Los Angeles Angels

After spending the last five seasons with the Atlanta Braves, veteran catcher Travis d'Arnaud has found a new home on the West Coast.

The Los Angeles Angels announced on Tuesday that they agreed to a two-year contract with d'Arnaud. ESPN's Jeff Passan reported that the deal is worth $12 million.

This marks d'Arnaud's second career stint in Los Angeles, as he signed with the Dodgers in 2019 but appeared in just one game for the team before being traded to the Tampa Bay Rays. He's certainly hoping that his run in Hollywood lasts longer this time around.

The 2025 season will be the 13th of d'Arnaud's major league career. He made his debut in 2013 with the New York Mets and remained with the team for the next six-plus years. After his stint in Tampa Bay, he found a home in Atlanta when he signed with the team prior to the 2020 season.

The 35-year-old helped lead the Braves to a World Series title in 2021, hitting two home runs that postseason. He earned his lone career All-Star selection during the 2022 campaign.

This past season, d'Arnaud appeared in 99 games and hit .238 with 15 home runs and 48 RBI. He will bring a veteran presence to an Angels team that is in need of some major changes.

Los Angeles set a franchise record for most losses in a season in 2024, going 63-99 and missing the playoffs for the 10th straight year, the longest active streak in MLB. Signing d'Arnaud will hopefully be the first step to turning the franchise's fortune around.

Kyle Hendricks' tenure with the Chicago Cubs is reportedly nearing an end.

Per Bruce Levine of 670 The Score, the right-hander is closing in on a one-year agreement with the Los Angeles Angels.

The New York Post's Jon Heyman reported Hendricks' deal is for "about $3 million."

Hendricks has played his entire MLB career with the Cubs. He was originally an eighth-round pick by the Texas Rangers in 2011 before getting dealt to Chicago, along with Christian Villanueva, for Ryan Dempster in July 2012.

While he wasn't considered a top prospect at the time, Hendricks developed into one of the key players for the Cubs during their run of success in the mid-2010s. He led MLB in ERA (2.13) and finished third in NL Cy Young voting in 2016.

That same season, Hendricks was the starting pitcher in Game 7 of the World Series when the Cubs defeated Cleveland to end the franchise's 108-year championship drought.

After two disappointing seasons in 2021 and 2022, Hendricks had a solid bounce-back campaign in 2023. He finished with a 3.74 ERA, his best since 2020 (2.88), when he finished ninth in NL Cy Young voting and led the NL with an 8.00 strikeout-to-walk ratio.

The 2024 season was rough for Hendricks, as he finished with a career-high 5.92 ERA in 29 appearances. He spent a month pitching out of the bullpen due to his struggles.

When the Cubs moved Hendricks back into the rotation in mid-June, he was more effective than he was at the start of the season. He had a 4.73 ERA over 85.2 innings in his final 17 starts.

All indications were that Hendricks' time in Chicago was coming to an end when he was given an ovation from the Wrigley Field crowd in his final start on Sept. 28 against the Cincinnati Reds.

The Angels will be hoping that Hendricks is able to return to his 2023 form. His ceiling is low at this stage of his career, but the price to sign him makes this a no-risk deal to see if they can get a back-end starter next season.

While it's been a quiet start to the offseason for many teams, the Angels are at least busy making moves. They made the first trade of the fall by acquiring Jorge Soler from the Atlanta Braves for Griffin Canning. After that deal, Angels general manager Perry Miansian said they weren't done there.

"We're going to be aggressive," Minasian said. "We're going to continue to look to make the team better. We have a lot of areas where we can improve. This is move No. 1 and we expect there to be more moves."

Whether these are the right types of deals for an Angels team that's badly in need of a reset is another story.

Hendricks will likely take Canning's vacated spot in the rotation. As long as he can start every fifth game to give the Angels a dependable back-end starter, that will be enough for a team that needs to rebuild most of its rotation.

Mike Trout has struggled to stay healthy in recent seasons, leading to some speculation that the Los Angeles Angels could perhaps move him to a designated hitter role to limit his wear and tear.

If they do, it won't be on a full-time basis. According to The Athletic's Ken Rosenthal, the team "would prefer to use him as a DH only on a limited basis, according to sources familiar with the club's thinking."

Rosenthal continued: "While making Trout a DH might sound like a step toward keeping him healthy, the Angels aren't so sure. Trout's three most recent injuries were left ribcage inflammation in 2022, a left hamate fracture in '23 and a torn meniscus in his left knee in '24. Each of those issues stemmed, at least in part, from the act of swinging, club officials believe. Most DHs use their down time to take additional practice swings. Trout, a perfectionist, almost certainly would, too."

Instead, Trout will remain a regular corner outfielder with occasional stints at designated hitter. That would further explain the team acquiring Jorge Soler for pitcher Griffin Canning last week.

Soler, 32, has hit 20 or more home runs in a season four times dating back to 2019, including 36 dingers in 2023 and 48 in 2019. But he's primarily a designated hitter at this point, so if the Angels had plans to move Trout to DH, the Soler acquisition would have been a head-scratcher. Instead, Trout will remain in the outfield.

But will he remain healthy?

The three-time AL MVP and 11-time All-Star only played in 29 games this past season, 82 in 2023, 119 in 2022 and 36 in 2021. When healthy he's remained effective, but staying on the field has become a rarity for the 33-year-old Trout.

In turn, the Angels haven't had a winning record since 2015, and the team's inability to reach the postseason played at least a part in Shohei Ohtani departing for the Los Angeles Dodgers in free agency last winter.

The Angels and Trout need to come up with some sort of plan for keeping him on the field. Apparently, a regular dose of being the DH won't be a part of that strategy.

Los Angeles Dodgers designated hitter Shohei Ohtani exited Game 2 of the World Series in the bottom of the seventh inning on Saturday night with a shoulder injury.

Dodgers manager Dave Roberts told reporters after a 4-2 win over the New York Yankees that Ohtani "suffered a subluxation of his left shoulder," per ESPN's Alden González. He'll undergo further tests on Sunday.

"We're encouraged," Roberts said, per González. The manager added that Ohtani's strength and range of motion are good despite the injury.

Ohtani appeared to suffer the injury while attempting to steal second base. Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register noted that the Japanese broadcast of the game picked up Ohtani saying his shoulder popped out.

Ohtani was helped off the field by a trainer. Ken Rosenthal said there was no update available as to the severity of the shoulder injury on the Fox broadcast.

The Dodgers led 4-1 at the time of Ohtani's exit. He had recorded a walk and a strikeout in three at-bats.

Ohtani made his second stolen base attempt of the postseason with Teoscar Hernández, who had hit a two-run homer earlier that night, at the plate.

He thrown out by Yankees catcher Austin Wells on the play, and despite the inning ending remained on the ground, holding his left arm and appearing to be in visible pain.

Ohtani went 1-for-5 during the Dodgers' Game 1 win in Friday's start to the World Series. He was batting .260 with 10 RBI and three home runs in 12 postseason games heading into Saturday.

The Dodgers will want to get Ohtani back into the batting lineup as soon as possible, while also hoping his injury has no long-term impact on their plans to resume his work as a two-way player next season. Ohtani, who has not pitched in MLB action since undergoing surgery on his right elbow in September 2023, is slated to return to the mound in 2025.

For now the Dodgers will focus on Ohtani's immediate health and the question of whether he will be able to return to the plate by Monday as Los Angeles prepares for Game 3.

The World Series is set to continue next week in New York. If necessary, the series will return to Los Angeles on Friday for Game 6.

Los Angeles Angels star Mike Trout might be a sure-fire Hall of Famer and one of the greatest living baseball players, but teams would put his reputation aside if they were to acquire the three-time American League MVP, according to Sam Blum and Andy McCullough of The Athletic.

"Given the age, injury history and financial commitment, one executive said the Angels would have to eat more than half the money just to bring a potential partner to the table," they reported. "Asked how difficult it would be to move Trout, another rival executive said, 'Incredibly.'"

Trout is signed though 2030 and has more than $222.7 million left on his contract.

Signing that deal was a joyous moment for the Angels at the time because it increased the likelihood the greatest star in franchise history would spend his entire career in Anaheim, California.

There's always a level of risk when extending a player, no matter how good, into his age-38 season. With Trout, the hope was that his game would age gracefully and the more intrinsic value he held as an Angels icon would help to cover for his $37.1 million salary.

Instead, the outstanding balance on his contract is shaping up to be a millstone on the payroll of whatever team he's on. It's no different than when Los Angeles was paying a steadily diminishing version of Albert Pujols more than $25 million annually before finally releasing him in 2021.

Teams have generally become much smarter about not using past performance to fully guide what a player will do moving forward. In the case of Trout, it's a combination of his production declining in tandem with persistent injury problems.

The 33-year-old has logged more than 82 appearances just once over the past four seasons, and his numbers between 2023 and 2024 raise concerns about what he can do at the plate when he's healthy.

Across 488 plate appearances, he has 28 home runs but a .252/.357/.504 slash line and a 135 OPS+, per Baseball Reference. It's not a good combination when a hitter is walking less and striking out more, a trend that has extended for multiple years with the 11-time All-Star.

In the past, trading Trout felt unthinkable because he meant so much to the Angels. Now, a trade might be equally implausible but for much different reasons.

After making history on Thursday, Topps revealed a rare one-of-one Shohei Ohtani card.

The Los Angeles Dodgers star became the first player to hit 50 home runs and steal 50 bases in a single season, reaching the historic mark against the Miami Marlins on Thursday.

Topps announced on Friday that someone who purchases the Topps Now base card from Ohtani's historic game will receive a card autographed by Ohtani. The card features Ohtani's signature as well as "50/50 club" and the date he reached that mark.

The rare card will likely hold plenty of value given the historical significance and the fact that only one collector will take home the card.

Ohtani, who is likely on his way to a third MVP trophy this season, recorded multiple historical feats on Thursday. Along with reaching the 50-home run and 50-steal mark, he also became the first player in MLB history to go 6-for-6 with three home runs, 10 RBI and two stolen bases, making the already impressive night even more significant.

He'll look to continue his record-breaking season as the NL West-leading Dodgers round out the year and begin their postseason journey in just a few weeks.

When Los Angeles Angels star Mike Trout makes his long-awaited return to the field, it sounds like there's a likelihood that he won't be in his usual position.

Trout told The Athletic's Sam Blum that he plans to discuss switching from center field with the Angels over the offseason.

"I think everything is on the table," Trout said. "Ultimately, my goal is to be in that batter's box, in the field, every single day. Whether that's moving to a corner, DHing more, that's just something that I'll leave up to the front office to come up with a plan."

Trout saw some time in right field and left field early in his career but has solely played center field since 2013. He added that he knew a potential switch to a corner outfield position was in his future for quite some time.

"I definitely think there's going to be conversations we have in the offseason," Trout said. "I know it's reality. I know I've got a certain number of years on my deal, and I knew eventually, even when I signed the deal, that I was going to have to move to a corner. It is what it is. Is it next year? I don't know."

Trout appeared in just 29 games this season before being diagnosed with a torn meniscus that required surgery in early May. He tore his meniscus again during a minor league rehab assignment in July and was ruled out for the remainder of the season.

This marks the fourth time in the last five seasons that Trout has been limited to fewer than 100 games. In his 109 plate appearances, he hit .220 with 10 home runs and 14 RBI.

With Trout sidelined, the Angels' perennial struggles continued, as they rank last in the AL West with a 60-89 record and will miss the playoffs for the 10th straight year.

Keeping Trout healthy will be paramount for the Angels' chances to turn things around next season, so switching to a less stressful position sounds like a sensible option for the 33-year-old.

Los Angeles Angels prospect Sam Aldegheri is set to be the first pitcher born and raised in Italy to play in MLB.

The Angels are calling up Aldegheri and expect him to play Friday against the Seattle Mariners, Jeff Passan reported for ESPN.

Aldegheri, 22, was traded from the Philadelphia Phillies to the Angels at the 2024 deadline. He has recorded 134 strikeouts and a 3.59 ERA in 95.1 innings pitched across two minor league levels so far this season.

The promotion is a major jump for Aldegheri, who spent most of the season in High-A Jersey Shore. He did, however, take the next step in his career by making his Double-A debut this season.

Since his trade to the Angels system Aldegheri has recorded 25 strikeouts, nine walks and 10 earned runs in 17.1 innings pitched over four starts with Double-A Rocket City.

The 22-year-old is ranked as the No. 4 pitcher and No. 8 overall prospect in the Angels' pipeline by the MLB prospect rankings.

MLB scouts offered some insight as to why Aldegheri is a top-ten prospect for the Angels:

The left-hander's profile has been upgraded from a back-end rotation or spot-starter type to one who has a real chance to start games in the big leagues. He's always had four pitches with decent feel for them, and that's continued as his stuff has ticked up a bit this year. His fastball sits in the low 90s and is up to 95 mph, a high-spin heater that has solid carry in the zone. He has both a slider and a curve, and Aldegheri throws the former a lot more than the latter, a solid low-80s breaking ball. The curve is more of an upper-70s pitch that's improving. Further commitment to his changeup has been a big reason for his improvement, as it's been very effective against right-handed hitters.

Aldegheri's walk rate hasn't been great, but he's shown more feel for the zone than the numbers might indicate, and there was belief in the Phillies organization that he'll be a solid strike-thrower as he gets more time on the mound. Now it will be the Angels who can try to help him put the finishing touches in his development as he logs more innings at the upper levels.

Aldegheri signed a $210,000 contract with the Phillies in July 2019. After suffering a sprained UCL in his left elbow in 2021 which did not necessitate surgery, the pitcher made his High-A debut in 2023. He was then moved to Los Angeles as part of the Carlos Estévez trade in July.

Seven players born in Italy have ever made their debut in MLB, most recently Alex Liddi with the Seattle Mariners in 2011, per Baseball Almanac.

The last Italian-born pitcher to enter the league was Marino Pieretti with the Washington Nationals in 1945.

Pieretti grew up near San Francisco. That sets up Aldegheri, who was raised in Verona, to make history when he takes the mound for the Angels.

Aldegheri will be looking to mark Italian record books on Friday. The prospect, who told The Athletic's Matt Gelb in March that he was "a hundred percent sure" he would make it to the MLB, will get the chance to audition for further starts against a Mariners team that has won three of their last four games despite a midseason slump.

Despite being on their way to a fourth consecutive losing season during his tenure as general manager, Perry Minasian is getting a new contract from the Los Angeles Angels.

Per Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register, Minasian and the Angels have agreed to terms on a contract extension.

The Angels gave Minasian a four-year contract in November 2020 to replace Billy Eppler. He spent the previous four seasons as assistant general manager for the Atlanta Braves.

This season was the final year of Minasian's original deal. There had been no indication that he was on the hot seat, but the Angels' performance during his tenure hasn't exactly inspired a lot of confidence that the organization is on the right track.

The ongoing stretch of futility includes the entirety of Shohei Ohtani's run with the organization. He won two MVP awards and finished fourth in AL Cy Young voting in 2022 during his six seasons with the Angels.

In addition to their lack of success at the big-league level, the Angels' farm system has routinely been among the worst in baseball for years. B/R's Joel Reuter ranked their system as the fourth-worst in his midseason update. Their two top-100 prospects are tied for the fifth-fewest in the league.

Some of these issues have nothing to do with Minasian. Owner Arte Moreno said the team decided against trading Ohtani for a potentially lucrative return essentially because he made them money by selling tickets.

When Ohtani was a free agent last offseason, Moreno decided not to match the 10-year, $700 million offer he eventually signed with the Dodgers.

The Angels (54-73) are tied with the Oakland Athletics for last place in the AL West and are on their way toward a ninth consecutive losing season dating back to 2016. They haven't made the playoffs since 2014, tied with the Detroit Tigers for the longest-active drought in MLB.

Mike Trout's 2024 season has come to an end.

Los Angeles Angeles general manager Perry Minasian revealed Thursday that Trout suffered his second meniscus tear of the season, per Sam Blum of The Athletic.

Trout also released a statement on social media, writing that he was "devastated" to learn that an MRI revealed a second tear of his meniscus:

The three-time American League MVP was initially attempting to return from a separate torn meniscus that he suffered on April 29. Trout will finish the season with just 29 games played, appearing in over 100 contests just once in the past four years.

Trout appeared to be progressing smoothly through his rehab at first, suiting up in a July 23 Triple-A game as he seemed to be close to a possible return. However, he experienced a setback and exited the contest after just two innings due to soreness in his knee.

Although an MRI didn't reveal any structural damage and doctors informed Trout that he was dealing with scar tissue buildup and inflammation, it was a troubling sign when Angels manager Ron Washington told reporters that the slugger hadn't started running yet on Sunday.

MLB.com's Brent Maguire reported that another MRI showed a tear in the same surgically-repaired knee.

Trout was off to a hot start at the plate before the injury, racking up 10 home runs in 109 at-bats. While his .220 batting average was below his career mark of .299, he still maintained a commendable .867 OPS to begin the year and recorded six steals.

Injuries have continued to pile up for Trout in recent years, as he played just 82 games in 2023 due to a wrist issue. While he remained relatively healthy in 2022, he made just 36 appearances in 2021 after suffering a right calf strain.

While the Angels already had a slim chance to make the postseason with a 47-61 record, they'll now have to wait for Trout to return to the lineup in 2025.