SAN DIEGO — The Los Angeles Angels, looking to patch several holes in their pitching staff, signed right-handed reliever Carlos Estevez to a two-year, $13.5 million contract Monday, the first full day of Major League Baseball’s winter meetings.
Estevez, 29, is the latest reliever to benefit from what has evolved into an expensive market, with big contracts handed out to high-end free agents like Edwin Diaz ($102 million over five years with the New York Mets) and middle-tier ones like Rafael Montero ($34.5 million over three years).
Estevez, whose deal will pay him $6.75 million annually, posted a 3.47 ERA, a 1.18 WHIP and a 2.35 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 62 appearances out of the Colorado Rockies‘ bullpen last season.
The Angels were intrigued by his upper-90s fastball, but also by the way his curveball and slider behaved outside of the high elevation of Coors Field. They’ll give him an opportunity to close, at least on a part-time basis.
“It’s a guy who’s reliable, dependable, wants the ball, not scared, so we thought he was a really, really good fit,” Angels general manager Perry Minasian said of Estevez, who has accumulated 25 saves in a six-year career spent entirely in Colorado. “And our bullpen’s wide open — he’s gonna have a chance to pitch late, in the back end.”