The Angels have recently stormed back to take over the AL West lead, largely thanks to their offense, but outside of Mike Trout, the outfield has been a major issue. Collin Cowgill is on the 60 day DL and Matt Joyce is on the 7 day concussion DL, but the Angels may be happy about the second as he had produced just a 0.2 WAR this year. Of others Daniel Robertson has been worth 0.0 WAR in limited action and C.J. Cron (the primary DH) has been worth 0.1. The Angels fixed part of the problem by acquiring Shane Victorino yesterday, but cemented their position by adding David Murphy and David DeJesus today.
Murphy has spent the entire season so far with the Cleveland Indians as half of their DH/OF platoon along with Ryan Raburn. He was the most productive half of this with 192 of his 206 at bats coming against right handed pitching, against whom he batted .297/.341/.432. Having a similar situation to the Angels, Murphy has been pressed into outfield duty with Cleveland although he has limited speed and range. Had the Angels not made any other deals, he would be expected to play in the same fashion in Los Angeles, but with the other two additions, he is more likely to be a half time DH, platooning with the right handed Cron or Victorino.
In exchange for Murphy, the Angels sent AA shortstop Eric Stamets to Cleveland. Stamets is known as a defensive specialist and has just a .248 average so far this season. From the Indians side, this move should be seen as a simple salary dump as Murphy was owed $6M this year and has a $7M option for next season with a $500K buyout. The Indians have yet to announce a replacement (Murphy didn’t even leave the Indians game until the fourth inning tonight although the deal was leaked before the game), but it is likely that they will want to see what one of their own minor league outfielders can do.
The other move brought DeJesus to LA for rookie league right hander, Eduar Lopez. Lopez is in his fourth season at the rookie level with a 4.32 ERA, making this another salary dump. DeJesus has also been used almost exclusively against right handed pitchers and is owed the remainder of his $5M deal for 2015 as well as at least a $1M buyout for 2016 (assuming they don’t use his $5M option).
Against right handers, DeJesus has been slightly less productive than Murphy, batting .263/.331/.384, but is a better option in the outfield and will likely be a platoon partner for Victorino. While neither player is a huge steal, all three are significant upgrades to the Angels outfield/DH situation and will provide ample platoon opportunities.
