Angels News: A promising young arm is likely gone for good, another gets sent down

The Los Angeles Angels' bullpen has been up-and-down all season, but of late they have found some success. From May 25th on, Angels relievers have posted a 1.82 ERA, a 1.03 WHIP and opposing hitters are slashing .178/.264/.293/.557. So, the Angels chose to bring another veteran reliever back into their older bullpen, even though one promising youngster was set to return from the 15-Day Injured List and another performed well after he also returned from the IL.

Angels potentially lose a promising young arm via DFA, option down another

The Angels had the opportunity to return Garrett McDaniels to their active roster following his rehab assignment for his bicep tendontis, but chose not to. The team is trying to win now, and in doing so they are likely sacrificing McDaniels' career. Per MLB Trade Rumors: "If McDaniels clears waivers, the Angels would have to offer him back to the Dodgers for $50K."

It will be interesting to see if McDaniels does get added to another team's 40-man roster. However, it feels like a stretch to believe that the Dodgers will not bring back 25-year-old left-handed pitcher for that measly sum after he got exposure to The Show and a full major league spring training if he does end up clearing waivers.

Instead of potentially losing Connor Brogdon or Hector Néris, the Angels likely parted ways with McDaniels for good. Brogdon and Néris do not have any minor league options, so to clear room for McDaniels' return they would have had to waive one of them. Hunter Strickland has a 0.00 ERA in 10 innings pitched so he was not going anywhere, and the same goes for optioning down Reid Detmers.

José Fermin had just returned to The Show following a rehab assignment, but was optioned back down to Triple-A after an impressive outing. In the Angels' loss in their series finale against the Mariners, Fermin helped keep the team's deficit at one run by way of 1.2 innings of scoreless relief. The 23-year-old only allowed one hit (a single) and posted a 3:0 K:BB. He touched 99 MPH three times in his appearance. The Angels' bullpen is running on fumes following their back-to-back series wins against Boston and Seattle, so despite Fermin's best efforts they opted to bring up a fresh arm in Shaun Anderson.

Selecting Anderson's contract and DFAing McDaniels is an interesting decision. Anderson has a unique arsenal and has shown flashes of promise, but has a 6.30 ERA and 5.97 FIP this season. The 30-year-old has a career ERA of 6.11 and career FIP of 5.03. This win-now decision, while the team is an extreme long-shot to make the postseason, is puzzling to say the least. There's not a fantastic argument to be made that Anderson would have even been that much better than McDaniels this season, let alone moving forward.

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