Cory Rasmus has been DFA'd

[John Smith]

1. Taylor Blake Ward ‏@TaylorBlakeWard

Cory Rasmus has been DFA'd #Angels

Jeff Fletcher ‏@JeffFletcherOCR 2m2 minutes ago

The Angels also DFA'd Cory Rasmus today. He was arb eligible, so no surprise.

[disarcina]

makes sense for all sides.........

[Angel Oracle]

Too injury prone 

[Oz27]

Pitching is a fickle business. In 2014, it looked like he would be an important piece for us going forward. Since then, he has constantly been injured or garbage. He can't ever have been healthy this year, his peripherals fell off a cliff.

[Broad Street]

Let's go get Derek Holland lol I'm drunk

[ettin]

I am sincerely and truly disappointed by this DFA. I think the Angels will come to regret this decision.

[Tank]

meh, he was just another guy.

[ettin]

2 minutes ago, Tank said:

meh, he was just another guy.

He was a personal favorite of mine in the bullpen. Unfortunately he achieved Super Two status and was in his first year of arbitration at 700K so I can see why they didn't see him as more than a 1-year piece at best. I just think there is something special in his arm, arsenal, and delivery that hasn't been fully realized yet. I certainly could be wrong.

[ettin]

Here is the excerpt and taste of what I wrote in this year's Angelswin.com Primer regarding Rasmus:

 

Cory Rasmus

Perhaps the author’s personal favorite on the relief staff, right-hander Cory Rasmus had an injury-plagued 2016 and was out most of the season with a nagging right groin strain that eventually resulted in core muscle surgery to correct the issue.

Rasmus features a low-to-mid 90’s four-seam fastball, an above average mid-80’s slider, a mid-70’s curveball, and a good mid-80’s changeup. Near the end of Dipoto’s tenure there were rumors of converting Cory back to a starter’s role and that idea could be revisited in 2017 if Billy Eppler thinks it is prudent.

Likely though, due to his low innings count in 2016, the Angels will, barring another injury or poor performance, give Cory a bullpen spot in long relief again or even as a middle reliever, particularly because he has no options left.

Frankly, Rasmus has given us glimpses of his ability. In 2014 he pitched in short spot starts and did it very well. Parts of 2015 were hit and miss but there was a short run in the Minors where, purely as a one inning guy, he had an incredibly strong 39% K-BB% (sample size warning), a .158 BAA, and 0.72 WHIP.

Cory gets opposing hitters to put the ball in the air a lot. He has shown glimpses of an excellent ability to limit line drives which is a rare skill set. Essentially he lives on flyballs and infield pop-ups with a mix of groundballs on occasion.

Being a flyball pitcher means that Rasmus is homer prone. That is something he will not be able to get away from but if he is on his game opposing hitters won’t be able to get the right angle of attack on the ball that could potentially put it over the fence in the first place.

The caveat to all of this conversation is Cory remaining healthy. If he can do that he will likely impact the team in a positive way.

If not this could be his last year in Anaheim as you have to perform consistently if you want to stay in the Majors and Rasmus is a Super-Two player entering his first year of arbitration (projected $700K salary for 2017) so a lot is riding on his future with the team next season.

[Tank]

he had potential, but his injury record got in the way of him having a solid career. i wish him the best and hope he can find a team and keep his health.

[Second Base]

Fact is, if Rasmus can stay on the field, he'll be a good middle reliever. I'd be in favor of bringing him back at the major league minimum. 

[tomsred]

I think at this point the team just wants to field a healthy and durable team in 2017, that would be a big step forward.

[totdprods]

Guerra, a resigned Chacin, Campos, or Wright all essentially could fill his role.

[Second Base]

I'd like to see Bailey back too. If he pitches the way he did down the stretch, and surround him with a healthy Street and Bedrock as well as Ramirez, Guerra and Middleton, we might get by.

[arch stanton]

Cleveland went through last season with Miller as the only significant lefty in their pen and it may have cost them a title when they couldn't handle Schwarber, Rizzo, and Zobrist when it counted. I really hope Eppler finds a decent option against tough LH hitters in the late innings.I know they're hard to find but it's worth the effort.

[totdprods]

16 minutes ago, Scotty@AW said:

I'd like to see Bailey back too. If he pitches the way he did down the stretch, and surround him with a healthy Street and Bedrock as well as Ramirez, Guerra and Middleton, we might get by.

Chacin was pretty solid in relief, and he gives us another SP option. If Eppler accumulates enough of these lotto-pick SPs and a guy like Chacin, I could see us sitting back on the SP market and focusing on the pen, second, and the bench. I think we will be in hard on a 2B or a known-commodity reliever, either on the low-end like Feliz, Wood, Logan, or the high end like Melancon, Chapman, Jansen.

[ettin]

Rasmus cleared waivers and was sent down to AAA! Yay! Hope he stays. Robinson cleared too.

[totdprods]

20 hours ago, ettin said:

Rasmus cleared waivers and was sent down to AAA! Yay! Hope he stays. Robinson cleared too.

Annnnnnd they're gone. Both elected free agency.

[ettin]

&*^*(&^&*^(*&&T^$^$$&(#*(&#*&#*&@)*(Y*&!@^%!%^@$%#!%$#E@^%@&^

[totdprods]

1 minute ago, ettin said:

&*^*(&^&*^(*&&T^$^$$&(#*(&#*&#*&@)*(Y*&!@^%!%^@$%#!%$#E@^%@&^

Angels signed an OF to a minor league deal today, Ramon Flores, who effectively replaces Robinson, and Rasmus' role has basically been replaced by one of Chavez, Ramirez, Wright, Campos, or Guerra already. 

[ettin]

14 minutes ago, totdprods said:

Angels signed an OF to a minor league deal today, Ramon Flores, who effectively replaces Robinson, and Rasmus' role has basically been replaced by one of Chavez, Ramirez, Wright, Campos, or Guerra already. 

You can quote all those guys tot but Rasmus was my boy! You're my boy Blue!

[Richard]

..and now he's really gone. 

[totdprods]

1 hour ago, ettin said:

You can quote all those guys tot but Rasmus was my boy! You're my boy Blue!

Yes, love those 30 innings he threw for us in the last two years. Haha. He was good when he was on, but that was a rare thing.

[Angel Oracle]

Too injury prone, had to risk losing him to FA.  40 man roster already has tough decisions incoming.