Angels Add Three To 40-Man Roster

The deadline to add players to your 40 man active roster is today at midnight eastern, however, the Angels wasted no time in doing so by adding three to the roster, pitchers Brandon Sisk and Ryan Brasier and outfielder Travis Witherspoon. The 40 man roster stands at 34, which gives them flexibility to add free agents and maybe a player or two in the rule five draft in a couple of weeks.

Feb 24, 2011; Tempe, AZ, USA; Los Angeles Angels outfielder Travis Witherspoon (center) during a full team workout at Tempe Diablo Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jake Roth-US PRESSWIRE

I’ve talked about the recently acquired Sisk in the past so I’m not going to go into detail anymore about it. Basically, watch him this spring training, and if he performs, don’t be shocked to see him coming out of the bullpen and be a member of the opening day roster.Brasier’s put up good numbers in the past, but struggled last season in AAA, though it was his first full season in AAA. He had a 4.37 ERA, but did go 7-3 and struck out 54 in 59.2 innings. After throwing 11 wild pitches back in 2010, he only threw two last year. Last year was the first time he gave up more hits than innings pitched in a season since 2009. Again, he might have been adjusting to a higher level of competition.

Witherspoon has never appeared in a game above AA, and only appeared in 54 at that level last year. He’s a centerfielder with a ton of speed. He stole 46 bases in 2011 and 34 last season. Last year he also hit 13 home runs in 548 plate appearances. He struck out 106 times last year, so he does need to cut down on that and improve his batting eye with only 57 walks last year.