don’t appear to be slowing down, the Mariners are still on the upswing, and the Rangers had a second straight offseason full of splashy additions. Nonetheless, it’s clear that Moore makes the Angels better, even in spite of his age, walk rate, and lacking track record prior to 2022. If he manages to have a season resembling the one he had last year again, it’s easy to see a world where Angels fans no longer miss old closer Raisel Iglesias, who was sent to Atlanta at last year’s trade deadline.

Ken Rosenthal of the Athletic first reported the Angels and Moore were nearing an agreement. Jon Heyman of the New York Post reported it was a one-year contract.

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