Although it’s not often that teams assign a pitcher to acquire a position player or vice versa, the Los Angeles Angels recently made a cross-positional trade. The Angels optioned Kyren Paris down to Triple-A Salt Lake to free up a roster space, and Perry Minasian decided to take a chance on Chris Taylor, who was just DFA’d and then released by their cross-town rivals. A semi-promising reliever who turned out to be too unreliable for them was used to clear a 40-man place as well. He passed waivers, which allowed the Angels to retain him in the organization, and he might return to Anaheim at some time this season.
Angels reliever accepts Triple-A over free agency as new arm joins the bullpen
After 29 teams declined to add Shaun Anderson to their 40-man roster through a waiver claim, Anderson briefly became a free agent. In the end, he signed a MiLB contract to return to the Angels. The 30-year-old, who was developed as a starter for the Bees before to his call-up, has demonstrated that he can consume innings in a swing role out of the bullpen. In addition to having a good slider and sweeper combination, he is becoming more at ease with his deadly kick-change.Therefore, even if Anderson’s heater only reached a high speed of 94.5 mph, he can still demonstrate to the Angels that his arsenal is capable of playing in the major leagues by doing a respectable job at Triple-A Salt Lake. Prior to his rather perplexing DFA, Anderson’s WHIP, K%, BB%, and wOBA were all above average.
This season, the Angels bullpen has been held together with scotch tape. The Halos’ bullpen pitching corps leaves their supporters feeling, at best, skeptical, even if their run prevention unit has lately performed admirably against the renowned New York Yankees offense. Kenley Jansen has been rock solid, Robert Stephenson’s the team’s white knight, Ryan Zeferjahn is a revelation and Brock Burke is throwing with greater confidence now. Despite his horrifying season-long figures, Reid Detmers seems to be adjusting to his new role as a relief pitcher. In eight innings since May 9th, Detmers has a 1.13 ERA, 11 strikeouts, and has not allowed a home run.
Hunter Strickland, Héctor Neris, and Connor Brogdon are presently occupying the final three bullpen positions. In essence, the components are interchangeable. Although all three have so far produced some pleasant moments, there are many reasons not to think of them as bullpen stalwarts. A player like Shaun Anderson may be called up later in the season to replace one of them, depending on their performance or injury history (all three are in their mid-30s).
Yes, Anderson is going to Salt Lake after leading the Angels with a 6.30 ERA, 5.97 FIP, and 1.70 WHIP. But maintaining bullpen depth is always a big deal for this team, and Anderson is more complex than first meets the eye.
