Cam Bedrosian Elects Free Agency; Mets Claim Jacob Barnes From Angels
The Angels announced that they have outrighted righty Cam Bedrosian, catcher Jose Briceno and infielder Elliot Soto to Triple-A. Bedrosian has elected free agency in lieu of accepting the assignment. The team also lost righty Jacob Barnes to the Mets via waivers and reinstated fellow RHP Justin Anderson from the 60-day injured list.
Bedrosian, whom the Angels drafted 29th overall in 2010, debuted in 2014 and has been rather successful at times, evidenced by his 3.70 ERA/3.60 FIP across 277 2/3 innings. But the 29-year-old has seen his velocity tumble from the mid-90s to the lower 90s in recent years, including a career-worst 92.3 mph in 2020. Bedrosian still managed a 2.45 ERA/2.92 FIP this season, but he only threw 14 1/3 innings and logged the worst K/9 (6.75) and groundball rate (34.1 percent) of his career. The Angels would have owed Bedrosian a projected $2.8MM to $3MM in arbitration for 2021, his last year of team control.
Barnes is the first acquisition for the Mets since new owner Steve Cohen was approved Friday. The 30-year-old was a fairly effective reliever with the Brewers from 2016-18, but his run prevention numbers have gone off the rails with the Brew Crew, Royals and Angels since then. Dating back to 2019, Barnes has pitched to a 6.75 ERA and walked 4.62 batters per nine over 50 1/3 innings. He did, however, post a 24:4 K:BB ratio and average upward of 95 mph on his fastball in 18 frames in 2020.
UFC on ESPN+ 39 faceoff video highlights, photo gallery
Bellator 250 post-event facts: Gegard Mousasi reclaims his throne