SAN DIEGO — The Angels are going to give Carlos Estevez a chance to show what he can do at sea level.
Estevez, who had spent his entire major league career pitching at high altitude and in relative obscurity with the Colorado Rockies, agreed on Monday to a two-year, $13.5 million deal with the Angels, who will give him the opportunity to pitch at the back end of the bullpen.
“Our bullpen is wide open,” General Manager Perry Minasian said from the Winter Meetings. “He’s going to have a chance to pitch late, in the back end and it’s going to be Phil (Nevin’s) call, but we feel like we’ve got multiple guys that can do that. When the eighth and ninth inning rolls around, we’ve got multiple options, which is what we want.”
Estevez, 29, throws a fastball in the upper-90s and a slider, which he used to post a 3.47 ERA in 2022 with the Rockies. Although his ERA for his six-year career is 4.59, that includes a 3.51 ERA outside of Coors Field.
Minasian said that they looked deep into Estevez’s performance to see how his stuff might play outside of the thin air of Denver.
“That’s something that we spent a long, long time talking about and digging into,” Minasian said. “At the end of the day, we felt really comfortable with this player. There’s some things that we feel like he can do and make adjustments with that have got a chance to really impact his career going forward. So we’re excited to work with him.”
Although Estevez had a similar ERA at home and on the road in 2022, his strikeout rate was 29.3% on the road and 16.8% at home last season. That could be because of how his slider plays differently at high altitude.
Minasian said it’s “more of an elite swing-and-miss pitch on the road.”
The overall package of a power fastball and a slider, to with a changeup, was something that Minasian felt would fill a void in the Angels’ bullpen.
“We felt like we needed some power,” Minasian said. “It was something we lacked to a certain extent, just pure stuff.”
That stuff was more refined as the season went on in 2022. Estevez had a 1.40 ERA in the second half, which Rockies manager Bud Black was the result of improved command.
“I think the quality of the strikes was better,” Black said from the Winter Meetings. “First-pitch strike consistency, keeping the ball down when needed, elevating when needed against certain hitters, certain counts. He commanded his slider and change more consistently in the strike zone. He’s been pretty consistent the last couple years, but the second half of last year was really solid.”
The Angels have been working to upgrade their bullpen, which has no established closer since they traded Raisel Iglesias last season.
Estevez has 25 career saves. Black said he believes that Estevez had the stuff to be a closer, but the Rockies had other successful pitchers in that role over the past few years.
“We haven’t needed Carlos to step up and be that closer but for me, he does have a closer mentality,” Black said.
Estevez now joins a bullpen that includes right-handers Jimmy Herget, Ryan Tepera, Andrew Wantz and Jaime Barria, and left-handers Aaron Loup and José Quijada.
The Angels also have signed right-handers Chris Devenski, Jonathan Holder and Jacob Webb to minor league deals. And Minasian said they are still looking for more.
“It doesn’t mean we’re done in the bullpen,” he said. “If there’s more there, we’ll definitely take a look. There is never enough, but we feel this is a huge, huge addition for us.”
NOTES
Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani, the pitcher, were named to the All-MLB first team, while Ohtani, the DH, was named to the second team. …
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Minasian said right-handers Griffin Canning and Chris Rodriguez are continuing their throwing programs and he’s hoping that both can be ready to go for the start of spring training. Each missed all of 2022, Canning with a back injury and Rodriguez recovering from shoulder surgery. “Those would be huge, huge additions for us,” Minasian said. …
Minasian acknowledged that shortstop is a spot at which he’s still trying to upgrade. He said there are opportunities to upgrade even beyond the three notable remaining free agent shortstops: Xander Bogaerts, Carlos Correa and Dansby Swanson. “I think there’s opportunities all over the free agent board and specifically shortstop,” he said. “I do think there are opportunities that maybe have not been discussed publicly.” He would not elaborate on those opportunities. …
Infielder David Fletcher recently met with Nevin and detailed his offseason work, which has Minasian optimistic that he can rebound. Fletcher struggled for the second half of 2021 and he played through injury throughout 2022. “I think he’s going to have a way better year than he’s had the last two,” Minasian said. …
Minasian said he has no update on the progress of owner Arte Moreno’s efforts to sell the team, mostly because he said he hasn’t asked. “I don’t believe that’s any of my business, to be honest with you,” Minasian said. “That’s above me.”