The Los Angeles Angels just announced the signing of former Oakland Athletics pitcher Trevor Cahill. The one-year deal is for $9 million plus $1.5 million in incentives. LA General Manager Billy Eppler has been busy at strengthening his Angels roster. Eppler knew that expanding the Angels rotation and bullpen are the top priority for the team. ESPN reported that the Angels missed out on signing elite pitchers Patrick Corbin, J.A. Happ, and Nathan Eovaldi. Eppler refused to give up and now has signed two veteran pitchers that are still producing for their teams.
The LA Angels signed a deal with Matt Harvey and now have signed Trevor Cahill. Both could be a positive addition to the Angels pitching rotation. Eppler appears to not be done yet and looking to add more pitchers including Dallas Keuchel.
Trevor Cahill being added to bolster pitching rotation
Along with the pitchers signed, Eppler has added some depth to the offense by signing first-baseman Justin Bour and outfielder Peter Bourjos. Fans are speculating that the Angels are trying to reel in Dodger catcher Yasmani Grandal to fill the hole left by Martin Maldonado. While these moves are not massive signings, these could go a long way to bring a team who finished in fourth to a better record.
Cahill, who is 30, spent several of those years with the Oakland A's.
He has an 80-83 record with a 4.09 ERA and a 1.359 WHIP. He started for three years, in Oakland, his best season was in 2010 when Cahill was 18-8 with a 2.93 ERA. CBS reports that Cahill has been plagued with injuries, forcing him to leave the A's in 2012. He ended up getting signed by the Arizona Diamondbacks, recording a 21-22 record with a 3.85 ERA during his two years with the team.
In 2014, he signed with the Atlanta Braves, recording a disaster half season with them, but ended bouncing back when he was sent to the Cubs.
Time will tell if this deal pays off for Angels and Cahill
Cahill was part of the 2016 World Series Cubs team, going 4-4 with a 2.74 ERA. He managed to hold opponents to a .201 batting average.
He ended up being kept out of the post-season and was later traded to the Royals.
The Los Angeles Angels are expected to put Cahill in a starting rotation position. It will take some time to see how the injured Angel starters bounce back. Angels fans will also have to wait to see how well Trevor Cahill will perform in the Angels rotation, as history has shown him with mixed results for the teams he has signed with.