Former SF Giants lefty rejoins the Angels on one-year deal

The bullpen market is beginning to move. However, one former SF Giants lefty is off of the board as veteran pitcher Matt Moore agreed to rejoin the Los Angeles Angels on a one-year, $9 million pact, per Jeff Passan of ESPN.

Former SF Giants lefty rejoins the Angels on one-year deal

The Angels have bolstered the bullpen recently, inking Robert Stephenson to a three-year, $33 million pact. Now, they have added Moore, who was quite good for them in 2022. It is a bit of a surprise that the 12-year veteran did not land a multi-year deal, but he did receive a small bump from his $7.5 million salary for 2023.

It was an odd year for Moore last season. Not necessarily from a performance standpoint. He tallied a 2.56 ERA, 3,73 FIP, 1.15 WHIP, 10.3 K/.9, and a 4.00 SO/W ratio across 52.2 frames. Despite the solid results, he played for three teams, including the Angels, Cleveland Guardians, and the Miami Marlins.

Once the Angels fell out of contention, he was claimed off of waivers by the Guardians in August. For Los Angeles, this was a salary dump move to stay under the $233 million Competitive Balance Tax (CBT), and at the end of the year, it worked thanks to some creativity.

The same thing happened to the Guardians. They fell out of contention in September and placed him on waivers where he was scooped up by the Marlins. The Marlins were a surprise postseason entrant but lost to the Philadelphia Phillies in the Wild Card round. Moore was not eligible for the postseason roster since he was added in September.

Of course, earlier in his career, the left-handed hurler was considered one of the more promising pitchers in baseball. The Tampa Bay Rays shipped him to the Giants at the 2016 trade deadline in a four-player move that sent Matt Duffy to Tampa Bay.

Moore was under a team-friendly contract with team options for the next three seasons, so the Giants hoped that he would be part of the starting rotation for the foreseeable future. He helped San Francisco reach the playoffs in 2016 and allowed just one earned run in eight innings against the Chicago Cubs in Game Four of the NLDS. Unfortunately, the Giants' bullpen was unable to close out that game and were knocked out of the playoffs.

The southpaw pitcher struggled badly in 2017, recording a 5.52 ERA in 32 appearances before being shipped to the Texas Rangers in the following offseason. He bounced around a bit after that year and even had a stint overseas.

The 34-year-old pitcher has worked exclusively in the bullpen since the start of the 2022 season. He has found a second career in that role as he has posted a 2.20 ERA during that time. He returns to an Angels organization where he already has had some recent success.