With the Angels’ season fading away, it is time to turn our eye towards the future. And by future, I mean like a week or two from now when the Halos make their annual September call-ups. With the Halos already calling up so many prospects this season, what other new (and maybe old) faces should we expect to see in September?
Is it finally time for Trumbo?
Jason Bulger: While he isn’t a September call-up in the truest sense, Bulger will be a welcome addition to the Angel bullpen as they continue their search for anyone who can provide some consistency in the middle innings. Technically, he is on rehab right now, but there isn’t really room on the active roster for him. But when the calendar turns to September, expect Bulger to be on the first flight from Salt Lake to Orange County. – 100% of being called up
Kevin Frandsen: Frandsen never should have been demoted in the first place, but he got caught up in a roster squeeze. Now that Maicer Izturis is on the DL again, Kevin goes from being a spare part to a necessary component. Heck, with the constant rotating cast at first base for the Angels, Frandsen might even be a starter once he gets promoted again. – 100% of being called up
Brian Stokes: Oh, right, this guy. Stokes is another rehabbing reliever, though I can’t imagine the Halos are particularly anxious to see him back in action. He has been decent in Triple-A, but his rehab time is going to run out soon. At a minimum, the Angels need to bring him back up to the bigs if only to see if they can’t get a little bit of return on their investment from the Gary Matthews trade. That pretty much gives Stokes one month to avoid being non-tendered this winter. – 100% of being called up
Mark Trumbo: OK, enough foreplay, let’s get to the good stuff. Angel fans have been begging and pleading with the team to promote this slugging first base prospect since Kendry Morales took that ill-fated victory leap. The Angels have been reluctant to bring Trumbo up, despite his gaudy power numbers at Salt Lake. Maybe they are just scared that Trumbo’s trade value will take a hit if he gets promoted and fails to hit instead of staying in Salt Lake where the altitude artificially inflates his numbers? Of course, if they don’t bring him up at all, it might hurt his trade value even more. It seems he has to come up at some point, but the Angels will probably let him finish out the Triple-A season, including a potential playoff run by the Bees. That means Angel fans are just going to have to be a patient for a little while longer. – 99% of being called up
Matt Palmer: It has been a long time since we got to see everyone’s favorite tubby pitcher, but we shouldn’t have to wait much longer. Palmer has been very sharp at Triple-A and is currently being stretched out as a starting pitcher. Since Trevor Bell isn’t exactly knocking anyone’s socks off right now, Palmer could be getting the call to replace him in the rotation ASAP. At worst, Palmer will be brought up to serve as a long man, ready to clean up the early inning messes Bell and Kazmir have been creating. – 100% of being called up
Cory Aldridge: The Angels seem to have too many outfielders as it is, but what they don’t have is a lefty power bat off the bench. Aldridge can certainly give them that, although he didn’t do very much in his brief major league audition earlier this season. The only problem here is that Aldridge is on the minor league disabled list and may not return in time to get the call up. If Cory doesn’t get promoted, don’t be shocked if he gets designated for assignment so the Halos can use his 40-man roster spot on someone younger. – 80% of being called up
Bobby Cassevah: The Halos are already awash in rookie relievers, but the old saying is that you can never have too much pitching. Cassevah isn’t a fireballer like most of the other Angel relievers, but rather a groundball specialist. Mike Scioscia might want to have Cassevah in the pen, if only to give the opposition a different look from time to time. Still, with Kohn and Walden needing work, plus Bulger, Stokes and Palmer on their way back, the roster just might be too crowded. – 25% of being called up
Ryan Budde: We all know how much Scioscia loves collecting catchers and Budde is already on the 40-man roster, so he has a shot at a promotion. On the other hand, Bobby Wilson is already present as the third catcher and is barely used as it is. Nonetheless, Budde should have an outside shot at a call up once the Salt Lake season ends. – 10% of being called up
Hank Conger: Now, if the Angels really want to add a fourth catcher who could see some playing time, this is the guy. Conger hasn’t exactly killed it at Triple-A, but he is definitely getting close to being major league ready. With Mike Napoli and Jeff Mathis both getting expensive via arbitration, the Angels could consider giving Conger a sneak peak to see if he deserves a shot at earning a starting gig in the majors in 2011. – 5% of being called up
Trevor Reckling: This time last year, I would have bet anything that Reckling would be getting called up this September, and if he wasn’t, it would only be because he was already in the big leagues. Oops! Turns out Reckling didn’t do so well in Triple-A and has been sent down to Double-A to get his act back together. While he has really started turning it around in Arkansas, he hasn’t turned it around enough to break into the majors this season. – 0% of being called up
Mike Trout: Trout hasn’t even played half of a season in High-A ball yet, but there is a microscopic chance that the Angels could give their top prospect a taste of the majors this season. The theory here is that Trout is advancing so quickly that the Angels want get him some looks at big league pitching so that he isn’t shell shocked when he does get promoted for good. I don’t buy that theory though since Trout is so far off from being big league ready, despite what we fans might hope. He killed it Low-A Cedar Rapids but he has only been pretty good in Rancho Cucamonga. I know the fans are eager to see Trout, but they can wait another season. – 1% of being called up