Angels News: LAA claims member of Dodgers' championship team, DFA injured reliever

The Angels broke the dam, and are suddenly making moves left-and-right as pitchers and catchers are set to report for spring training. One new pitcher who was just added was closer Kenley Jansen, and another arm traveling inbound to Tempe, AZ will be Michael Petersen. Petersen is a 30-year-old reliever who pitched 19.2 MLB innings last season between the Dodgers and Marlins, making him technically a member of the Dodgers' championship winning ballclub. To clear room, the Angels waived Kelvin Cáceres who missed all of last season due to a lat strain during spring training.

LAA claims member of Dodgers' championship team, DFA injured reliever

The Dodgers designated Petersen for assignment in September, and was claimed by the Marlins. After the 2024 season ended, the Marlins DFA'd him, and he was then claimed by the Blue Jays. The Blue Jays DFA'd Petersen to make room on the 40-man roster for Max Scherzer, which allowed the Angels to snatch him up. It's possible the Angels end up DFAing Petersen when they need to make room on the 40-man roster for Jansen, as pitchers of his ilk quite frequently find themselves spinning on the waiver carousel (see: Kyle Tyler, Roansy Contreras).

If the Angels end up keeping Petersen and clearing a different 40-man spot for Jansen, they will be adding a 6'7 pitcher who was born in Middlesex, United Kingdom. He absolutely tore it up for AAA Oklahoma City last season, posting a 1.64 ERA in 33 innings for the Dodgers' affiliate. While the results of his debut season were subpar at the big league level (14:11 SO:BB, 5.56 FIP), he sports a 97.1mph average four-seam with above average ride coming from a high arm angle of his tall frame. He is predominantly a two pitch pitcher, who pairs his heater with a cutter/slider hybrid-type, cement mixer pitch that averages 88.2mph. His Stuff+ numbers are promising and he at least has some sample size against big league hitters, so he could be a potential fill-in option should the Angels need reinforcements in the bullpen at some point in 2025.

Cáceres certainly was an option to get waived when the Angels brought in both Yoán Moncada and Jansen. The Angels decided to potentially lose Cáceres instead of other options like Kyren Paris, Gustavo Campero, Jack Dashwood, or even José Suarez. The Angels will still need to move Stephenson to the 60-Day IL to clear a spot, and will undoubtedly will move one of those four players to make room for their other free agency addition. Cáceres is probably the least MLB-ready player on the 40-man roster, so it makes sense that a team who wants to contend next year would clear him off in favor of the more polished Petersen.

Perhaps Cáceres is not progressing from his lat strain as the team figured he would be? The 25-year-old seems like a mortal lock to get claimed off waivers, whereas Campero or Suarez might have been more likely to clear waivers and return to the club (Suarez cleared waivers following his DFA last season).

When Cáceres gets healthy, he will display a nasty sinker-curveball combination that got him his MLB debut for the Angels when he was 23-years-old. Granted, the Angels pretty much ran out of pitchers when they selected his contract from AAA Salt Lake right before the 2023 season ended. He is well worth a flier from another club, but if he returns to the Angels that would be a major win for a team desperate for minor league depth.

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