Angels Strengthen Bullpen by Acquiring Hutson Street
The Los Angeles Angels have the second best record in Major League Baseball, but have the bad luck to be playing in the same division as the team with the best record in baseball.
The Angels are 58-37 on the year, have won 6 straight and 9 of their last 10. However, they still trail the Oakland A’s by 1 ½ games as the A’s are 60-36 having won 7 of their past 10.
The Angels know they will have a battle on their hands trying to wrestle the American League West title from Oakland and have started to make some additions to their roster for the stretch run.
Los Angeles on Friday acquired from the San Diego Padres Huston Street an All-Star closer and Trevor Gott a prospect for four minor leaguers.
Street, who is 30, is 1-0 with an ERA of 1.09 in 33 games. Street has recorded 24 saves out of 25 opportunities.
The Angels did a great deal to patch up their bullpen through the trade.
Street, prior to leaving San Diego, said he believed in the ownership of the Padres and know they want to be winners. He blamed the players for the current status of the Padres, who sit 12 games out of first place in the National League West.
Street has played 10 seasons in the Majors with Oakland, Colorado and San Diego. The reliever has a career record of 35-27 with an ERA of 2.87 and 258 saves.
Out of his past 117 save opportunities, Street has converted 109, the best record in all of baseball during that span.
Street is fifth in saves on the active list, while overall he is 31st and said San Diego was upfront with him with regard to trade talks.
The Angels went a long way in helping their bullpen as Street has had a career year this season with San Diego.
This season his ERA is 1.09, which is the best of his career, while his save percentage is 96%, which is also the best of this career.
The Angels in June acquired Jason Grilli, a closer, from Pittsburgh.
Thus far, Grilli has made eight appearances for the Angels with a record of 1-1 and an ERA of 1.29.
During the season, Joe Smith has served as the closer for the Angels recording 15 saves thus far.
Gott, who is just 21, has played Single-A and Double-A this season. In 39 relief outings, he has a record of 2-4 with an ERA of 3.56 and 16 saves.
The four prospects the Angels traded to the Padres includes Taylor Lindsey a second baseman who since being drafted in 2010 has 43 homers and 209 RBIs in the minors. He was considered by most as the top prospect the Angels had in their minor league system.
On Friday night, Efren Navarro singled in the winning run during the 16th inning with two out to give the Angels a 3-2 over the Seattle Mariners in their first game back from the four-day All-Star break.
The Angels announced following the 10th inning of Friday’s game that they had acquired Street.
