Angels have chance at elite bullpen arm after Blue Jays blunder

The Angels' bullpen has been a forgotten about position group so far this offseason, as the only relief pitchers the Halos have been talked about alongside are Kenley Jansen and Cody Laweryson (whom they claimed off of waivers). While the Jansen reunion should be their top priority right now, the Angels will have to pivot hard if the future Hall of Fame closer finds a new home for 2026 and beyond. And even if they bring Jansen back, they barely have enough healthy relievers on the 40-man to form a complete bullpen.

Scouring the bargain free agents and finding more waiver claims will be key to them building a sturdy bullpen in 2026, and luckily the Angels have a chance at doing just that after the Toronto Blue Jays designated an exceptional relief pitcher for assignment.

Yariel Rodriguez is by no means a shut down closer in the mold of Arnoldis Chapman or a stopper out of the pen like Reid Detmers was in 2025 before rejoining the rotation for 2026. Rodriguez's 3.08 ERA in 2025 showed an exceptional number, though, and usually contending teams are not quick to dump good relievers. The Blue Jays have added Cody Ponce and Dylan Cease this offseason, and opted to make extra room on their 40-man by outrighting Rodriguez. And that gives the Angels a chance to get a buy-low reliever that has shown he can be effective in the big leagues.

Angels need to pounce after Blue Jays DFA strong reliever

Rodriguez, 28, is not a strikeout afficionado nor does he control he pitches at a high level to rarely walk batters. His strikeout and walk percentages ranked in the 46th and 8th percentile, respectively. However, Rodriguez is absolutely elite as invoking soft contact from batters (average exit velocity on his pitches ranked in the 95th percentile) and keeping batters from making solid contact (hard hit percentage was in the 83rd percentile).

Similar to what Andrew Chafin was for the Angels in 2025, Rodriguez may not be a high-leverage arm that will come in with the bases loaded and no outs in a tight ball game. However, when a starter can't get through six innings, he is adept at performing as the first man out of the bullpen. If you give him a fresh inning with no one on the bases and no outs, Rodriguez will perform. And in an Angels' bullpen that has very little at the moment, he would a tremendous addition to help survive a season.