Los Angeles Angels News & Notes: Williams & Reyes

The Los Angeles Angels and Jerome Williams avoided arbitration yesterday by signing the right hander to a one year deal worth $2 million. Our friends over at MLB Trade Rumors had Williams at $1.9 million so the deal isn’t too far from that figure.

September 19, 2012; Anaheim, CA, USA; Los Angeles Angels starting pitcher Jerome Williams (57) pitches in the third inning against the Texas Rangers at Angel Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports

Williams went 6-8 with a 4.58 ERA in 32 games last season, with 15 of those games coming as a starter. He struck out 98 batters in 137.2 innings last season. Williams is probably number 7 on the depth chart for starters, however, it doesn’t make him decrease his value.

Every team needs that swingman out of the bullpen who can come in and eat up innings if the starter gets hit hard early or leaves with an injury, or if you have a game that goes 18 innings.

The Angels still have a couple of guys left who filed for arbitration in Kevin Jepsen, Jason Vargas, Alberto Callaspo and Tommy Hanson. Teams don’t usually like to go to arbitration hearings, so you’ll probably hear about new deals for all these guys soon.

In other Angels news, the club released Jo-Jo Reyes to allow him to sign with the SK Wyverns of the Korean League. Reyes was signed as a minor league free-agent with an invite to Spring Training. He was most likely going to end up in AAA this year, so it’s probably a good move for Reyes. Good luck to him in Korea and you wonder if the Angels will sign another guy like Reyes and invite him to spring training.