Angels Acquire Jose Iglesias From Orioles
Image credit: Jose Iglesias (Timothy T Ludwig/Getty)
In the midst of Wednesday’s non-tender deadline, the Orioles and Angels swung a trade to send shortstop Jose Iglesias to Los Angeles for a pair of prospects. Iglesias showed uncharacteristic offense during the pandemic-truncated 2020 season, when he reached career highs in all three triple-slash categories.
Iglesias is signed through 2021, when he’ll be in the final season of a two-year, $6 million deal.
The Orioles received minor league righthanders Garrett Stallings and Jean Pinto in return.
Jose Iglesias, SS
Age: 30
Long known for his stellar defense at shortstop, Iglesias was an offensive force in 2020, albeit over a sample of just 165 at-bats because of the stunted nature of the season. Despite being among the lowest in the league, Iglesias’ 86.2 mph average exit velocity represented a 2 mph jump from his 2019 figure. His hard-hit rate reached 35.6%, easily his best figure of the Statcast era. Iglesias dealt with a quad strain during the 2020 season, which somewhat muted his usually stellar defense. He should fill the gap created by free agent Andrelton Simmons, who has manned the position for the Angels for the last five seasons.
Garrett Stallings, RHP
Age: 23
A fifth-round pick in 2019, Stallings was Tennessee’s Friday night starter and succeeded in the SEC with a repertoire better suited to carve hitters rather than overpower them. He fronts a full four-pitch mix with a low-90s fastball thrown with exceptional control. He backs it up with a mid-80s slider, low-80s changeup and high-70s curveball. All of his secondaries flutter between potentially below-average and average, with no one pitch truly standing out. He was regarded by Angels officials as the pitcher with the system’s best control.
Jean Pinto, RHP
Age: 19
Pinto was a $10,000 signing as an 18-year-old out of Venezuela just before the 2019 Dominican Summer League season began. He performed well in games as an amateur, and he carried that success over into his brief playing time in the DSL, posting a 2.25 ERA in 12 innings with a 19-3 K-BB mark in three starts. At 5-foot-11, 175 pounds, Pinto isn’t that big, but he has good feel for pitching, sits in the low-90s and reaches 94-95 mph and has a good feel to spin a slider that he throws frequently. That slider is the pitch that he leaned on to miss bats and get hitters to chase in Venezuela and in the DSL. Whether that works against more advanced hitters is still a question, but the Orioles have been stockpiling these types of far away, under-the-radar players in trades with the hope that one of them will take off later.
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