The Los Angeles Angels continued to add to their pitching depth as right-hander Justin Garza was added to the 40-man roster after agreeing to a one-year, non-guaranteed split contract for the 2023 season. Kenny Rosenberg was designated for assignment in a corresponding move.
The former Cleveland Guardians eighth-round pick in the 2015 draft made his Major League debut in 2021, posting a 4.71 ERA in 28.2 innings pitched. Garza spent this past season with the Guardians Triple-A club, tossing 42.2 innings to the tune of a 4.64 ERA.
Garza features a decent pitch mix, highlighted by a two-pitch combo fronted by a sinker & cutter combination. His sinker generated a .222 batting average in during his time in MLB but struggled to frustrate hitters with his cut-fastball.
The 29-year-old joins César Valdez as the most recent arms to sign deals with the Angels.
Rosenberg was selected by the Angels in the Rule 5 Draft last season from the Tampa Bay Rays.
The Rays drafted Rosenberg in the eighth round of the 2016 MLB Draft out of California State University, Northridge (CSUN), a school that has not produced many Major League players, but was the college playing grounds of former Angels infielder Adam Kennedy, current Minnesota Twins pitcher Joe Ryan, Oakland Athletics prospect Denzel Clarke and St. Louis Cardinals farmhand Justin Toerner.
In his sophomore season at CSUN in 2016, he was named to the Big West Conference All-Academic Team after posting a 3.21 ERA and led the Big West Conference with 118 strikeouts in 109 innings, ahead of eventual Cy Young Award winner Shane Bieber, and held batters to a .198 batting average.
He made his Major League debut with the Angels this past season and pitched 10.2 innings with a 4.22 ERA.
Without top-end talent, the Angels have suffered
The last time the Angels made the playoffs was in 2014. It has been the only time they’ve made the playoffs with Mike Trout in an Angels uniform, and the last time they won a playoff series was in 2005.
Although some of their mega-contracts have failed, their lack of a farm system to produce a steady, or even a trickle of consistent MLB-ready talent, to supplement their big league roster has held them back.
In the past three seasons, the Angels have ranked near the bottom in Minor League rankings according to MLB.com, wrapping up the year with the 30th-ranked farm system. From 2013-2017, they were the worst, and it has accounted for their lack of production from homegrown players.
Baseball America ranked them as one of the bottom-two systems five times in the last 10 years, something that Angels general manager, Perry Minasian, admitted is a tough hurdle to overcome at the Major League level.
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