Former Angels closer re-signs with Atlanta Braves, sets the market for star relievers

With Kenley Jansen hitting free agency, the Los Angeles Angels are in need of a 9th inning stopper. As of now, with Reid Detmers heading to the starting rotation, the Angels have Ben Joyce, Robert Stephenson and Brock Burke as locks for the Opening Day bullpen. They have pitchers like Ryan Zeferjahn, Chase Silseth, Sam Bachman, José Fermin and several others who will have to earn jobs during spring training.

Clearly, the Angels need massive upgrades to their core group of relievers. Joyce and Stephenson are just not trustworthy, which leaves Burke as truly the one guy who can be semi-plausibly relied upon to stay available and effective (ish) over the course of a 162 game season. Well, it just so happens that a former Angels closer just set the market for what it will take to sign a star closer.

Former Angels closer re-signs with Atlanta Braves, sets the market for star relievers

Per FanSided's Robert Murray, Raisel Iglesias is re-signing with the Atlanta Braves for one-year and $16 million. Iglesias, of course, was traded from the Angels to the Braves in exchange for Jesse Chavez and Tucker Davidson in a trade that is not often referred to as a Perry Minasian disaster-class in being a general manager. Chavez was DFA'd almost immediately and just went back to Atlanta, while Davidson flamed out real quick as an asset on a major league roster.

The Angels have roughly $40 million to spend this offseason after the Taylor Ward trade. Granted, they could spend more than that but Arte Moreno will definitely want to dip into the luxury tax even though his team has not made the playoffs since 2014. Where that $40 million will be spent on the roster is a hot-button topic amongst Angels fans, as there are so many clear holes on the roster that need to be filled if the team will have any chance to contend next year. The bullpen simply has to be addressed with this surplus.

ESPN's Kiley McDaniel projected Iglesias' contract to be 2 years and $18 million ($9M AAV). It seems like Iglesias wanted to take a sort of hometown discount to return to Atlanta, as he definitely would have been offered a multi-year contract elsewhere. It seems more likely that the Angels could re-sign Jansen to a similar one-year, $10 million deal they nabbed him at last season, especially given this Iglesias deal. If the Angels want to go big-game hunting, they would have to bring in a Ryan Helsley-type (who has ties to Mike Maddux) for roughly a similar AAV to Iglesias and probably more.