The Angels have traded their starting catcher, Jason Castro, for a relief pitcher from the San Diego Padres. That pitcher is righty Gerardo Reyes.
According to FanGraphs, who ranked him the 39th Padres’ prospect to begin the season:
“He’s a low-slot bullpen slinger with a tailing, upper-90s fastball, and his arm slot creates issues for righties. He needs to refine command of the breaking ball to better deal with lefties, but just on arm strength and fastball movement, he’ll likely continue to see big league time.”
Reyes struck out over 12 batters per nine last season, and walked a smidge under 4 per nine. In his first go at the majors, Reyes threw 97 mph with a 88 mph slider.
Overall, it’s about what can be expected for a month of an average catcher with over $1 million left on his expiring contract. Those with higher expectations will be disappointed: Reyes is a prototypical FB/SL reliever out of the bullpen, though he has less than a year of service time and will be controllable through 2025.
Can’t really trust anybody that was drafted between 2016-to now
Bill Bavasi and Bob Fontaine Jr weren’t in charge of our scouting and player development during those dark times.
Clevinger to San Diego. Interesting.
Great haul by Cleveland:
“The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal reports that the final deal will send Clevinger, outfielder Greg Allen and a player to be named later to the Padres in exchange for Naylor, Quantrill, Arias, catcher Austin Hedges, minor league left-hander Joey Cantillo and minor league infielder Owen Miller. Bleacher Report’s Scott Miller adds that the PTBNL is likely to be minor league reliever Matt Waldron.”
Let’s rip the whole friggin band-aid off! Brian Goodwin, Andrelton Simmons, Dylan Bundy and Noe Ramirez to the Blue Jays for pitchers Anthony Kay, Adam Kloffenstein, Eric Pardinho, TJ Zeuch and catcher Riley Adams. The blue jays get 3 players they can actually use next year too plus a SS for prospects that are solid but not their cream at all. We get an MLB ready starting prospect, a young huge kid with a big arm, a guy with a solid prospect track but a recent elbow injury and a guy who will be Joe Saunders plus an OK catching prospect.
Our upper MiLB looks way less lopsided. We resign Simmons in December.
um….. stoopid Eppler just likes fast balls?
But seriously, at some point all of these “throws hard and has a slider” pen arms we have floating around just might get it together and we might have a pretty sick bullpen.
Can someone explain the Nola – Trammel deal? That one is a complete head scratcher
I actually saw Trammell a couple times at Chattanooga. Just at Double A he looked kind of overmatched by the breaking stuff and he was kind of a hacker. He LOOKS like a first round draft pick, if you know what I mean….. like a big cat, athletic and strong. I think he has a ton of talent, but after a couple years he’s fizzled a bit so he’s become trade bait. Also, remember, he’s in the Padres system. They aren’t short on prospects at any position at this point.
Very interesting. Good intel. I think my scratch-my-head moment came because I would think that package offered by the Pads (including Trammell) could have returned something better than Nola and a couple of bullpen pieces from the worst bullpen in the Majors.
He dropped in the prospect rankings from 19’ish to the upper 50’s. It seems that some of the shine has worn off
A much better trade than the trade which brought Barreto. Although it makes me nervous having all their eggs in the Max Stassi basket at catcher.
Castro becomes a free agent after this season so the angels could always sign him again. So now you have Gerardo Reyes and Castro next year so either way there’s no downside to this trade. Plus it helps our chances to tank which is a plus.
They strike me as roughly even: both bring in high upside players who haven’t really panned out. I suppose Reyes seems a bit better because of the pitching need, but both he and Barreto are more likely than not to flame out…
In oder to flame out don’t you have to be able to turn the flame on at some point? JS
They’ve done interesting things so far (altho not always at MLB level) to be “intriguing” in the near future. “Flame out,” to me, would mean that “intrigue” turning to “All done. Nothing to see here.”. I’m always looking back to Phil Nevin with the Halos as an example of a flyer on a busted top prospect turning out fairly well.
Does anyone know what the hell Preller was drinking today? Austin Nola has been solid but for TAYLOR TREMMEL!? Plus other prospects. I mean from the initial reaction Trader Jerry fleeced Preller.
Not only that but if you went out and got Nola why get Castro and not have Hedges be the backup catcher? Doesn’t make sense to me why Preller didn’t hold onto Trammel and trade him for someone impactful like Clevinger.
Preller completely lost his shit this weekend
As much shit as people give Eppler (which he deserves) at least he hasn’t made boneheaded trades like this that can really cripple the franchise for years. He’s done other things that have crippled the franchise like not acquire pitching but jeez Preller and Jerry make trades just to feel something.
I completely agree – wtf was Preller thinking?!
Eppler should be on the phone with Prelker asking him if there is ANYONE else he would like from the Angels’ lineup.
Too bad the Pads didn’t want LaStella!
Mariners gave up a 29 year old catcher who is decent and two mediocre bullpen guys for a top-30 prospect, a nice catching prospect and a quality arm. Mariners came out smelling like roses!!
It’s unbelievable how Jerry fleeced the Mets and now he fleeces the Pads. I just don’t get how Nola and two mediocre bullpen arms can snatch Tremmel and 3 other prospects. And those prospects have a decent chance at being serviceable. Say what you want about Jerry but he has created a very bright future up in Seattle. Let’s see what he does once Seattle is back in contention and how crazy he goes just like Preller is doing again lol.
Jer-Jer does trade a lot. That experience now may be paying off for the Mariners, but I doubt it.
Cost cutting move.
Not a bad move for later seasons. Possibly helps the pen this season.
Both trades have hurt our fielding and depth as a whole. Catching is now close to unplayable thin. The infield is just some not good luck away from having Pujols at first every game. Albert can play, but does need his rest. Which one of the outfielders can play everyday up the middle in the cutout dirt?
What is actually available down in the taxi squad?
If there’s any value to be had, I see that the Jays are now interested (to what extent the article didn’t say) in Goodwin. Maybe we can send Simmons and Goodwin, what return could that get us?
We may be surprised at what we can get for Goodwin since he is not a rental, bats lefty and has not turned back into a pumpkin this season.
Again, trading young but proven talent (Goodwin) for a prospect or two is not the way to go. This is the way to end up with egg on your face.
While we do have Marsh waiting in the wings, this org should have learned something about young”stars” in the waiting from the likes of Dallas McPherson, Brandon Wood, and some less highly touted but still disappointing guys like Thaiss.
Trading prospects for other prospects is the wiser route to go than trading young, cheap but PROVEN talent for unknowns.
Goodwin is a valuable commodity and we should not be anxious to part ways with him.
What’s your definition of young?
I’m trying to figure out pumpkin.
Goodwin is just a fourth outfielder, nothing special, but he does play well. I don’t see any team really reaching out to get him, maybe in a twofer, or other multi player trade. Goodwin is the type of player you pick up during the off season.
I just mean he hasn’t become a 70 ops+ player with further extended exposure to MLB pitching. He’s solid enough, and for the Jays, he makes good sense because that don’t really have anyone who can truely play CF. Goodies played enough innings with solid production that teams trading for him know what they are getting….. may not be a Porche, but a Honda Accord.
With rims? If so, I’ll miss B-Good
Well, for most players their “prime” is age 30-32 or maybe a year or two before. Most agree it is 30..
Brian Goodwin is 29, so he hasn’t hit his prime yet. So I’d say under age 30 is still young.
Age 30-32 is typically, but certainly not always, past a player’s prime. Forty-one percent (41%) of players peak between age 26-29. https://baseballwithr.wordpress.com/2017/05/08/what-age-do-baseball-players-peak/#:~:text=Generally%2C%2041%20percent%20of%20all,at%20young%20and%20old%20ages.
Late 90s/00s “fantasy baseball wisdom” was to look for improvement from players in their age 27 season (along with players entering their 3rd season or a contract year).
I wish people would stop throwing DMac in with Wood. DMac could play. His problem was that he was made out of glass.
True that he did hit a handful of homers at the MLB level. But relative to expectations he was unquestionably a bust. Yes, injuries did play a big part in that.
And of course Wood was an unmitigated disaster.
I wish people around here would just get over Brandon Wood. Mention ANY prospect outside the top 30 on this board and someone will keen the name Brandon Wood and blubber about not trusting prospects. Wood was an INCREDIBLE failure. In almost every case we will not be trading for a prospect with the credentials Wood had at his high point. Nor will we be getting anyone that can be as huge a washout as Wood.
Yankee fans don’t constantly bring up Brian Taylor. Dodger fans don’t whinge about Jose Offerman being a bust. We Angel fans seem to call down bad mojo on ourselves. Man up and just let Brandon go people. You can’t get all red faced and demand that the FO rebuild the farm and then tuck it in and start shivering when ever a trade is made for young talent.
I agree. I’d hang on to Goodwin.
I like it. Keep ’em Coming!
Another solid trade, but people seem happy, so I don’t have to defend it this time. 🤷🏻♂️
Berreto will most likely be on the roster a bit for a couple years. We have some good IF prospects like Jackson/Vera and we have Fletcher etc up now but there actually is a bit of a depth gap and Berreto is who will save us from another Featherstone/Pennington era.
I have a suspicion he sticks on the Angels roster longer than Barreto .
Agree. I would say it is “one” solid trade instead of “another” solid trade.
lol
Good trade.
Though it’s not much, it’s something for a .192 hitter and he might not be too young but guy has an arm that hopefully we can help. Similar to the LaStella trade but with Barreto, look where LaStella was when we got him, maybe we can do the same with Barreto. And maybe Reyes can be another Buttrey (high velo guy with control issues but can still get outs) or Milner (a guy who still hasn’t figured it all out but isn’t doing terrible). We’ll have to see though.
I do understand that LaStella had way more experience but imagine what we could do for a guy with less experience
good pickup for the Pad’s who get a playoff experienced catcher from a year ago with Minnesota.
As for us, lets hope Eppler throws you know what against the wall and hope some of it will stick!! 😆 😆
IDK how Roger Lodge spins this BS for Arte to keep Eppler around.
Dude. We all agree now that eppler sucks but who are you picking up for Jason Castrated?
if nothing else more team cap space room since Castro was making more than Stassi.
Like comrade Gitcho said yesterday were probably not getting somebody’s top shelf prospect.
“Hard throwing reliever” = “part time catcher”…. that seems to be the fulcrum on which baseball flops. I actually hope we resign Castro this off season. I like him fine.
I mean “meh”, but “meh” in a good way. It’s more than I expected and yet I still doubt it ever really matters…
No complaints here. 1 month of a veteran isn’t going to bring back a sure thing. At least there are years of control on these lotto tickets Eppler is handing his successor.
Pleasantly surprised the Angels were able to get this much for a potential high-leverage reliever (who’s MLB-ready, too). And yes, part of it is Padres’ clearing the extraneous guys off the 40-man in preparation of the Rule 5, but still. Not too shabby at all.
He throws upper 90’s with good movement so there is potential. If he can get his breaking-ball under control we might have a keeper.
I will add that we DO need to get some continuity at the catcher position. Trading your starting catcher every year is not a formula for winning.
To be fair, there’s a plethora of affordable veteran catchers on the free agent market every winter, so continuity at catcher is hardly an indicator of winning. Having Max Stassi stick, though, is the ideal outcome.
Well, Stassi is now here for his second season (though last season was only about half a season) and thus got to know our staff a bit. So, that would be better than bringing in somebody fresh.
It is not about the availability of catchers in the FA market however. I have previously explained why continuity is important, so I won’t repeat myself here.
I still think I’m on drugs when I read Stassi has a 124 OPS+. Sure, it’s in a handful of ABs, but still, he should be 75 points lower.
It’s been so long since the Angels minor league system has developed a solid catcher too. I know the joke is we always draft catchers but that hasn’t really borne true
You blaspheme Premium. To the dungeon with you
We drafted him before 9/11 even happened. Not sure that counts as recent
Reliever volatility aside, Reyes is pretty damn exciting. There are command issues and he’s already 27 but he generated a boatload of whiffs and suppressed homers in his MLB stint last year. This is a higher-risk project like Franklin Barreto but there’s a chance for an impact reliever here.
I’d say that’s a win for a 33 year old catcher with $1m left on his contract. Again it’s only bc Padres have an embarrassment of riches.
No doubt. I think the Padres are riding this high and recognize that they have a legit shot at the World Series this year. Reyes was like the 10th man in their bullpen ladder so he seemed more expendable, which obviously benefitted the Angels.
yeah for the A’s…….because BB knows how to steal a hidden diamond from somebody.
DON’T LET ANOTHER GM SEE WERNER BLAKELY!!!!!