More reinforcements for a much improved bullpen
A day after general manager Perry Minasian said that he was still looking to further improve the Angels’ pitching staff, the club made a move to do just that, reportedly reaching an agreement with free agent reliever Archie Bradley on Thursday morning. According to Sam Blum of The Athletic, the deal and its terms are not final just yet, but Bradley is on his way to Arizona in hopes of getting it done soon.
Source: Archie Bradley has not yet officially signed a contract with the Angels, but it’s very close to being a done deal. He’s headed to Arizona now.
— Sam Blum (@SamBlum3) March 17, 2022
The 29-year-old Bradley spent last year with the Phillies, where he appeared in 53 games and posted a 3.71 ERA with 40 strikeouts in 51 innings. He has also pitched for the Diamondbacks and Reds during his seven-year big league career, and since becoming a full-time reliever in 2017, only six relievers—Josh Hader, Kenley Jansen, Blake Treinen, Chad Green, Brad Hand and new teammate Raisel Iglesias—have thrown more innings with a lower ERA than his 284.1 and 2.98 marks respectively.
Bradley figures to join the back end of the bullpen for the Angels, where he, Iglesias and Aaron Loup look to form one of the better relief trios the club has seen in quite some time. Considering the fact that the group behind those three, which includes Mike Mayers, Austin Warren and José Quijada among others, all had some level of success at the big-league level last year as well, we could potentially see the Halos bullpen be considered an area of strength for the team for the first time since at least 2017 and perhaps further back than that if things go according to plan.