Angels release pair of lefties

The Angels have released a pair of lefties in the system in a non-roster capacity. Amir Garrett and Adam Kolarek have been let go, per each player’s transactions tracker at MLB.com.

Garrett, 32, signed a minor league deal with the Giants this winter. That club decided he wouldn’t make the Opening Day roster and released him, which freed him up to sign a minor league deal with the Angels. He was selected to the big league roster at the end of April and was in the majors for about two weeks. He tossed 5 1/3 innings in that time, racking up an impressive 11 strikeouts but also giving out five walks, leading to a 5.06 earned run average.

He was designated for assignment in the middle of May but returned to the Halos on a new minor league deal. He has tossed 33 2/3 innings at the Triple-A level this year with a 5.08 ERA, 28.5% strikeout rate and 10.6% walk rate. He’s been in good form lately, with a 1.59 ERA over his eight most recent appearances. In 11 1/3 innings in that stretch, he has 20 strikeouts and just four walks, all taking place in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League.

Despite that strong run in recent weeks, the lefty has little utility for the Angels. They are out of contention and will likely use what’s left of the season to evaluate guys who could help in the future. That includes plenty of internal arms, and they also claimed a couple of arms Tuesday in Nick Robertson and Brock Burke, who are both optionable and controllable. On the other hand, Garrett is a veteran with over six years of service time.

Perhaps those waiver claims nudged Garrett out, giving him a chance to find a new club in the coming weeks. He has some success on his track record, mostly combining many strikeouts with many walks. In 330 2/3 big league innings to this point in his career, he has a 4.95 ERA, 26.7% strikeout rate, and 13.3% walk rate.

With the trade deadline now past, teams are fairly limited in terms of their avenues for adding talent. Garrett can be wild, but he has been an effective setup guy in the past, racking up over 20 holds with the Reds in both 2018 and 2019. His numbers this year are decent, and they could lead to him getting a shot somewhere else in the coming weeks. If he signs before the end of August, he’ll be postseason-eligible with a new club.

Kolarek, 35, is also a veteran with a notable track record, but he’s had less success this year. The Angels signed him to a deal worth $900K in the offseason and then ran him through waivers. Since Kolarek has more than three years of service time but less than five, he could have returned to free agency but would have left that money on the table by doing so.

He accepted his assignment and has tossed 31 innings at the Triple-A level this year but with a 6.97 ERA. There’s undoubtedly some bad luck in there, as his .415 batting average on balls in play and 58.5% strand rate are both unfortunate, but his rate stats aren’t fantastic either. His 22% strikeout rate and 48.9% ground ball rate are close to average, but his 12% walk rate is a few ticks worse than par.

His major league track record consists of 149 1/3 innings with a 3.62 ERA. His 15.9% strikeout rate at that time was low, but he had only walked 6.8% of batters faced and had gotten grounders at a massive 63.9% clip. His Triple-A numbers this year haven’t taken the same shape but some club could perhaps take a shot on him, especially since the Angels are on the hook for what’s left of that salary. Any other club would only have to pay him the prorated league minimum for any time spent on the roster, which would be subtracted from what the Halos pay.