Left-hander Jake Eder has been traded from the White Sox to the Angels for cash considerations, per announcements from both clubs. The Halos have optioned Eder to Triple-A Salt Lake. The Sox had designated him for assignment last week. To open a 40-man spot, the Angels designated right-hander Michael Petersen for assignment.
Eder, 26, was a notable prospect a few years ago but his stock is down. The Marlins took him in the fourth-round of the 2020 draft. In 2021, he made 15 Double-A starts with a 1.77 earned run average. He struck out 34.5% of opponents, gave out walks at a 9.4% rate and also got ground balls on 50.3% of balls in play.
That got him onto the prospect radar but Tommy John surgery late in 2021 put that on pause. He missed the entire 2022 season while recovering and his results since getting back on the mound haven’t been inspiring. He has thrown 165 2/3 minor league innings since that surgery, getting flipped to the White Sox for Jake Burger at the 2023 deadline. In that time, he has a 6.52 ERA, 25% strikeout rate and 12.3% walk rate.
The southpaw still has two option seasons left and could have been stashed in Triple-A. But even the White Sox, one of the few rebuilding clubs in the league, seemingly didn’t have much faith in him getting the train back on the tracks.
The Angels, a club seemingly always in need of more pitching depth, will give him a roster spot for now to see if he can get over his recent struggles. They currently have a rotation mix of Yusei Kikuchi, José Soriano, Jack Kochanowicz, Tyler Anderson and Kyle Hendricks, with Reid Detmers in a long relief role. Eder will join guys like Caden Dana, Sam Aldegheri and Chase Silseth as optionable rotation arms looking to battle for starts later in the year.
To add Eder into that mix, the Angels are potentially losing Petersen, whom they claimed off waivers from the Blue Jays last month. The right-hander is 30 years old, turning 31 in May. He made his major league debut last year, tossing 19 2/3 innings for the Dodgers and Marlins with a 5.95 ERA. Since that season ended, he bounced to the Jays and Angels via waiver claims but has now lost his roster spot again.
The big league numbers are such a small sample size that it’s hard to glean much from. But in the minors last year, he tossed 33 innings with a 1.64 ERA, 35.2% strikeout rate and 6.4% walk rate. He still has a couple of options and could perhaps attract attention from clubs looking for some extra bullpen depth. The Angels will have a week of DFA limbo to figure out what’s next, but the waiver process takes 48 hours, so any potential trade talks would need to come together in the next five days.
Photo courtesy of Jayne Kamin-Oncea, Imagn Images