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Angels Play Reliever Roulette Again, This Time With A Former Phillies Failure
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- Angels Play Reliever Roulette Again, This Time With A Former Phillies Failure
(IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect)
The Los Angeles Angels continue to make roster moves and sign retread pitchers in the hope that they find one or two can actually perform, and their latest move has them landing Taijuan Walker , who was released by the Philadelphia Phillies earlier this season, according to a report from AJ Eustace of MLBTradeRumors.com via Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register that has him on a minor-league deal.
Some of the moves the Halos have made have been promising, but this isn't one of them. There's no risk, but the chances of any kind of reward are slim, too. The 33-year old Walker made five appearances for Philadelphia this season, four of them starts, and he gave up 23 earned runs and eight homers in just 22-2/3 innings.
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That kind of performance will fit right in with that Angels pitchers have been doing this season, but in theory the Halos are trying to steer clear of this sort of thing.
Walker wasn't always this bad, of course. He was in the last year of a four-year deal that will pay him $72 million, with $18 million of that coming this year. The Angels will only owe him the prorated league minimum for any time he spends in Anaheim, and that amount will be subtracted from what the Phillies owe him.
It's been quite a while since Walker has been good. His ERA back in 2024 was 7.10 in 83-2/3 innings, and he split last year between the rotation and the bullpen. Some of his numbers were decent if you squint a lot, as he had a 4.25 ERA as a starter and a 3.15 ERA as a reliever. His underlying metrics weren't good, though, and according to Eustace he's a fifth starter at best.
The Angels will take that if they can get it, as they've been recycling pitchers constantly trying to find a couple who can get outs. They just outrighted Alex Manoah to Triple-A, and Manoah came into spring training as the favorite to get that fifth starter spot before he blew up badly and the Halos punted on him.
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For Walker, though, Anaheim isn't a bad place to take another run at salvaging his career. The Angels rotation is starting to solidify, but their season is close to gone at this point, so if Walker can pitch well in the minors he could get a chance at that final rotation spot.
