Headlines

Go To Pro Hockey Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Patrick Sandoval

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

Who Could The Angels Trade This Summer?

By | at

The Angels came into 2024 hoping to compete, despite losing Shohei Ohtani to free agency, but it’s not going well so far. It’s usually unwise to pour dirt on a club’s grave so early in the season, but the odds were against them even before the 2024 campaign started. They have piled up a few losses while Mike Trout is once again facing a significant absence, narrowing whatever contention window they had.

The Playoff Odds at FanGraphs gave them a 16.9% chance of making the playoffs prior to any games being played. Now that the club is 11-20 and Trout is set to miss weeks due to surgery to repair a torn meniscus, those odds have slimmed. As of this morning, their chances of cracking the postseason are down to 2.6%. The PECOTA Standings at Baseball Prospectus are even more pessimistic, giving the Halos just a 0.3% shot.

Barring a miracle in the next few months, they are going to be deadline sellers in the months to come. There could be some speculation about Trout being available, but that’s a complicated situation. He has full no-trade protection and has said he wants to stay in Anaheim. Even if he changes his mind and wants out, facilitating a deal won’t be easy. Despite his immense talents, he actually has negative trade value right now. He is about to turn 33 years old, is making $35.45MM annually through 2030 and has frequently been injured in recent years.

The Angels would be in a tough spot, as they would likely want some notable prospect return in trading a face-of-the-franchise player like Trout, but they would have to swallow a significant portion of the deal to make that happen. On top of that, Trout’s no-trade clause means they would have to factor in his preferences, perhaps narrowing their options and reducing their leverage. Given how convoluted the factors are, a Trout trade isn’t likely to come together hastily, especially since he’s currently hurt.

On top of Trout, there are others who aren’t likely to be moved. Anthony Rendon has a massive salary and hasn’t been healthy in years. Robert Stephenson recently underwent Tommy John surgery and is out until the middle of next year, at least. Players like Logan O’Hoppe, Zach Neto and Nolan Schanuel are still in their pre-arbitration years, giving the club little reason to move them.

But that still leaves them with quite a few options that could hold appeal around the league:

Luis Rengifo

Rengifo is currently hitting .326/.376/.465 this year for a 142 wRC+. That’s at least partly a mirage because he won’t be able to sustain a .377 batting average on balls in play all season. But even with a bit of regression, he’d be on track for his third straight year of above-average offense. He hit a combined .264/.315/.436 over 2022 and 2023, with a 103 wRC+ in the first of those two seasons and a 114 wRC+ last year.

Defensively, Rengifo can play all over the diamond. He has spent time at the three infield positions to the left of first base, as well as all three outfield slots. He’s not considered especially strong at any one spot, but the ability to move around will help him fit in with other clubs. The fact that he’s a switch-hitter gives him extra versatility.

Financially, Rengifo is making just $4.4MM this year and can be controlled via arbitration for next year as well. Even if a club has financial concerns due to the competitive balance tax or lack of TV revenue, he won’t break the bank.

Carlos Estévez

Estévez is out to a rough start this year with a 6.23 ERA, but the numbers are good just about everywhere else. He is striking out 29.4% of batters faced on the year and hasn’t yet issued a walk. The runs are scoring at least partially due to a tiny strand rate of 48.4%. His 3.83 FIP and 2.70 SIERA point to him being the same lockdown reliever he has been in previous years.

The righty has a 4.51 career ERA but spent his entire career in Colorado until last year. He secured a two-year, $13.5MM deal with the Angels going into 2023. His first season in Anaheim saw him rack up 31 saves while punching out 27.8% of opponents, though walking 11% of them. He should be one of the better rental relievers available this summer. He’s making a salary of $6.75MM this year.

Tyler Anderson

Anderson’s up-and-down career is in a bit of an upswing right now, at least in terms of results. Through six starts this year, he has a 2.23 earned run average. But with a .194 BABIP and 90.9% strand rate, he likely won’t be able to keep that up. His 4.76 FIP and 4.80 SIERA suggest regression is coming, as his 18.5% strikeout rate and 10.3% walk rate are both subpar.

The lefty secured a three-year, $39MM deal with the Halos going into 2023. He had a 4.62 ERA through 2021 but then posted a 2.57 ERA with the Dodgers in 2022. That led to his deal with the Angels, but he regressed immediately with a 5.43 ERA last year. Though his results will likely dip a bit as the year goes on, pitching is always in demand at the deadline and the Angels could be able to eat some of his salary to get a deal done. His contract pays him $13MM annually and runs through the end of 2025.

Griffin Canning

Health has been the big question mark for Canning, but he showed positive development in that department last year. He missed the 2022 season entirely but then appeared in 24 games in 2023 — 22 of them starts — while logging 127 innings. All of those figures were career-highs. Beyond the quantity, the quality was also encouraging. He had a 4.32 ERA on the year with a 25.9% strikeout rate and 6.7% walk rate.

Unfortunately, things have backed up in 2024. Through six starts, he has struck out just 15.9% of opponents while walking 9.1%, leading to a 7.45 ERA. A 56.1% strand rate isn’t helping him, but even his 5.48 FIP and 4.96 SIERA aren’t amazing. He’ll have to get things back on track in the months to come but would have some appeal if he did. Because of the missed injury time, he’s making a modest $2.6MM salary this year and has one more arbitration season remaining in 2025.

Patrick Sandoval

Sandoval’s ERA is up at 5.91 this year, but the numbers under the hood are more encouraging. His 10.8% walk rate is a bit high, but he’s striking out 25.7% of batters faced and getting grounders on 47.3% of balls in play. Were it not for a .396 BABIP and 57.5% strand rate, he’d be in better shape, which is why he has a 3.17 FIP and 3.83 SIERA.

He’s a bit less of an obvious trade candidate since he’s controlled through 2026. He’s making $5.025MM this year and will have two more arb seasons before he’s slated for free agency. The Halos could hold him if they think they can compete again in that window, but his trade value will only decline going forward as his control window shrinks and his salary keeps rising.

Taylor Ward

Ward is in the same service bucket as Sandoval, meaning he has two years of control beyond this one. He’s had a bit of a stop-and-go career due to injuries but is often in good form when healthy. He already has seven home runs this year and is slashing .278/.313/.492 with a 126 wRC+. Going back to the start of 2021, he’s hit .267/.343/.453 for a 122 wRC+.

Similar to Sandoval, the Halos don’t have to move Ward, but there’s an argument for it. He’s making $4.8MM this year and will be in line for a healthy raise if he keeps hitting homers. Since his health has been so mercurial, they might be tempted to strike while the iron is hot, cashing him in for younger players if he stays healthy through July.

Matt Moore

Moore is continuing to enjoy a nice second act to his career after moving from the rotation to the bullpen. Since the start of 2022, he’s made 125 appearances with a 2.35 ERA, 26.9% strikeout rate, 9.8% walk rate and 40% ground ball rate.

His strikeout rate has dipped to 21.3% this year, but in a small sample of 12 appearances. His 3.97 ERA is more passable than it is exciting and he’s making $9MM on the year. But every contender is looking for bullpen upgrades at the deadline and Moore will have suitors, especially since he’s left-handed.

Brandon Drury

Drury parlayed a 28-homer breakout in 2022 into a two-year, $17MM deal to suit up for the team he grew up cheering for. The first season went well, as he launched another 26 home runs last year while bouncing between multiple positions, but he’s out to a dreadful start here in 2024. He has battled some hamstring tightness and migraines while hitting just .176/.245/.235.

Those nagging injuries are surely playing a part in his struggles, as is a .209 BABIP. He could be due for a turnaround if his health and batted-ball fortune both improve. If that comes to pass, he could fit on multiple clubs around the league. He has played all four infield positions and the outfield corners in his career, so various teams could find a way to squeeze him in.

Luis García

Somewhat similar to Estévez, García is allowing more runs than he seemingly deserves. He has struck out 28.3% of opponents this year while walking just 5.7% and keeping 54.3% of balls in play on the ground, leading to a 2.52 FIP and 2.38 SIERA. But a strand rate of just 39.7% has helped push some runners across the plate, leading to a 5.54 ERA.

He’s a 37-year-old veteran and won’t fetch a huge return, but each contender needs bullpen help. He’s making just $4.25MM on a one-year deal and has a decent track record. Since the start of 2021, he has a 3.77 ERA, 23.8% strikeout rate, 7.3% walk rate and 55% ground ball rate.

Adam Cimber

Cimber had a pretty solid run in 2021 and 2022, pitching over 70 innings in each of those seasons with a combined ERA of 2.53. He only struck out 18.8% of batters faced in that time, but he only walked 5% of them while his submarine delivery helped him produce a 47.9% ground ball rate and lots of weak contact.

He was hurt for a lot of 2023 and his ERA shot up to 7.40 when he was on the mound. The Angels took a shot on a bounceback which has mostly gone well so far, as Cimber has a 3.14 ERA this year. His 11.1% walk rate is uncharacteristically high, as he’s never finished a season above 7.8% in that department. If he can shake off the rust and rein in his control, perhaps he’ll be back in 2021-22 form in the months to come. He’s making just $1.65MM this year and could fit in the budget of any club.

———————

The Angels could also push further, depending on what their long-term plans are. Reid Detmers and Jo Adell haven’t yet reached arbitration yet, but they will this coming winter. Adell has struggled so much over the years but is in good form so far this year, which may tempt the Angels to listen to offers on him now in case he turns into a pumpkin. He’s slashing .290/.338/.565 for a 152 wRC+, with his 26.5% strikeout rate a big improvement compared to previous years.

Parting with Detmers could be painful since he seems to be breaking out this year. He has a 3.12 ERA, 26.6% strikeout rate, 7.2% walk rate and 44% ground ball rate. With three more years of control beyond this one, there’s no rush to move him. But if the club is planning a significant rebuild, those years might be wasted in Anaheim. If they decide to pull the trigger, he would fetch a haul.

MLB Trade Rumors Podcast: Boston Searches for a Boss, Kim Ng and Surgery for Brandon Woodruff

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…

Plus, we answer your questions, including…

  • What is one team you anticipate will aggressively attempt to contend this season but believe should focus on rebuilding, and one club you expect to act passively during the offseason but think should make a more concerted effort to contend? (15:45)
  • The Pirates’ competitive window should start to open in 2024 but they badly need to address 1B and SP this winter. I’ve talked myself into Ty France (if Dipoto feels the need to upgrade there) and Patrick Sandoval (if the Angels decide to blow it up) as being great fits. Do you like those options or have any other names that could wind up in Pittsburgh? (20:00)
  • To me it seems to be very futile to have great success in the 162 game grind, win your division (by a large margin often) and lose to a lesser team. I get it that baseball is all about who’s hot at the moment but when the best all get upset in the beginning of the playoffs it does give one pause. There surely should be more advantage/reward for regular season achievements. (22:25)

Check out our past episodes!

  • The Mets’ Front Office, TJ for Alcantara and the D-Backs Extend Their GM – listen here
  • Mariners To Spend? Tigers To Contend? And Managerial Vacancies – listen here​
  • Free Agent Pitching Dark Horses, Padres To Cut Payroll, and If The Angels Should Rebuild — listen here

AL Injury Notes: Bautista, Mountcastle, Correa, McGuire, Sandoval

By | at

Félix Bautista is inching closer to his return, but his status for the postseason remains up in the air. Manager Brandon Hyde recently spoke to reporters (including Nathan Ruiz of The Baltimore Sun) about his star closer, suggesting that the right-hander is running out of time to get back on the mound. It’s not that Bautista has suffered a setback, but he just hasn’t progressed quickly enough to give Hyde much confidence that he can return for the playoffs.

It’s a disappointing development for the Orioles, who are set to embark on their first postseason run since 2016. The 28-year-old has emerged as one of the most dominant relief arms in the game, with a 1.85 ERA across his first two seasons in the majors.

In happier news, Ryan Mountcastle is nearing his return to Baltimore’s lineup. As Ruiz reports, the first baseman took batting practice before this evening’s game against the Nationals. Hyde suggested he could be reinstated tomorrow; if not, he should be back on the field sometime this week.

Here’s some more news from around the American League…

  • The Twins expect Carlos Correa will be ready to play in the AL Wild Card series, and indeed, it’s possible he could be back by the final series of the regular season. Manager Rocco Baldelli told reporters (including Bobby Nightengale of the Star Tribune) that the star shortstop could rejoin the team this weekend in Colorado. Correa has been playing through plantar fasciitis for most of the year, and the question is not whether his injury has healed, but simply if he has rested enough to be able to manage the pain throughout the playoffs. The Gold Glove winner has been taking groundballs in recent days, and he claims to be feeling better.
  • Red Sox catcher Reese McGuire left tonight’s game against the Rays with a left thumb contusion. It’s not a particularly serious diagnosis, but still, it’s not impossible this marks the end of McGuire’s season. The lefty batter hit .271/.314/.365 in 69 games as a backup catcher for Boston. He will be arbitration-eligible for the second time this winter.
  • The Angels have placed starting pitcher Patrick Sandoval on the 15-day IL. To replace him on the active roster, they have recalled Kolton Ingram from Triple-A Salt Lake. Sandoval exited his start last night against the Rangers with tightness in his right oblique, and the injury has proven to be serious enough to end his season six days early. This marks Ingram’s third fleeting call-up of the 2023 season; in 4 1/3 innings for the big league club, he has given up five runs on seven hits. However, his numbers are much better in the minors, where the 26-year-old boasts a 2.95 ERA in 61 innings pitched.

Angels Looking To Increase Workload For Top Starters

By | at

Angels manager Phil Nevin spoke with reporters (including The Athletic’s Sam Blum) about the club’s pitching plans this afternoon. The Halos have run with a six-man rotation for the past few seasons, and while they could adopt that as a loose framework in 2023, Nevin indicated the team wants to put an emphasis on allowing the pitchers at the top of the rotation- including two-way superstar Shohei Ohtani – to get more action on the mound. Rather than adhere to a rigid six-man staff every turn through, Nevin suggested the club would be flexible in deploying their nominal sixth starter as more of a swing option.

Headed into the 2022 season, the club had few surefire starting pitchers beyond Ohtani, as Patrick Sandoval had started just fourteen games in 2021 while the big pitching acquisition for the Halos that offseason was Noah Syndergaard, who was returning to the mound after pitching just two innings since the end of the 2019 season.

Fortunately, the 2022 season saw multiple impressive performances from Angels starters: in addition to Ohtani improving as a pitcher on his 2021 MVP campaign and placing fourth in Cy Young award voting, Sandoval impressed with a 2.91 ERA and 3.09 FIP in a career-high 148 2/3 innings while Reid Detmers showed flashes of the talent that made him the 10th overall pick in the 2020 draft. Jose Suarez proved to be a capable back-of-the-rotation starter over twenty starts. The Halos also improved their rotation externally with the addition of Tyler Anderson, a durable starter who broke out with the crosstown Dodgers in 2023 to the tune of a 2.57 ERA and 3.31 FIP across 178 2/3 innings.

With Sandoval having proved himself, Anderson under contract, and both Detmers and Suarez looking ready for a bigger challenge, it makes sense for the Angels to try and lean more on their top five in the rotation, especially if it means getting Ohtani on the mound more often. After years of carefully managing Ohtani’s workload in an attempt to keep him healthy, the Angels have allowed him to play more and more, with less firm restrictions in recent years. Considering a more traditional rotation appears to be the next logical step in that process.

Each of those five starting options appears likely to be a substantial improvement over the starts Anaheim’s internal options for a sixth starter can provide. Following his trade to the Angels last summer as part of the deal that sent closer Raisel Iglesias to the Braves, lefty Tucker Davidson struggled mightily in eight starts (36 2/3 innings): a ghastly 6.87 ERA and nearly matching 6.30 FIP was good for an ERA+ of just 60, or 40% worse than the league average pitcher.

Blum notes that right-hander Griffin Canning is fully healthy and partook in a normal offseason after missing the entire 2022 season with a back injury, so he could certainly factor into the sixth starter mix as well. That said, despite roughly league average results in his major league career to this point (an ERA+ of 96 in 209 1/3 innings spanning from 2019 to 2021), Canning has never reached 100 innings pitched in the majors and is coming off a long layoff, so it would be no surprise if the Angels planned on managing his workload carefully during his age-27 season.

Overall, given the relative strength of their starting five, the emphasis on letting Ohtani play without restriction in recent years, and the dearth of quality, reliable options for the sixth starter slot, Nevin’s plan to consider a more traditional rotation in 2023 makes sense. A reliable sixth starter would likely have to come externally, and those options are slim following Michael Wacha’s signing with the Padres earlier today.

Each MLB Team’s Players On WBC Rosters

By | at

The World Baseball Classic is returning this year, the first time since 2017. The quadrennial event was supposed to take place in 2021 but was scuttled by the pandemic, now returning after a six-year absence. Rosters for the tournament were announced today and those can be found at this link. Here is a breakdown of which players from each MLB team are set to take participate. Quick caveat that this list is fluid and might be changed as more information becomes available.

Without further ado…

Angels

Astros

Athletics

Blue Jays

Braves

Brewers

Cardinals

Cubs

Diamondbacks

Dodgers

Giants

Guardians

Marlins

Mariners

Mets

Nationals

Orioles

Padres

Phillies

Pirates

Rangers

Rays

Red Sox

Reds

Rockies

Royals

Tigers

Twins

White Sox

Yankees

The Angels’ Potentially Elite Rotation

By | at

Despite boasting two of the most gifted players on the planet on their roster, the Angels have failed to make the playoffs since 2014 and failed to secure a winning season since 2015. As they have been for quite some time, they’ll look to change that in 2023 and return to the playoffs. While they haven’t made a splashy move, their signings of Tyler Anderson, Carlos Estevez and Brandon Drury, and acquisition of Gio Urshela and Hunter Renfroe have put them in good shape to do well this year.

Of course, a big challenge for the Angels is that they play in a division with the defending champion Astros, as well as the Mariners and Rangers, two teams that have big ambitions to compete this season. If they are to return to the postseason, they’ll need contributions across the board, but one area that the Angels will surely be leaning on as a strength is their starting rotation. The team has tended to work with a six-man rotation to preserve Shohei Ohtani’s workload in the past, and given they were linked with Nathan Eovaldi just before he signed with Texas, it seems likely they’ll add another starter before the season starts.

In the meantime, let’s take a look at the starting five for the Angels as things stand:

Shohei Ohtani: The Angels will be relying on their two-way superstar to have another monster season this year. There’s not a lot that hasn’t been said about how good Ohtani is, but for this exercise we’ll talk about him purely as a pitcher. He had his best year yet in 2022, throwing 166 innings of 2.33 ERA ball. The strikeouts were up, the walks were down, and Ohtani benefited a fair bit from leaning less on his fastball and throwing his slider more often. Angels manager Phil Nevin has already stated he plans to increase Ohtani’s workload next season, so it’ll be interesting to see how he handles that given his other duties, but if the Angels can get another year like 2022 out of their ace they’ll come away very happy.

Tyler Anderson: Signed to a three-year, $39MM deal, the left-handed Anderson is the lone new face in the Angels starting rotation. A respectable back-of-the-rotation starter for a number of years, Anderson broke out with the Dodgers in 2022, pitching to a 2.57 ERA over 178 2/3 innings. It wasn’t so much an overhaul of his pitching repertoire as it was a few small tweaks (bumping up his changeup usage slightly) that seemingly did the trick for Anderson, and he induced a ton of soft contact out of opposition hitters. If he can show 2022 was no outlier Anderson will slot in as a very reliable second option behind Ohtani.

Patrick Sandoval: The second of four southpaws in the rotation, Sandoval enjoyed his own breakout year in 2022. The 26-year-old gave the Angels 148 innings of 2.91 ERA ball, striking out batters at a 23.7% clip and walking them 9.4% of the time. FIP pegged him a 3.91, which suggests a bit of regression is due, but he also had an above-average opponent’s BABIP of .316. Regardless, even if he can’t post a sub-3 ERA Sandoval definitely has the makings of a very productive starter. He struggled early on in his career, working to a 5.33 ERA between 2019-20, but has been highly effective ever since. One change he did make in 2022 was throwing his fastball less and leaning far more on his slider.

Jose Suarez: The 24-year-old hurled 109 innings of 3.96 ERA ball for the Angels last year, showing a strong 7.1% walk rate and a solid 22.3% strikeout rate, both of which improved from a year prior. He maintained his fastball usage in 2022, but mixed in a slider to his off-speed stuff (which includes a curveball and changeup) that he’d only thrown sparingly in the past. The ERA doesn’t jump off the page, but he was elite in the second half last year, working to a 2.81 ERA over 11 starts after the All Star break. Still just 24 there’s certainly a ton of promise in this youngster, and if he can build off his showing in the second half the Angels will have a very good fourth starter on their staff.

Reid Detmers: Rounding out their five is Detmers, a 23-year-old southpaw who worked to a 3.77 ERA over 129 innings last season, his first full year in the big leagues. He had a fast rise through the system after being drafted 10th overall in 2020, and given there was no minor league season that year it makes his rise to the big leagues, and strong first full season that much more impressive. Detmers owns a 93 mph fastball, and mixes in a slider, curveball and changeup. There’s plenty of upside for Detmers to tap into over the next few years, and if he can take another step forward in 2023 it won’t take long before he’s near the top of a list like this rather than rounding it out.

As noted earlier, it does seem likely that the Angels would opt to bring in a sixth starter to deepen the rotation. That could be someone like Michael Wacha or Johnny Cueto off the free agent market, or they could go with an internal option such as Chase Silseth, Griffin Canning or Chris Rodriguez. They’ve also got top pitching prospect Sam Bachman at Double-A, and getting closer to being a big league option.

Regardless of who the sixth option is, there’s a lot to like about this group, even if they were just able to put in a repeat of their 2022 performance. But the key for the Angels is there’s also a ton of upside in this group, particularly in the back of the rotation. That’s the sort of thing that could go from making this a strong rotation to one that is up there with the best in baseball. Of course, an injury or two could derail things quickly and there’s a chance that players take a step back rather than a step forward, but the potential is there for this group to be dominant.

The Angels’ Promising Young Lefties

By | at

For years, there have been commonly cited (and generally deserved/accurate) narratives surrounding the Angels: They’re squandering the primes of Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani. They can’t keep their roster healthy. They overspend on the wrong free agents. Holy cow, do they need pitching.

There’s merit to each and every one of those criticisms, but perhaps the longest-running critique has been that the Angels are in dire need of starting pitching. Year in and year out, the team would trot out an expensive core of position players while hoping to patch things together on the pitching staff.

Generally speaking, the Angels have shown an aversion to committing virtually any long-term risk to a starting pitcher. The team’s pursuit of Gerrit Cole is an exception to this thinking, but he may have been the exception. And the (obvious) fact of the matter is that even if the Angels were legitimately interested, Cole chose to sign elsewhere. The last time the Angels signed a free-agent starter for multiple years, Jerry Dipoto was the GM and Joe Blanton was inking a two-year deal.

That the Angels haven’t spent on starting pitching is just a fact — one that spans multiple general managers, thus pointing more toward an ownership preference. The team’s lack of investment beyond one-year deals, often for former stars in need of a rebound (e.g. Matt Harvey, Noah Syndergaard, Julio Teheran), was generally apparent in the results. A repeated inability to develop homegrown arms is as big a factor, if not a larger factor of course, but from 2016-21, the Angels’ rotation ERA ranked 20th (4.78 in 2016), 12th (4.38 in 2017), 19th (4.34 in 2018), 29th (5.64 in 2019), 29th again (5.54 in 2020), and 22nd (4.78 in 2021). Taken as a whole, the 2016-21 Angels ranked 24th in the Majors with a 4.76 rotation ERA and 29th with just 39.8 fWAR out of their starting pitchers — about 42% of the nearby Dodgers’ MLB-best 92.4 fWAR in that time.

With yet another diappointing season brewing in Anaheim, it’s tempting to assume that it’s more of the same. The Angels, once again, stuck to one-year free agent deals for Syndergaard and Michael Lorenzen. They didn’t trade for anyone meaningful. And yet… the Angels’ rotation this season has not only been pretty good — ninth-best ERA in the sport — but finally appears poised for some longevity.

Ohtani, of course, is at the center of all things Angels — well, when Trout isn’t homering in seven straight games — and he’s been a huge part of the Angels’ rotation success this year. A lower innings count will probably keep Ohtani from legitimate Cy Young candidacy, but he’s tossed 141 innings of 2.55 ERA ball with a 33% strikeout rate that trails only Atlanta’s Spencer Strider for best in the game among starters. For once, Ohtani isn’t the only horse pulling his weight, however. Here’s a look at the next three up in the Anaheim rotation:

  • Patrick Sandoval, 25, LHP (controlled through 2026): 132 1/3 innings, 2.99 ERA, 23.6% strikeout rate, 9.3% walk rate, 3.19 FIP, 3.95 SIERA
  • Reid Detmers, 23, LHP (controlled through 2027): 113 innings, 3.82 ERA, 23% strikeout rate, 9.1% walk rate, 4.03 FIP, 4.13 SIERA
  • Jose Suarez, 24, LHP (controlled through 2026): 91 1/3 innings, 3.84 ERA, 22.3% strikeout rate, 7.9% walk rate, 4.03 FIP, 4.03 SIERA

It’s an impressive group of lefties all under 26 years of age and all controlled for at least four seasons beyond the current campaign. Health and year-to-year volatility are obviously considerations with any group of starting pitchers, but the Angels still have a solid trio here on which to build.

Sandoval is the “most experienced” of the bunch, though he’ll finish the season with just over two years of big league service time. Yesterday marked the 18th time in 24 starts this season that Sandoval has allowed two or fewer runs to an opponent.

The Halos originally acquired Sandoval from the Astros alongside a $250K international bonus slot in exchange for a Martin Maldonado rental back in 2018. (Maldonado re-signed in Houston a couple years later and has since signed an extension.) It’ll go down as one of the best moves now-Mets GM Billy Eppler made during his time as general manager of the Halos, as Sandoval looks to have established himself as a high-quality hurler.

While the 25-year-old southpaw isn’t a flamethrower, he’s turned in an above-average strikeout rate, a slightly worse-than-average walk rate, a strong ground-ball rate, and very good marks in swinging-strike and opponents’ chase rates (13.1% and 35.6%, respectively). He generates plenty of spin and whiffs with his breaking pitches and sits in the top quarter of big league pitchers in terms of limiting hard contact.

Dating back to last season, Sandoval has a 3.28 ERA in 219 2/3 innings. He’s fanned nearly a quarter of his opponents in that time — a bit more than a batter per inning — and kept nearly half of the batted balls against him on the ground.

Among the 104 pitchers who’ve totaled at least 200 innings since Opening Day 2021, only eleven have induced swinging strikes at a greater clip than Sandoval, and the names atop him on the list are a group of the game’s best: Corbin Burnes, Shane McClanahan, Max Scherzer, Kevin Gausman, Dylan Cease, Clayton Kershaw, Robbie Ray, Shane Bieber, Carlos Rodon, Cole and Ohtani. Not bad company! Sandoval has also posted the ninth-lowest opponents’ contact rate, trailing only Burnes, Cease, McClanahan, Freddy Peralta, Bieber, Kershaw, Scherzer and Blake Snell. Again — not a bad list of names with which to surround oneself.

Good as Sandoval has been, it might be Detmers that proves the best of the bunch. The No. 10 overall pick in the 2020 draft, Detmers sprinted through the minors and made his big league debut less than 14 months after being selected. Had there been a minor league season in 2020, the former Louisville standout might have reached the Majors even sooner.

Last year’s debut was rough for Detmers, and there’s no sugar-coating that fact. He was excellent across three minor league levels but was absolutely rocked in the Majors, yielding a 7.40 ERA with disappointing K-BB numbers and a hefty five long balls allowed in just 20 2/3 innings (five starts). Not the way anyone wants to make his debut — and certainly not a top prospect and former first-rounder who comes with a good bit of hype and lofty long-term expectations.

Detmers improved early in the 2022 season, even throwing a May 10 no-hitter against a contending Rays club. Skeptics could point out that he managed only two strikeouts that day, but a no-hitter in any capacity is a feat. The greater course of concern was simply that Detmers’ no-no was bookended by general mediocrity; as of late June, Detmers had a 4.66 ERA and 5.36 FIP in 58 innings. His career, to that point, included 17 starts of 5.38 ERA ball with peripherals that generally matched.

On June 22, Detmers was optioned to Triple-A. On July 8, he came back a different pitcher. Detmers threw 47.8% fastballs, 21.5% curveballs, 16.6% sliders and 14% changeups prior to being optioned. Since returning, he’s thrown 42.7% heaters, 32.4% sliders, 15.3% curveballs and 9.6% changeups. The slider usage is way up — nearly doubled — and all other offerings have been scaled back a few percentage points.

Prior to being optioned, Detmers’ 4.66 ERA/5.36 FIP were backed by an 18.6% strikeout rate, an 8.9% walk rate, a 35.9% grounder rate and an 8.7% swinging-strike rate. Since returning and ramping up his slider use, Detmers touts a 2.95 ERA/2.62 FIP with a 27.5% strikeout rate, a 9.4% walk rate, a 42% ground-ball rate and a 12.5% swinging-strike rate.

Detmers has given up eight runs in his past 9 1/3 innings — beginning the very day I mentioned this altered repertoire in a broader piece for our Trade Rumors Front Office subscribers… sorry for the jinx, Reid — but he also threw his slider less frequently in Monday’s start than he has since the June 21 outing that saw him optioned. It’s also worth pointing out that Detmers is up to 119 innings on the season between his one minor league appearance and 22 big league starts; there’s probably some fatigue for a pitcher who only threw 82 2/3 innings last year and didn’t have an actual minor league season in 2020.

The bottom line for Detmers is that he features high-end breaking stuff, even if his fastball is more hittable. Opponents are hitting .206/.257/.302 and have fanned in 29.2% of the plate appearances Detmers has ended with a slider this year; they’re hitting .192/.288/.365 off the curve and punching out at a 27.1% clip. No wonder he’s throwing the heater less and less often.

Not to be overshadowed, the 24-year-old Suarez has had a fine season of his own. He’s flown even more under the radar than his two teammates — so much so that I initially planned to title this “The Angels’ Pair of Promising Lefties” before reminding myself what a strong season Suarez has had.

Suarez hasn’t been as flashy as either Sandoval or Detmers. He throws a bit softer than both (92.8 mph average fastball compared to 93.3 mph for Detmers and Sandoval), doesn’t have a gaudy strikeout rate and is about average in terms of his walk rate. Suarez limits hard contact nicely, but not anywhere near league-leading levels. He’s posted solid but not elite marks in swinging-strike and opponents’ chase rate. Suarez hasn’t excelled in any one specific category, but he also hasn’t been bad or even much below-average in many areas, either.

It’s not the dominant ace profile around which to build your rotation… but no one’s asking Suarez to be that. He’s the Angels’ fourth starter right now, and he’s posting solid numbers while averaging 5 2/3 innings per start. It’s the second straight year that Suarez has notched an ERA right in this same vicinity — he was at 3.75 in 98 1/3 innings last year as a swingman — but he’s improved each of his strikeout rate, walk rate, swinging-strike rate, chase rate and first-pitch strike rate. Suarez has been more aggressive in the strike zone, and a quite likely corollary has seen hitters chase off the plate more often (while making contact on those chases at a lower rate than in 2021).

It’s not an out-of-nowhere development, either. Suarez doesn’t have the big-time draft pedigree that Detmers does. Still, he was a well-regarded prospect in an admittedly thin Angels system, even reaching top-100 status at FanGraphs back in 2019, when he was listed baseball’s No. 79 prospect. At the time, Eric Longenhagen and Kiley McDaniel noted on their scouting report that an uptick in velocity elevated Suarez to “project as a good fourth starter,” which is exactly what he’s become.

Understandably, the long-term focus for Angels fans is on what the future holds for Ohtani. Will he be traded? Can a new owner somehow convince him to sign an extension, even though Ohtani has publicly stated a desire to win? Those questions might not be answered until it’s clear who’s purchasing the team and when that theoretical new owner might be installed as the club’s control person.

At least for the time being, however, Ohtani is in line to return for his final season of club control, when he’ll both serve as DH and the ace to a staff that can follow him with a pair of solid No. 2/No. 3 starters (Detmers, Sandoval) and a quality No. 4 starter (Suarez). It’s a very nice foundation on which to build a starting staff, and while the Halos might need another starter — or even two, if they continue to deploy a six-man group — for once, the primary question surrounding them won’t be, “When are they going to get some pitching?”

Angels’ GM Perry Minasian On Pitching Staff, Infield Plans

By | at

The Angels wrapped up the 2021 campaign with a disappointing 77-85 record. That marked the club’s sixth straight below-average season, and their fourth consecutive year finishing in fourth place in the AL West.

General manager Perry Minasian met with the media (including Rhett Bollinger of MLB.com and Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register) this afternoon to lay out some preliminary plans for the upcoming winter. Unsurprisingly, Minasian acknowledged that pitching will be the club’s top priority. That’s familiar territory for the Angels, who have long had an enviable collection of star position players but haven’t found much success on the mound in recent years. That was again the case in 2021, as Los Angeles hurlers finished the season 22nd in ERA (4.68) and 18th in SIERA (4.22).

The starting rotation, in particular, has long been an issue and that continued to be a weakness this season. While Angels’ starters posted middle-of-the-road strikeout and walk numbers, their collective 4.78 ERA was among the league’s ten worst. Some of the fault surely lies with a defense that finished near the bottom of the league by measure of Defensive Runs Saved and opponents’ batting average on balls in play. Nevertheless, it’s clear the rotation could’ve been better, and the impending free agencies of Alex Cobb and Dylan Bundy only thin that group further.

Cobb has already gone on record about his interest in returning, and it stands to reason the front office could have some interest in extending that relationship. Otherwise, the Angels’ in-house starting staff includes Shohei Ohtani (controllable for two more seasons but who himself expressed openness to an extension), Patrick Sandoval, José Suarez, Jaime Barria, Griffin Canning and rookie Reid Detmers. That’s not a group devoid of talent, but it’s lacking in track record of consistent production and/or durability. Minasian suggested Ohtani, Suarez and Sandoval had locked down season-opening rotation roles but noted that the remaining two or three spots are yet to be determined.

The bullpen figures to be an area of need as well. Excluding Suarez, four Angels’ relievers tossed 20+ innings with an ERA below 4.00. Austin Warren and Mike Mayers will return, but Steve Cishek and closer Raisel Iglesias are soon-to-be free agents, with Iglesias likely in line to land the biggest deal of any reliever this winter. Retaining Iglesias or adding some additional veteran stability to the later innings figures to be almost as high on the priority list as bolstering the rotation will be.

That’s made all the more true by the late-season injury suffered by rookie right-hander Chris Rodriguez, who broke into the big leagues with a 3.64 ERA across 29 2/3 frames on the strength of a massive 54.7% ground-ball rate. Rodriguez, who dealt with a serious of health issues during his time in the minors, landed on the injured list in mid-August due to a lat issue. He didn’t return this year, and Minasian told reporters today that it’s unknown if he’ll be ready for Spring Training as his rehab has progressed rather slowly.

There’s less heavy lifting to do on the position player side, since the impending returns of Mike Trout and Anthony Rendon will immediately go a long ways towards reinvigorating the offense. The middle infield stands as the biggest spot to address, as José Iglesias struggled on both sides of the ball, leading to his release last month. Minasian called shortstop an area of need, expressing some openness to moving second baseman David Fletcher to the left side of the infield if necessary.

Fletcher himself finished the season in a terrible slump, ending the year with a .262/.297/.324 line over 665 plate appearances. His solid prior track record will earn him another shot to put those struggles behind him, but it seems reasonable to expect the Angels to at least kick the tires on the star-studded top of the free agent shortstop class. Landing an external addition at short would allow the club to pencil Fletcher back in at a position where he’s already a plus defender and to concentrate on a bounceback at the plate.

There are some clear holes to plug on this roster, with the impact potential of external additions obviously dependent upon payroll. Minasian said he’s not yet discussed the payroll outlook for next season with owner Arte Moreno. The Angels entered 2021 with a franchise-record player budget in the $182MM range, estimates Jason Martinez of Roster Resource. The club already has almost $120MM in guaranteed commitments on the books next season, but the arbitration class is one of the league’s smallest. Only Mayers and Max Stassi figure to land substantial raises, and even those players will probably land in the $3-5MM range.

That’d leave $50+MM for Minasian and company if Moreno is willing to match this year’s spending levels. It would set the stage for a very interesting winter in Orange County, with plenty of opportunity for Minasian and his staff to make meaningful upgrades to a roster that has a few significant deficiencies that need to be addressed.

Angels Select Oliver Ortega

By | at

The Angels announced they’ve selected the contract of reliever Oliver Ortega. Infielder Luis Rengifo has also been recalled to take the two additional active roster spots as part of September expansion. To create space for Ortega on the 40-man roster, Los Angeles transferred lefty Patrick Sandoval from the 10-day to the 60-day injured list.

Ortega is in line to make his big league debut. The 24-year-old has split this season between Double-A Rocket City and Triple-A Salt Lake, working to a 5.48 ERA over 42 2/3 innings. That has come with far more impressive peripherals, though, as Ortega has punched out a huge 31.6% of batters faced against a fine 9.3% walk rate. Ortega, who entered the season as Baseball America’s #10 prospect in the system, would have been eligible for the Rule 5 draft if not added to the 40-man roster this winter. The front office will give him a month-long look to gauge his likelihood of being a season-opening bullpen option in 2022.

Sandoval’s IL transfer is a procedural move. The Angels have already ruled him out for the rest of the season due to a stress fracture in his back.

Show all

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

hide arrows scroll to top