The ever-busy Los Angeles Angels made yet another minor move today yeseterday, claiming pitcher Osvaldo Bido off waivers from the Miami Marlins, with the news reported by Darragh McDonald of MLBTradeRumors.com.
Miami designated Bido for assignment last week when they acquired starting pitcher Bradley Blalock from the Colorado Rockies, but now he belongs to the Angels, who currently have a roster spot for him because the re-signing of third baseman Yoan Moncada isn’t quite official yet. The Angels will have to make a subsequent move when it does, according to McDonald, as they continue to finalize their roster heading into spring training.
The 30-year old Bido is a right-handed swing man who has pitched well enough to make rosters, but he hasn't been able to sustain his initial success after he arrives. He finished this season with the Athletics, but his recent waiver wire journey this offseason has also included stops with the Atlanta Braves, Tampa Bay Rays, the Marlins and now the Angels.
His time with the Athletics was especially interesting. Bido posted some promising numbers initially, pitching in 63-1/3 innings that included nine starts and seven relief appearances with an overall of 3.41. He struck out 24.3 percent of the hitters he faced, and his walk rate was 10 percent.
The fly in the ointment was Bido's fly-ball rate, which became especially critical when the A's switched venues and became the Athletics. Bido's fly balls were outs in the old Oakland Coliseum, but many of them turned into home runs at what is essentially a minor-league facility in Sacramento.
Specifically, he gave up just three home runs in Oakland, but that number ballooned to 19 in Sacramento. His ERA rose to 5.87 over a slightly larger sample size of 79-2/3 innings, and his strikeout rate dropped to 18.7 percent, which is how Bido wound up on the waiver wire. pitching in Sacramento, which is how he wound up on the waiver wire.
If the smaller park is the sole cause of Bido's bad numbers, this could end up being a savvy pickup for the Angels. Say what you will about them, but the Halos do play in a major league stadium with normal dimensions, and there are plenty of open holes in both the bullpen and the rotation. He'll join the small herd of pitchers the Angels have acquired to work with new pitching coach Mike Maddux in spring training, and it will be interesting to see if he can separate himself enough to stick.