LA Angels add four prospects to 40-man roster

In order to meet the deadline for Rule 5 draft protection, the LA Angels have added four prospects to the 40-man roster.

The LA Angels have made minors moves today to protect four of their prospects from the Rule 5 Draft. Jaime Barria, Michael Hermosillo, Jesus Castillo and Jake Jewell are now on the 40 man roster, meaning a few things. The Angels 40-man roster had plenty of room to fit these young prospects, so player shuffling was not required in this instance.

More from Halo Hangout

• New York Post columnist has LA Angels bringing veteran starter back to LA
• Dodgers make wild mistake signing failed LA Angels starter
• Why LA Angels’ Qualifying Offer to Raisel Iglesias could become historical
• Both Gold Glove finalists for LA Angels getting snubbed is a complete joke
• Marcus Stroman definitely appears to be interested in the LA Angels

This means that these four prospects are now entering their “option” years, which can be seen as the beginning of their journey to the big leagues. Sometimes Rule 5 protection is simply done out for safety measures in regards to the prospects, but this batch of minor leaguers may look to make impacts on the major league roster in short time.

Let’s take a quick look at the players added to the 40-man roster today.

Jaime Barria: The 21 year old right handed pitcher from Panama, posted an incredible 2.80 ERA across the Angels A+, AA, and AAA teams throughout 141.2 IP in 2017. One major highlight of Barria’s is his strong command as he posted a 3.77 SO/BB ratio. Given his consistency throughout three levels of minor league ball we may very well see him test his mettle sometime in 2018 with the Angels.

Michael Hermosillo: The 22 year old right handed outfielder from Arizona also spent time across 3 levels of minor league ball. Michael found success throughout his 2017 season, ending with a solid .267/.366/.397 slash line. Perhaps his most encouraging stat was his SB’s throughout the season, totaling at 35. This lines up perfectly with this current Angels team that provides speed threats on the base-paths. Hermosillo does need to find improvement with this eye however, as he struck out 116 times as opposed to his 56 walks in 2017.

Jesus Castillo:  Castillo found his way aboard the Angels organization among the Joe Smith trade in 2016. At the age of 22 Castillo performed in A, A+, and AA ball while posting an overall ERA of 3.32. Through 124.2 IP Castillo put up a great 4.45 SO/BB ratio, though his H/9 ratio does need improvement at 9.1. Castillo may be in line for work out of the Angels big league bullpen in the future.

Jake Jewell: At the age of 24, Jewell pitched 140.2 innings across AA and A+ ball. With an ERA of 4.54 in 2017 there is room for improvement, but the Angels do see him as a bottom-end starter for the big league club. His low K/9 rate of 5.8 offers plenty of room for improvement, but with the confidence the team has in his ability to develop he’ll find plenty of opportunity to improve.

Next: Matt Thaiss is the Halos Answer at First Base

With the Angels only having 32 spots in the 40 man rotation filled it’s looking like the Angels will be working hard all off-season to optimize the final slots. As for the Rule 5 Draft protection the Angels will be holding on the the four aforementioned players for at least another season barring any big prospect shakeup.