Stop us if you’ve heard this before — the Angels and Braves made a transaction together. Perry Minasian clearly talks and schemes with members of his former organization constantly, as he just got out ahead of a potential Braves DFA. What was the move? Well, the Angels just acquired a reliever who may stick with the team all season. Angel Perdomo is heading to Anaheim, and the Angels will send back a player to be named later or cash considerations. Perdomo is not good enough for the Braves’ bullpen, but he will be firmly entrenched in the Angels’ middle relief corps. Correspondingly, the Angels designated Scott Kingery for assignment, helping clear up the Angels’ plans for their Opening Day infield.
Perdomo missed the entirety of the 2024 season after receiving Tommy John surgery in 2023. In 2023, the last season fans saw Perdomo, he was very good in his 29 innings pitched with Pittsburgh. He punched out 44 hitters in that many innings, making his 37.6 K% one of the highest marks in the league. He’s not a pure power pitcher, but his pitches are deceptive and get on hitters fast. The best part about Perdomo is he’s basically the size of LeBron James. Perdomo stands 6’8″ and weighs 265LBs, allowing him to post an upper-echelon extension (his 6.9ft extension in 2023 ranked in the 86th percentile of all pitchers) which causes that deception.
The most intriguing part of the move is the fact that Perdomo is out of minor league options. The same goes for José Suarez, Garrett McDaniels, and José Quijada, fellow left-handed relievers on the roster bubble. Brock Burke is out of options as well, but he will definitely make the team. The Angels will undoubtedly DFA Suarez.
So, the Angels will also need to part ways with one of McDaniels, Quijada, or Perdomo unless they option Reid Detmers/Jack Kochanowicz or Chase Silseth down to Triple-A. If they send down Silseth, they would operate with 5 left-handed relievers…which is utterly insane. If they send down Detmers, they might further kill the confidence of a player who still has upside. Ryan Johnson was 1 spot away, but now he is out of the race too it seems.
As for Kingery, it’s a tough break for him since he really had a chance of breaking camp in the big leagues. If he made the team it would have been his first time in The Show since 2022. With question marks surrounding Yoán Moncada and Luis Rengifo’s status for Opening Day, on top of losing Anthony Rendon for the season, Kingery could have made the team if he performed well in camp. However, he was passed on the depth chart by Tim Anderson, and more than likely Kyren Paris and Christian Moore as well. Even David Mershon is still there! It will be very interesting to see if another organization values Kingery to the point of adding him to their 40-man roster.
It was not readily apparent that the Angels needed more left-handed pitching out of the bullpen, but here we are. You just can’t stop Minasian from scraping the bottom of the Braves’ barrel for players. He loves that organization far too much. If it means potentially giving up a super-utility player in Kingery in order to add yet another lefty, then so be it. Braves for life!
