OC Register: Angels acquire Dylan Bundy from Baltimore Orioles

[AngelsWin.com]

The Angels filled one of the holes in their starting rotation by acquiring right-hander Dylan Bundy from the Baltimore Orioles on Wednesday, a source confirmed.

The Angels sent four minor-league pitchers to the Orioles, including right-hander Kyle Bradish, who was ranked the Angels’ No. 21 prospect by MLB Pipeline. None of the other three pitchers – right-handers Isaac Mattson, Kyle Brnovich and Zach Peek – were ranked in the top 30.

Bundy, 27, was considered one of the top prospects in baseball for a few years after being selected fourth overall in the 2011 draft. He’s never quite lived up to that in his time with the Orioles. Bundy has a career 4.67 ERA, including a 4.79 mark in 2019.

He has been durable lately, though, starting 89 games over the past three seasons.

Bundy started 30 games last season, striking out 162 in 161 2/3 innings. The Angels did not have any pitcher make more than 18 starts, and Trevor Cahill led the team with 102-1/3 innings.

The Angels have shown a preference for pitchers with high spin rates, and Bundy fits that criteria. His fastball spin was in the 86th percentile in the majors each of the past two seasons.

General manager Billy Eppler said last month that the Angels’ preference was to acquire two starting pitchers. Their rotation currently includes Andrew Heaney, Griffin Canning and Shohei Ohtani, who is in the final stages of his rehab from Tommy John surgery. They also have Jaime Barría, José Suarez, Patrick Sandoval and Dillon Peters to compete for starts at the back of the rotation or as spot starters.

Certainly, the Angels will need to sign at least one upper-tier starting pitcher if they hope to be considered contenders in 2020.

Related Articles

• Angels agree to stay in Anaheim through 2050, stadium to be sold for $325 million
• Angels non-tender catcher Kevan Smith
• MLB’s era of ‘load management’ is just getting started
• Angels’ Shohei Ohtani cleared to begin throwing off a mound
• After second meeting with Angels over stadium lease, mayor says ‘it’s clear’ they share same goals

They have been widely connected to Gerrit Cole. The top free-agent pitcher, Cole is an Orange County native. The Angels have already had at least one meeting with Cole and his agent, Scott Boras, according to a source. Boras also said last month that he had had lunch with Angels owner Arte Moreno.

Bundy is projected to make $5.7 million in arbitration in 2020, which would leave plenty of payroll space for the Angels to add a pitcher of Cole’s caliber. If they miss out on Cole, they could make a run at Stephen Strasburg, Madison Bumgarner or Hyun-Jin Ryu.

Zack Wheeler, another top starter who had been connected to the Angels, agreed Wednesday to a deal with the Philadelphia Phillies for $118 million over five years, according to multiple reports.

More to come on this story.

View the full article