Angels designate Taylor Featherston for assignment

Last Friday, the Angels decided to designate infielder Taylor Featherston for assignment after keeping him on the major league roster all of last year due to his Rule 5 draft status.  The Angels instead decided to claim lefty reliever Christian Friedrich off waivers from the Colorado Rockies and add him to the 40-man roster.

The Angels could still keep Featherston if he goes unclaimed through the waiver wire.  If this happens the Angels could option him back to the minors either Double-A or Triple-A and still retain rights to him.  Featherston hit .162 last season in back-up role he also hit two home runs and drove in nine runs in 154 at bats.

Featherston played strong defense playing in 94 games at shortstop, third base, and second base many as a late-inning replacement. Featherston finished with a .971 fielding percentage with six errors in 205 total chances.  However, Featherston was a favorite of former Angels general manager Jerry DiPoto, but new general manager did not think as highly of Featherston which led to the 26-year old becoming expendable.

With the signing of Christian Friedrich it gives the Angels another potential left-handed option out of the bullpen.  Friedrich has a career record of 5-16 record with a 5.81 ERA in parts of three seasons with the Colorado Rockies.  Friedrich was a first-round draft pick by the Rockies in 2008.  Friedrich was 0-4 with a 5.25 ERA last season in 68 games pitching 58.1 innings.

So the question I ask is why risk losing Featherston who showed a lot of promise as the year went on in 2015 for another lefty reliever with a career ERA of 5.81????  Featherston was overmatched at the plate most of the season but had a .274 batting average in three minor league season swatting 43 home runs with 212 RBI’s while stealing 49 bases in 404 games.  Featherston also had a .343 OBP so his numbers look promising.

It is true that the Angels still could keep him if he clears waivers, but that is a risk I don’t think the Angels should have taken.  Especially not for a guy like Friedrich who is not a necessity.  Maybe Eppler had his reasons for this move, but I think any way you look at it, it is a questionable one at best.  Hopefully it will not come back to haunt them.  in the long-run.