The Angels are said to be in agreement with the lefty reliever Drew Pomeranz on a one-year contract. It’s a $4MM guarantee for a CAA client. The Angels have five spots on the 40-man roster and don’t need to make a corresponding move.
Pomeranz received a major league contract after his return season with the Cubans. The 37-year-old southpaw hadn’t appeared in an MLB game between 2022-24, as a short stint on the Giants MLB roster in ’24 didn’t lead to any game action. He started this past season on a minor league contract with the Mariners. Pomeranz posted big hitting numbers against Triple-A opponents to convince the Cubs to add him to the MLB bullpen. He exercised the opt-out clause in his contract to head to Chicago in mid-April.
It worked really well. Pomeranz threw 49 2/3 innings of ball with a 2.17 ERA in 57 appearances. That includes an impressive stretch to start the season, as he didn’t allow a single earned run in his first 26 outings. He hit a rough patch in July but bounced back with a 2.21 ERA in 20 1/3 innings from early August through the end of the season. Pomeranz struck out 28.1% of opposing batters against a 7.4% walk percentage. Although the Cubs didn’t use him in high situations, he recorded 14 hits while giving up just two leads.
Pomeranz relies heavily on his four-seam fastball. He threw the pitch three quarters of the time to righties and at an 84% clip against southpaws. The batsmen will not be blown up by speed alone. His average velocity of 92.7 MPH is average. Pomeranz ranked near the top of the league in fastball spin, which allowed the pitch to play above its velocity at the top of the strike zone. That can put him at risk for home run problems, but it also leads to harmless fly balls and a decent strikeout rate. His only secondary pitch is an 83-84 MPH knuckle-curve that played more like a groundball offering.
The Angels need to do a lot of heavy lifting in the bullpen. Nearby Kenley Jansen headed to Detroit in an $11MM deal. They are leaving Reid Detmers back in the rotation, taking their top setup man out of the mix. Pomeranz is compatible with Brock Burke giving rookie manager Kurt Suzuki a few solid options from left. Burke had neutral platoon numbers during his career. Pomeranz doesn’t need to be in a special role but is probably best against the team’s left-handed bats. He’s holding southpaws to a .176/.238/.203 line with a whopping 35% strikeout rate in 80 plate appearances this year.
Their right-handed options are weak even if they finally have a healthy season Robert Stephenson. They should continue to look at the measuring arms from the right. Their deal with Pomeranz and the $2MM rebound flier on Jordan Romano pushed their projected salary to $172MM, according to RosterResource. They carry a $193MM payroll to start the 2025 season. There is a decent place but a lot of work to be done. The Angels need another starter, at least one multi-position player, and a center fielder. That’s on top of any steps yet to come to the barn.
Pomeranz is the third free agent off the board today. Now a former teammate Caleb Thielbar goes back to the Cubs, when Caleb Ferguson agreed to agree with the Reds. Sean Newcomb, Danny Coulombe, Justin Wilson again Taylor Rogers are among those who remained unsigned.
Ari Alexander of Boston 7 News first reported that Pomeranz and the Angels had a one-year contract. Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register was first with a $4MM guarantee. Photo courtesy of Patrick Gorski, Imagn Images.
