Angels bolster bullpen with Carlos Estevez signing

The Los Angeles Angels have made a move at the Winter Meetings, signing Carlos Estevez. The former Rockies hurler is the first reliever the Angels have signed to an MLB deal after signing four relievers to minor league deals.

Estevez signed a two-year $14 million dollar deal, making $7 million dollars annually.

The 29 year old is coming off his best season with the Rockies as he posted a 3.47 ERA in 62 appearances and 57 innings pitched. He should help a bullpen that was in desperate need of arms.

Angels improve their bullpen with the Carlos Estevez signing.

What's intriguing about Estevez is he's a very hard thrower in a bullpen that didn't feature many. Guys like Aaron Loup, Jimmy Herget, and Ryan Tepera while effective, don't throw particularly hard.

Estevez averaged 97.5 mph with his fastball this past season which ranked in the 95th percentile according to baseball savant. It's good to give opposing hitters different looks, and the Angels lacked a fireballer in their bullpen.

When evaluating a Rockies pitcher it's important to look at their home and away splits as Coors Field is the worst place a pitcher can possibly pitch in. Estevez has turned out to be far better on the road than at home to nobody's surprise.

On the road, Estevez has a 3.51 ERA in 158 appearances. He has a 5.57 ERA at home in 163 appearances. If the Angels get the road version of Estevez I think they'll be very pleased.

The contract is a little rich in my opinion, but after seeing Chris Martin make $8.5 million dollars per year for two years, it makes sense that Estevez got the deal he got. The reliever market is pretty dry, so the good arms will make a decent amount of money.

Estevez should not be the best reliever the Angels acquire. They still need another back-end of the bullpen arm. This is a good start. The Angels should acquire at least one, hopefully two more relievers to MLB deals.

Overall I like the deal. Estevez seemed to put it all together this past season and could be even better not pitching in Colorado half the time. I'm excited to see what he can do for the Angels.