The Angels have upgraded their outfield, buying Josh Lowe from the Rays as a part of a three-team commerce on Friday that features the Halos sending left-hander Brock Burke to the Reds and Tampa Bay receiving infielder Gavin Lux from Cincinnati and Minor League right-hander Chris Clark from the Angels.
Angels obtain: OF Josh LoweReds obtain: LHP Brock BurkeRays obtain: INF Gavin Lux, RHP Chris Clark
Lowe, who turns 28 in February, suits the invoice of a left-handed hitting outfielder the Angels had been out there for. What place he would possibly play, nonetheless, is a little more unclear. The Angels have a transparent want for a middle fielder, and Lowe has performed principally proper area, although he does have some expertise in middle and left.
“We actually like Josh Lowe,” Angels common supervisor Perry Minasian stated throughout a Zoom name with reporters on Friday. “We expect he’s obtained an opportunity to be an influence participant. He’s finished it prior to now. He’s clearly had a few up-and-down seasons with accidents, however he’s a participant we consider can play all three [outfield spots]. He’s been very productive towards right-handed pitching, and we’re very right-handed as a membership. So, the chance to accumulate a participant like this at his age and the years left [on his contract] made a ton of sense.”
Whether or not the Angels determine to platoon him with Bryce Teodosio in middle or play him elsewhere, Lowe gives a much-needed increase towards right-handed pitching. He’s a profession .266 hitter with a .772 OPS towards right-handers over his 5 Main League seasons, versus hitting simply .181 with a .504 OPS vs. lefties.
Lowe loved by far his finest season as an enormous leaguer in 2023, when he hit .292 with a .835 OPS, 20 house runs, 33 doubles, 83 RBIs and 32 stolen bases in 135 video games with Tampa Bay. He has struggled to copy that success over the previous two seasons, and a big a part of that reasoning may very well be attributed to accidents. He handled indirect and hamstring points in ‘24, then sustained one other proper indirect pressure in his first sport of final season that stored him out till Might 15 in a marketing campaign wherein he hit .220 with a .650 OPS, 11 homers and 40 RBIs in 108 video games.
Burke, who had just lately agreed to a one-year, $2.325 million contract for the 2026 season with the Angels to keep away from arbitration, was arguably the top-performing lefty within the Angels bullpen final season, posting a 3.36 ERA in 69 video games with 52 strikeouts and 18 walks throughout 61 2/3 innings. His departure leaves the Angels with a necessity within the bullpen that may very well be crammed internally or externally by way of free company or commerce.
“We’re nonetheless lively within the free-agent market, and there’s nonetheless dialogue on the commerce market,” Minasian stated. “We’ll see how every little thing performs out over the subsequent three or 4 weeks and what we appear like after we present up for spring. We do have some left-handed arms we actually like that in the event that they needed to pitch out of the bullpen, we consider they might. However we’ll see the place the offseason takes us.”
A primary-round choice by the Rays within the 2016 MLB Draft, Lowe is in quest of a bounce-back season and will get loads of alternative to take action with the Angels, who may nonetheless look so as to add one other outfielder or left-handed hitter earlier than Spring Coaching.
“We’d nonetheless like to enhance our offense,” stated Minasian. “We nonetheless have some spots that we consider we are able to improve or not less than herald competitors. There’s nonetheless a whole lot of good gamers on the market. We’ll see how every little thing evolves over the subsequent month.”
