Angels sign former Phillies reliever that was traded to Dodgers last season

The Angels are addressing their bullpen in a round-about way this winter. So far, they are prioritizing veteran stashes on minor league contracts -- with the latest example being the signing of RHP Connor Brogdon (per Baseball America's Taylor Blake Ward). It is not reported, but he will likely be invited to big league spring training. Angels general manager, Perry Minasian, has yet to address the big league bullpen that will materialize once spring training ends and the regular season begins. However, he certainly is adding plenty of depth pieces that will assuredly debut at some point in 2025.

Brogdon is the third former Dodgers reliever Minasian has brought in this off-season, alongside left-handed pitchers Victor González and Garrett McDaniels. Minasian acquired former Cardinals and Rockies RHP Dakota Hudson via a minor league contract in early December in a similar transaction to the Brogdon addition. Another trend Minasian continues: the soon-to-be 30-year-old Brogdon hails from California, much like Travis d'Arnaud, Kevin Newman, and Kyle Hendricks.

Connor Brogdon might have lost a step, but is certainly worth a look

The ever-active Dodgers needed to clear a 40-man spot prior to the Rule-5 Draft at the winter meetings, and easily decided that Brogdon was expendable given his unavailability during the 2024 campaign. The Angels were able to scoop him cheaply, as he was only able to throw 3.0 major league innings and 14 minor league innings last season between the Phillies and Dodgers due to the always gnarly plantar fasciitis. His once-mid-90s fastball has descended down to the lower-90s, and he will float in a low-80s changeup, and a cement-mixer cutter. His four-seam's effectiveness likely relied more on its velocity than shape, as it often descends into an inefficient two-seam shape. In fact, in 2023 he tossed far more changeups than fastballs for the Phils. He was pretty good while in AAA Oklahoma City in 2024, but will likely head to the more unforgiving AAA Salt Lake once camp breaks.

Brogdon is certainly worth a look given his history with two storied organizations in the Phillies and Dodgers. The Dodgers are savvy in the way they dole out minor league deals to reclamation projects, so copying their handiwork makes sense. The Dodgers forewent the waiver process, following Brogdon's DFA in April, by sending the Phillies Benony Robles in exchange for the 29-year-old. While with the Phillies, Brogdon posted sub-4 FIPs and sub-1.3 WHIPs during the 2021 and 2022 seasons. He was a bona fide back-end bullpen pitcher in his heyday, and now he will try and recreate himself with the Angels organization. Perhaps he becomes more of a cutter-baller?

The lack of activity in the relief pitching market is appearing to be a thing of the part shortly, and the Angels will certainly be scouring the free agent class for big league arms. Whether they do end up bringing in impact relievers to their major league bullpen, they have plenty of back-up options like Brogdon ready-to-go while they maneuver through next season's trials and tribulations.

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