*Photo from the Orange County Register*
One of the few bright spots of the Los Angeles Angels bullpen last season was a free agent, so there was a need for him to be back. Rest assured Angels fans, you got your man. The Angels and RHP Raisel Iglesias have agreed to a 4 year, $58 million deal, according to Jon Morosi of MLB Network. The Angels have confirmed the deal.
Angels GM Perry Minasian said of bringing Iglesias back that "We're really excited. He was one of our top priorities, if not our top priority. It was definitely a team effort to get this thing done. I appreciate those guys' help on this and couldn't be happier to have him on board."
Prior to the official start of free agency, the Angels extended the one year, $18.4 million qualifying offer to Iglesias. He declined it, officially making him a free agent, but the Angels were not deterred, still working hard to get a deal done with one of their best pitchers from 2021. After a little less than a month, Iglesias is officially back.
Last season, his first in an Angels uniform, Iglesias posted really strong numbers, finishing the year with a 7-5 record with a 2.57 ERA and 0.92 WHIP, striking out 103 hitters and saving 34 games, tied for a career best. Iglesias did that over 70 innings pitched across 65 relief appearances. Iglesias even got some love in the form of down ballot Cy Young votes for his performances.
In 7 major league seasons, the first 6 of which were in a Cincinnati Reds uniform, Iglesias has a 25-37 record with a 3.06 ERA and a 1.09 WHIP, tossing a total of 481 2/3 innings while picking up 140 saves, making 318 relief appearances and 21 starts. In just two career playoff games, Iglesias has allowed 3 earned runs in 1 2/3 innings pitched.
Minasian said of Iglesias's strong 2021 that "I think his experience here with this group last year and the environment that was created and just the fan base, the comfort level with the organization, I think that carried a lot of weight. And I'm proud of that."
Another thing Iglesias did well last season was recording multi inning saves, which is something that not a lot of closers can do. 8 of his 34 saves required more than 3 outs to get, which he mostly accumulated during the middle of the season, as he was limited to one inning saves down the stretch, when the Angels were out of contention.
Iglesias rejoins an Angels bullpen that has been aided by the signing of lefty reliever Aaron Loup, also coming off the best season of his career. The starting rotation has also been added to with the signing of Thor, also known as Noah Syndergaard, on a one year contract at the beginning of free agency.
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