Angels, like competitors, send potential customers to nationals, for two traveling good reliefists

The winners of three straight games raised their record to 53-55, and the Angels suddenly acted like contenders. On Wednesday, the day before this year’s deal deadline, the team received a bullpen from the Nationals by acquiring rescuers Andrew Chafin and Luis García, one of the worst bullpens of the season in exchange for reliefists Jake Eder and first base prospect Sam Brown.

This is the third stop of the season-long season at 38, who has pitched for eight different teams and is also his third time joining the Angels. Not only did he spend the 2019 season in Anaheim, he also re-signed with them in December 2023 and spent the first four months of 24 years with them. In fact, the Angels traded him to the Red Sox in exchange for four prospects a year ago.

Since then, Garcia’s Odyssey has continued. He signed with the Dodgers in mid-February and was designated as a mission on June 29, releasing 28 innings on July 4. From late May to late June, he missed a suitable introductory note and returned to two appearances before returning to DFA. The final outing was bad. He allowed a third of the third against the Royals on June 28, and in his last 10 2/3 innings he gave up nine runs and 19 hits, with the Dodgers joining the Dodgers to put his era out to 5.27. Four days after his release, he signed a contract with the National. Since then, he has gone through a scene and allowed only one and five hits. Despite the sharp contrast in the times, García’s 3.57 FIP and 3.59 FIP with the Nationals’ FIP show he’s basically the same pitcher, a worm’s machine (54.6% ground ball rate overall) and they won’t miss a lot of bats (19.5% batting rate (19.5%) but keeping the ball in the park (0.48 Hommers the Park).

That is, Garcia has been throwing the ball since joining the National. His average speed of sinkers increased from 96.4 mph, the Dodgers increased to 97.9 for the Nationals, while his splitter average speed increased from 87.8 to 90.1. He threw 47.9% of the time in left-handed, while on the right only 3.0%. His sweeper’s antenna has thrown it to the right 48.9% of the time, but only 15.7% of the time to the left, also titrated from 82.9 to 83.6. Based on our two pitch modeling systems, which can be used to capture small sample variations, his overall content score has improved, which is mainly driven by a slight improvement in the better command/position and pendant and sweeper.

The improvement of these two pitches is key, as García is uncharacteristic by the right (.307/.381/.547, .396 woba) and suffocates the left-handed (.250/.342/.297, .272 WOBA). In each of the first two seasons, he succumbed to the left-handed for the right and the .327.

As for the 35-year-old left-hander Chafin, it was his second straight year on July 30 (last year when he moved from the Tigers to the Rangers last year) and his fourth trade before the deadline in the past five years. After releasing 3.51 ERA and 3.54 FIPs in 56 1/3 of the innings of Detroit and Texas last year, he had to reach an agreement with Tigers, who sent him to their Triple-A Toledo affiliate to start a year. He opted out on April 30 after posting a 2.13 ERA and a 31.5% strikeout rate in 12 2/3 innings. The Nationals signed him and since then he has won 2.70 ERA and 3.74 FIP in 20 innings.

Although Chafin has allowed only one home run so far, his strikeout rate of 20.5% and a walking rate of 13.6% (the former is the lowest title since 2015 and the latter is the highest level in his 11-year career), suggesting he is on thinner ice. From last year, his four-part shoes and pendant averaged 91.7 mph, losing at least 1.5 mph. The four-hole speed has dropped to 90.0, while his sinker speed has often dropped to 90.2. The slider scored especially well on our two pitch modeling metrics (59 on PitchingBot’s 20-80 scout scale and 125 on the East and West + level, with 100 average average), but his fastball and his general command and position usually scored below average. In the platoon, he suffocated the left-handed (.147/.293/.147. .226 WOBA) this year but was beaten by Righties (.366/.435/.463, .397 Woba), although his career was equally effective.

Angels can use relief. Their bullpen ranks highest in FIP (4.81) and Nine (1.5), 28th walking rate (10.6%) and 27th (4.96) in ERA and home runs. They haven’t spent more than a day since April 20, and the assumption in recent weeks is that they will be sellers for deadlines and can trade others like Closer Kenley Jansen, starter Tyler Anderson, outfielder Taylor Ward, and anything else that isn’t nailed. In fact, their playoff odds are only 5.1%. They tied with the Royals in four games of the third wildcard, trailing the half-time game of Guardians (53-54), followed by the Rays (54-54) and three games after the Rangers (56-52). It’s a team without much business deals, the highest ranking young guy from the farm system, but maybe the temptation to work hard when Mike Trout stands upright is insurmountable.

As for the people they gave up, the 26-year-old Eder was a 6-foot-4-foot left-hander who received cash from the White Sox on March 31. He entered the season with a 40 fv prospect, known for his above-average slider. Among the starters in Triple-A Salt Lake City, he was tattooed for 6.11 ERA and 5.87 FIP in 63 1/3 innings, but he pitched for Angels in the bullpen and won 4.91 ERA, 5.22 FIP and 19.2% strike rate in 18 1/3 innings. His last three outings were longer, ranging from three to six innings, with 98 pitches against the Mets on July 23, so if there was a start, he could join the Nationals rotation. Here is what Eric Longenhagen had to say to Eder in the notes he provided:

Eder was selected as Vanderbilt in the fourth round of the truncated draft in 2020, and his stuff exploded in pro ball. Eder started 15 times in 2021, sat down with a strikeout rate and a 0.98 whip in the mid-30s, sat 94-97 and bent in the plus slider, but he blew up and needed Tommy John’s surgery. His recovery was interrupted by an inappropriate foot break, which took him off the mound until mid-2023 season, when old colleagues Kenny Williams and Kim Ng later swapped Jake Burger for Eder. When he came back, it was a lower arm slot, and Eder worked hard to regain his arm’s strength before he was injured, as his fastball has been sitting in the 92-94 mph community since. Eder’s stuff has been closer to average throughout the average, and he’s been on the verge of 40 people, changing Orgs multiple times and trying to stay on the big enough to graduate from rookie status as he’s close to 27. He is throwing enough strikes in a quarter-way to be considered a fifth of the medium momentum or a steady middleman, but for a long time, but his influence is long, but for a long time, like him, an influence encountered, a member of the encounter.

The 23-year-old Brown was the Angels’ 12th round pick in Washington State in 2023 and is now an over-35 FV prospect, although no tool can average or higher. He struggled with Double-A Rocket City last year after signing $150,000 in bonuses (.214/.298/.302, with four home runs and 85 WRC+). Repeat this level (.244/.350/.358 with five home runs and 117 WRC+), he has been more successful. From Logenhagen:

Brown is a left-handed first baseman (an occasional corner fielder) who is above average with a contact rate of 78% on Double-A’s bat-to-ball metric this year. Brown’s second trip on Double-a was asserted super aggressive when he debuted in 2024. The way his hands work makes him tend to be late on the fastball and drive to the left field, which may reduce contact performance on Velo in the major leagues. Brown’s raw power is a shadow below the major league average, comfortably below the typical trait of a good major league first baseman, but at least on paper, he has enough connection/power combinations to be considered as the prospect of the edge.

For the people, these flyers are not unreasonable flyers. For the Angels, it likely looks like a duplication of their 2023 deadline when they cleared the system they had already dabbled in by trading Lucas Giolito, Reynaldo López, Randal Grichuk, and others, and then scored 17-38 after July 31. Those who forget about history…ask Arte Moreno!