
Rengifo missed a few weeks of training camp for undisclosed reasons, then dealt with hamstring tightness. Maddon said infielder Luis Rengifo is “very close, if not ready” to replace Simmons on the active roster should the need arise.

The year before that, he twisted his ankle in June 2018 coming down dugout steps before a game and missed only 10 days. He returned from last year’s injury in five weeks, although he acknowledged not being at 100%. So the teaching point is just hit the front edge of the bag, almost lean into it like a track runner. And also, beyond an ankle roll, believe me, from personal experience, the hamstrings pop too. Sometimes guys feel that you could jump and be quicker, which is not true. “You should run through the bag at the front edge of the bag always,” manager Joe Maddon said. But in lunging and overextending his stride, Simmons hit the front of the base with his left foot. On a one-out groundball to first base, he burst out of the right-handed batter’s box and tried to earn a single. He did the same thing in May last season. He had a 5.25 ERA in 12 innings.This isn’t the first time Simmons has injured his ankle trying to leg out a groundball.

In 2020, he was not used in high-leverage situations and eventually was shipped to Long Beach to work out at the alternate training site. He came back to pitch just 7-2/3 innings in 2019. Middleton was the Angels’ closer early in 2018 before suffering an injury that required Tommy John surgery. Pinto, 19, had only pitched half a season in the Dominican Summer League, striking out 19 and walking three in 12 innings.Īs for the non-tenders, the move with Robles was expected after he posted a 10.26 ERA in 19 games in 2020, a disappointing follow-up to a breakout 2019 in which he saved 23 games with a 2.48 ERA. 21 prospect in the Angels’ system by MLB Pipeline and Baseball America did not rank him in the top 30. Stallings, 23, has not yet pitched professionally, because the Angels held him out of the second half of the 2019 season and there was no minor league season in 2020. In order to get Iglesias, the Angels gave up Stallings, the Angels’ fifth-round pick in 2019. The homework we’ve done on him, in Cincinnati and Baltimore, he has really taken a leadership role. He goes to bed thinking about playing and he wakes up thinking about playing. I think contact is very important in today’s game. “He had an outstanding season for Baltimore. “I think he’s really come into his own the last couple of years,” Minasian said. The Orioles signed him to a one-year deal with an option before the 2020 season, and they recently exercised the option to pay him $3.5 million in 2021. Minasian said the Angels “took a look at the medical” and are “confident” in Iglesias’ health.Ī native of Cuba, Iglesias reached the majors with the Boston Red Sox, then played for the Tigers, Cincinnati Reds and Orioles. He was limited to 24 games at shortstop, with 15 at DH, because of a lingering hamstring issue in 2020. He was an All-Star with the Detroit Tigers in 2015, when he hit. 956 OPS, well above his career averages of. In the deal with the Orioles, the Angels picked up a 30-year-old who is best known for his glove, but Iglesias had his best offensive season in the 60-game 2020 slate. They offered arbitration to the six other eligible players: pitcher/DH Shohei Ohtani, pitchers Dylan Bundy, Andrew Heaney, Mike Mayers and Felix Peña and catcher Max Stassi. They also non-tendered Justin Anderson, Hoby Milner and Matt Andriese. Robles was set to make around $4 million and Middleton around $1 million. Neither move can be considered a surprise because both pitchers failed to perform up to expectations in 2020.

Most notably, the Angels did not offer arbitration to Hansel Robles and Keynan Middleton. And the Angels also cleared some payroll space by non-tendering five arbitration-eligible relief pitchers just before the Wednesday deadline. “The contract is appealing with where we’re at and what we’re trying to do and it will allow us to allocate resources to other areas of need,” Minasian said.
#Angels shortstop free#
Iglesias will be a free agent after next season. They sent the Orioles two pitchers who weren’t among their top prospects, and they’ll have to pay Iglesias just $3.5 million in 2021. Iglesias will have trouble meeting the standard of Simmons, a four-time Gold Glove winner who is now a free agent, but the Angels nonetheless feel like Iglesias is a suitable replacement, who came at an affordable price.
