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Victor Mederos

Angels Designate Jose Cisnero For Assignment

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The Angels announced this afternoon that they’ve designated right-hander Jose Cisnero for assignment. The move opens up an active roster spot for right-hander Victor Mederos, who was recalled to the majors in a corresponding move. The club also announced that infielder Luis Guillorme, who was designated for assignment earlier this week, has been released.

Cisnero, 35, made his big league debut back in 2013 with the Astros and struggled over parts of two seasons in Houston, with a 4.66 ERA in 48 1/3 innings of work. That would be the journeyman’s only big league action for several years, as the right-hander bounced around various minor league affiliates and independent leagues from 2015 to 2018 before landing with the Tigers in 2019. The then-30-year-old righty impressed in 40 innings of work at the Triple-A level with a 2.70 ERA and a 27.7% strikeout rate, earning him another crack at the big leagues.

The right-hander ultimately spent the next five seasons pitching for the Tigers as a solid, reliable middle relief option. He posted a 3.89 ERA (114 ERA+) with a 4.09 FIP overall, and was particularly impressive from 2020-22 when he pitched to a 2.94 ERA with a 3.65 FIP in 116 1/3 innings of work. Unfortunately, the wheels started to come off for Cisnero last year when he posted a 5.31 ERA with a 4.60 FIP in 63 appearances for the Tigers. Those struggles came in spite of strong strikeout (26.2%) and walk (9.4%) rates that solidly outperformed not only his career numbers, but the numbers he had posted while pitching so effectively for the club in previous years. With strong peripherals, including a 3.73 SIERA and a 4.20 xFIP, suggesting better days ahead, the Angels took a one-year flier on Cisnero’s services this past offseason.

Unfortunately, that experiment did not pay off. Cisnero’s 2024 campaign has been nothing short of brutal as he’s been lit up to a 6.89 ERA with a 6.24 FIP thanks primarily to the fact that he’s allowed four home runs in just 15 2/3 innings of work. The right-hander was sidelined for three months by a bout of shoulder inflammation and made his return to the mound just yesterday, but surrendered two runs (one earned) in 1 2/3 innings of work that saw him allow a hit, a walk, and hit a batter while striking out just one of the eight opponents he faced. That was evidently enough for the Angels to decide to pull the plug on the right-hander, who will now be available for any club in the league to claim off waivers if they so choose.

Taking Cisnero’s place on the Halos’ active roster is Mederos, who has not yet pitched in the majors this year. The right-hander struggled in a brief cup of coffee in the majors last year with a 9.00 ERA in three appearances and hasn’t fared much better in 21 starts split between the High-A and Double-A levels this year, with a 6.56 ERA and a 16.7% strikeout rate in 94 2/3 innings of work. As for Guillorme, the veteran of seven MLB seasons posted a .231/.302/.298 slash line in 50 games for the Angels this year after being acquired from the Braves in an early-season trade. He’ll turn to the free agent market in search of greener pastures, and it’s not hard to imagine a team in need of infield depth having interest in the 29-year-old’s services given his strong defensive reputation and left-handed bat.

Mike Trout Undergoes Hamate Surgery

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July 5: Manager Phil Nevin tells reporters, including Rhett Bollinger of MLB.com, that Trout underwent surgery to address his fracture. His timeline for return is four to eight weeks.

July 4: The Angels announced that Mike Trout has been placed on the injured list with a left hamate fracture. Right-hander Víctor Mederos was also optioned to Double-A Rocket City. In corresponding moves, outfielder Jo Adell and right-hander Gerardo Reyes were recalled.

The club has yet to provide any kind of estimate timeline on Trout but an absence from a hamate fracture is typically measured in weeks. For example, Mariners outfielder Taylor Trammell was diagnosed with a hamate fracture in February with a provided seven-week timeline for his recovery and he began a rehab assignment two months later. Andrew Benintendi suffered the same injury at the start of September while with the Yankees last year and never returned, despite the Yanks making it to the ALCS and playing until October 23. Each player and injury is different, but it seems reasonable to expect Trout will be out of action for roughly six to eight weeks.

Obviously, this is a tremendous blow for the Angels on a number of fronts. Trout has been one of the better players in baseball for over a decade now, having already won three Most Valuable Player awards and a litany of other accolades. He’s hit .301/.412/.582 in his career for a wRC+ of 170 while stealing 206 bases and providing excellent center field defense. He’s been a bit below that this year, but even his relative “down” year still has him at .263/.369/.493 and a 137 wRC+.

Losing one of the best players in the world for an extended stretch of time would be rough news for any club, but it will be particularly noteworthy for this Angels squad. Despite a roster featuring superstars like Trout, Shohei Ohtani and others in recent years, they have frequently been felled by injuries and a lack of depth. They haven’t had a winning record since 2015, haven’t made the playoffs since 2014 and haven’t won a postseason game since 2009.

The 2023 season has already been in the spotlight since Ohtani is in his final year of club control before he qualifies for free agency. The club has been acting aggressively to try to win this year, both to take advantage of Ohtani’s production while they still have him and to convince him to stay by constructing a winning roster around him. They spent their offseason acquiring complementary players like Brandon Drury, Hunter Renfroe and Carlos Estévez. They aggressively promoted prospects like Zach Neto, Ben Joyce and Sam Bachman. Due to a recent rash of injuries to infielders like Neto, Drury, Gio Urshela and Anthony Rendon, they went out and traded for veterans Eduardo Escobar and Mike Moustakas.

Currently, the club is 45-42, three games back of the Yankees for the final Wild Card spot in the American League, with the Blue Jays in between them. They certainly have a shot to break their postseason drought, but their odds will certainly go down without Trout. Some fans of other clubs may start salivating at the idea of the club deciding to blow it all up and trade Ohtani, but given the way the Angels have behaved this year, it seems more likely that they will be aggressive in adding to the roster to make up for Trout’s absence.

For now, they will likely use Mickey Moniak in center. He’s having a breakout year at the plate, hitting .307/.336/.658 through 119 plate appearances for a 168 wRC+. He’s mostly played the corners in deference to Trout but has solid defensive marks in center. That will create challenges though, as the left-handed hitting Moniak has largely been shielded from lefties, having just 10 trips to the plate this year without the platoon advantage. Adell hits from the right side and could take the short side of the platoon but he’s struggled in the big leagues overall. In 561 plate appearances dating back to 2020, he’s hit just .215/.261/.362. He’s performing better in Triple-A this year but that’s nothing new for him.

However it plays out, the Angels are in a challenging spot for now and will be a fascinating club to watch. With less than a month until the August 1 deadline and the team just outside the postseason picture, each game will continue to take on increased significance as things progress.

Angels Designate Jake Lamb For Assignment, Reinstate Anthony Rendon

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The Angels have designated Jake Lamb for assignment, per a team announcement. The move creates a 40-man roster spot for Victor Mederos, who has officially been selected onto the roster. The Halos also reinstated Anthony Rendon from the 10-day injured list and optioned Andrew Velazquez and Andrew Wantz to Triple-A Salt Lake.

Lamb broke camp after an offseason minor league deal. He didn’t hit well in a limited look, putting up a .216/.259/.353 line over 54 trips to the plate. In mid-May, the Halos optioned him to Salt Lake. As a player with five-plus years of MLB service, Lamb would’ve ordinarily had the right to refuse any minor league assignment. However, his contract reportedly contained a 45-day window in which the Angels could send him down.

The left-handed hitter has spent the past month and a half in Triple-A. He raked at a .317/.453/.492 clip, connecting on five homers and drawing walks in 17.3% of his 150 plate appearances. Even with infield injuries mounting at the MLB level, the Angels decided not to give him another look. They’ll now take him off the roster entirely, likely ending his time in the organization.

Los Angeles has a week to trade the 10-year MLB veteran or place him on waivers. Should he go unclaimed on waivers, he’d have the right to test free agency while retaining the entirety of this year’s salary.

Rendon draws back into the lineup two weeks after bruising his left wrist. He’ll return to the hot corner, hitting cleanup against Arizona left-hander Tommy Henry. With Velazquez going back to the minors, the Angels have an MLB infield of Rendon, Eduardo Escobar, David Fletcher, Mike Moustakas and Brandon Drury.

The Halos also announced that Kevin Padlo has accepted an assignment to Triple-A. The infielder was outrighted off the 40-man roster this afternoon.

Angels To Select Victor Mederos

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The Angels are promoting Victor Mederos to the majors, reports Robert Murray of FanSided (on Twitter). The right-hander is not on the 40-man roster, so the Halos will have to officially select his contract and make corresponding active and 40-man roster transactions.

It’s another bold promotion for the Angels. The Halos haven’t been afraid to aggressively call on prospects they feel are ready for an MLB look. They made Chase Silseth the first player from the 2021 draft to reach the big leagues last May. Infielder Zach Neto earned the 2022 honors when the Angels called him up this April; reliever Ben Joyce followed a month thereafter. Mederos joins his now-teammates as the only players from last year’s draft to yet get to the bigs.

Mederos was a sixth-round pick out of Oklahoma State. He’d been a high-profile high school pitcher who began his college days at Miami. He never found consistent success at the amateur level, dropping him into the middle rounds on draft day. Baseball America nevertheless ranked him 29th among Anaheim prospects over the offseason, praising his mid-90s fastball and potential plus slider.

The 22-year-old has spent this season at Double-A Rocket City. He’s made 12 starts, allowing a 5.98 ERA across 55 2/3 innings. While he has allowed over two homers per nine innings and is walking 10% of opponents, he’s striking hitters out at a strong 28.3% clip. The front office evidently feels his arsenal will play against MLB hitters in spite of the middling minor league numbers.

Mederos has started all 18 of his professional appearances. Prospect evaluators have pointed to a likely bullpen future because of spotty command. It seems likely he’ll break in at the MLB level as a multi-inning reliever. The Angels’ bullpen ranks eighth in the majors with a 3.69 ERA.

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