Angels' latest acquisition via trade likely means a demotion for rotation stalwart

Perry Minasian has been busy of late, there were expendable Braves players that he had to scoop up for the Angels' bullpen. It sure feels like Ian Anderson -- who the Angels acquired from the Atlanta Braves in exchange for José Suarez -- and Angel Perdomo are both officially locks to make the Angels' bullpen, meaning Anderson will likely take the long reliever role that was seemingly destined to head Reid Detmers' way.

Detmers, who is the Angels' longest tenured starting pitcher, will likely have his misfortunes continue to pile up soon. Despite flashing solid stuff in camp, Detmers has remaining minor league options whereas Perdomo, Anderson, Garrett McDaniels, and José Quijada do not (Brock Burke is out of options as well, but he was a lock to make the team anyways). Even if Detmers is a better pitcher in theory than Anderson, he will likely be a casualty of the Angels' roster-building methods and desperate need for depth. It does feel good to have Anderson the year after the year after his Tommy John surgery from 2023, though. He's still 26-years-old!

Detmers has a better four-seam fastball than Anderson by every metric. Per metrics from TruMedia, Detmers' heaters have been thrown harder, had more induced vertical break, more arm-side run, and a higher spin rate than Anderson's this spring. Anderson's changeup is a fantastic pitch, but so is Detmers' slider. Detmers' curveball is also better than any of Anderson's other offerings. Anderson making the team would solely be because of roster-building mechanics, rather than fantastic spring training statistics. Detmers is a better pitcher than Anderson, even with his struggles the past couple of seasons. At least Detmers was struggling mostly in the majors, unlike Anderson.

Detmers has been optioned to Triple-A both in 2024 and 2022, but otherwise has been a mainstay of the Angels' rotation. Well, it appears that he has been ousted from both the rotation and the bullpen that he technically never actually was a part of. Despite being listed on the Angels' lineup card against the Dodgers as a reliever and his last three appearances being as a bulk-inning reliever, Detmers has still never thrown a regular season inning as a bullpen arm in his major and minor league career.

The Angels could use Detmers as a trade piece down the line, if he does flash some high highs when he returns to the majors. However, his stock is at an all-time low and would not be a safe move for Minasian to make. While Detmers is an easy candidate to shine once he's off the Angels, the organization will not make his dreams come true by moving on from him just yet.

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