Baseball America published its list of Minor League free agents today. The Angels organization has 20 free agents in the minors with 14 of them having appeared for the Bees this season.
Baseball America published its list of Minor League free agents today. The Angels organization has 20 free agents in the minors with 14 of them having appeared for the Bees this season.
Pitchers:
Austin Adams - Austin's season ended in early April after coming out of the April 16 game against Fresno after just two pitches in relief.
Manny Bañuelos - Began the season in the rotation before moving to the bullpen and then back to the rotation to finish the season. Put up strong numbers as a reliever going 3-1 with a 4.09 ERA and most importantly finished the season healthy after pitching 95 innings, the most for him since 2011.
Abel de los Santos - Abel fired a scoreless inning of relief on the last day of the season, his only appearance for the Bees in 2017. In 25 outings with Double-A Mobile he had a 4-2 record and 2.95 ERA.
Luis Diaz - Luis joined the Bees in April after three straight scoreless starts for Double-A Mobile and was a starter for the Bees until mid-August. He finished the season 4-11 with a 5.44 ERA with all decisions coming in his 18 starts. He was stellar as a reliever, allowing just one run in six outings.
Cody Ege - A flexor strain injury ended Cody's season in July and his presence was missed in the Bees bullpen down the stretch. Ege finished with a 2-2 record and 5.49 ERA, but was much better after April holding a 3.87 ERA from May-July.
Drew Gagnon - The swingman of the Bees pitching staff, Gagnon started 10 games and relieved in another 21. His flexibility was invaluable in helping the Bees get through the call ups to the pitching staff during the season.
Jason Gurka - Gurka was scooped up by the Angels in June after being let go by the Yankees and was fantastic for the Bees earning a September call up to Anaheim. Gurka allowed earned runs in only three of his 30 outings for the Bees and held fellow lefties to a .125 average.
John Lamb - After rehabbing an injury for the first half of the season Lamb jumped into the Bees rotation in late June and was a mainstay after that. He was fantastic in August for Salt Lake going 3-1 in five starts with a 2.32 ERA.
Brooks Pounders - Pounders was one of the most traveled players on the Bees in 2017, making 11 trips between Salt Lake and Anaheim during the 2017 season. He was consistently excellent with the Bees, finishing with a 2-2 record and 2.63 ERA against the Pacific Coast League.
Position Players:
Francisco Arcia - Arcia made 15 appearances as a backstop for the Bees during 2017, mostly coming in April and May. He finished with a .192 average.
Dustin Ackley - Ackley served primarily as the Bees DH during the season as he worked back from a shoulder injury before getting starts at 1B and LF. Ackley was in the lineup 116 times for Keith Johnson and finished with good offensive numbers with a .261 average, 59 RBIs and 27 doubles.
Video: Ackley wins it for the Bees
Nick Franklin - Franklin made just three starts for the Bees in August before finishing the season on the disabled list.
Rey Navarro - Rey was named an Angels organization All-Star for 2017 and put up one of the best seasons of his career. His 82 RBIs were a career-high while playing excellent defense at shortstop and second base.
Forrestt Allday - Forrestt made just one outing for the Bees in 2017, where he went 4-for-5 in El Paso and 14 for the Bees in 2016. He was solid at Double-A Mobile with a .290 average and 32 RBIs.
The whole list is available at Baseball America and includes at least one former Bee looking at free agency in nearly every organization including César Puello, Efren Navarro, Sean O'Sullivan, Bobby Wilson, Grant Green and many more. All of these players will join Shane Robinson, Eric Young Jr. Deolis Guerra and other members of the 2017 team that had already been declared Major League free agents
