Ernesto Frieri Traded from Padres to Angels for 2 Prospects

by James Westfall on May 4, 2025 12:04 PM EDT

Ernesto Frieri the owner of a 2.31 ERA and a 18:4 K:BB ratio was traded for two intriguing Angels Prospects. Both Alexi Amarista and Donn Roach were sent to San Diego in what looks like the kick-off of 2012's rebuilding process for the Padres.

Early speculation is that Frieri might have a chance of picking up some saves in Anaheim as he possesses greater swing-and-miss stuff than current closer Scott Downs and with Jordan Walden in Manager Mike Scioscia's dog house anything is possible.

As for San Diego, they get two intriguing prospects in Amarista and Roach. Amarista, 23, has played both middle infield spots and the hot corner quite a bit this season in AAA Salt Lake City and might have just become the heir apparent to the aging Orlando Hudson. In 2011, Amarista hit .292/.337/.419 with 32 extra base hits in 86 games.

Donn Roach, 22, was the Angles 3rd round pick form 2010. Roach, who has been mentioned by John Sickles in his recent prospect notes, has been off to a hot start for High-A Inland Empire putting together a 5-0 record with 29 K's and only 3 walks over 41.2 Innings pitching to the tune of a 2.16 ERA and WHIP of 0.936.

This trade looks like a great move by the Padres to flip a middle reliever for two intriguing prospects who will improve an already outstanding farm system. Amarista looks like he has the potential step in and contribute for the Padres as they begin moving on from the Bartlett/Hudson era. The addition of high upside prospect Donn Roach makes the deal even sweeter. I believe we are going to see an Everth Cabrera/Alexi Amarista middle infield in San Diego sooner than later.

Roach will look to continue his 2012 dominance with High-A Lake Elsinore but I wouldn't be surprised to see Roach make a few appearances in AA San Antonio before 2012 is through. The Padres already boast outstanding minor league pitching depth with Casey Kelly, Joe Ross, Joe Wieland, Robbie Erlin (all at varying levels) and now Roach can be added to the mix.

This looks like a win for the Padres as they took advantage of the struggling Angels desperate need to put together a good 2012 after the huge off season signings of Albert Pujols and CJ Wilson. The move of course will pay off in the short run for the Angels if they can get on track and stabilize their bullpen with the help of Frieri but his looks like a win for San Diego overall.

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Read More: Donn Roach (P - SDP), Ernesto Frieri (P - ANA), Alexi Amarista (2B - SDP), Orlando Hudson (2B - SDP), Jordan Walden (P - ANA), Scott Downs (P - ANA), San Diego Padres, Los Angeles Angels

Comments

Win?

It seems like you’re taking the (mistaken, imo) perspective that trades are done in a vacuum rather than in a context of what a team has and needs. This trade benefits both teams - the Angels really needed bullpen help and they gave two solid grade B-/B prospects for a very good reliever. In a vacuum, sure, they overpaid a bit - I think Amarista (who is superfluous with Segura around) and someone like Trevor Reckling or Tyler Kehrer would have been doable. But again, it does improve the team for the next couple years.

So I would say it was a “good” move for the Angels and a “very good” move for the Padres, making it a win for both teams.

by Angelsjunky7 on May 4, 2025 4:18 PM EDT reply actions

Thanks

for the comment! you make some very good points. I think both the Padres and the Angels dealt from a position of strength and both got value out of the deal, both in the short run and in the long run. What made it a clear win for me (and maybe what I should have added originally) is that the Padres are able to trade a middle reliever who is going to be arb-eligible right around when the Padres are looking to compete (2014) and the last thing a small market team needs is to have too much of their limited funds going to middle relievers. Additionally I think the Padres ability to add to their minor league core of Infielders and SP’s is a huge bonus as Amarista is now going to be in the mix to create a strong, young, and versatile infield core along with Gyorko, Spangenberg, Darnell, Parrino, Cabrera, etc… I think the glut of infield talent is going to be a good problem for the Friars to have. Same goes for Roach who I think is a great addition as he his already in the Cal League and he knows the competition so he will/should continue to thrive in 2012 and although he doenst have has much swing and miss stuff as fellow prospect Robbie Erlin and is older at a lower level they both have excellent command and I could see them developing into above average starters at the MLB level, especially at Petco.

So to me the potential risk of giving up a solid reliever is outweighed by the gain of what looks like a two cost controlled prospects.One a good utility infielder with some upside and the other potential #3 starter if he works his way into a rotation or else a dominant reliever, similar to what they gave up in Frieri. The Pads get younger and more applicable talent to what they are trying to build for in the next few years.

"On [umpire] Jeff Kellogg taking a foul tip to the groin: ‘Two balls, one strike.’"

by James Westfall on May 4, 2025 7:02 PM EDT up reply actions

Gyorko

I know you can’t bank on any prospects whole sale, but Gyorko seemed to be the answer at 2b, maybe even getting a call up before the end of the year. Are either of these guys good enough that he’ll have to perform at an exceptional level, or are they keeping it warm for him?

by Woodland League on May 4, 2025 4:27 PM EDT via mobile reply actions

who knows what they're planning

2B/SS/3B in SD could go a lot of different ways. Gyorko could play 2B or 3B. Andy Parrino might not hit a lot but can give you some solid defense. Everth Cabrera still exists. Logan Forsythe should be returning before too much longer and could get ABs. Chase Headley is a nice bat at 3B but could find himself elsewhere soon. James Darnell could replace him, or not. Cory Spangenberg wasn’t drafted in the first round to sit on the bench, even if he’s not doing much on the year. Vince Belnome keeps putting up numbers, will that get a look? How fast can Jace Peterson move, and will he even make it in the end?

by mrkupe on May 4, 2025 4:49 PM EDT up reply actions

ha

crapshow, just like most team’s middle IF farms. Total crapshow. Got it. Thanks!

by Woodland League on May 4, 2025 6:22 PM EDT up reply actions

it's hardly a crapshow

There is a lot of very legitimate talent here, it’s just hard to project who is going to best into which holes at the major league level because of the quantity. Amarista has some bat for a middle infielder and can handle 2B just fine as well.

by mrkupe on May 4, 2025 10:51 PM EDT up reply actions

I believe that was supposed to read “crap shoot” Kupe…

by realitypolice on May 4, 2025 11:55 PM EDT up reply actions

It's funnier

as crapshow though. . .I may have to work that into my vocabulary

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by SoCalSoxFan on May 6, 2025 3:01 AM EDT up reply actions

I thought crapshow

was the “g” rated version of shitshow. One of my favorite terms, by the way.

by huztler on May 6, 2025 1:04 PM EDT up reply actions

Gyorko

My feeling is they are keeping it warm for him but to a degree. I mean its in no way his position to lose and Amarista isn’t just a warm body. He can hit and run well and his defensive numbers look good too. I think Amarista will be one of the many players competing for at-bats in what is becoming a crowded infield in San Diego. I also think that because Amarista has more higher level experience, having accumulated over 500 AAA at-bats, the Padres have for lack of a better term a “stop-gap” between Gyorko and whomever spot he eventually takes (Hudson, Headley, Bartlett, etc) and this gives them more time to let him develop and maybe even see some AAA at-bats.

In no way is this situation explicitly clear, but I think the ability to add a solid infielder and talented SP for a middle reliever this has to be viewed as a Padres win because it follows their rebuilding process plan well and the risk assumed is pretty low.

"On [umpire] Jeff Kellogg taking a foul tip to the groin: ‘Two balls, one strike.’"

by James Westfall on May 4, 2025 7:13 PM EDT up reply actions

am I the only one on this site

that thinks the Angels gave up basically nothing for Frieri?

his SD/MD ratio isn’t great (and the flyball percentage is disturbing…though Angels park actually depressed home runs even more than Petco in 2011), but c’mon, this is a guy who is a useful reliever, even if only in a 7th/8th inning role, and still cost-controlled for many years

does anybody really think Amarista is anything more than a bench guy who you hope puts up above replacement numbers (which he hasn’t been able to do so far)?

and does Roach even crack the Padres’ top 15 prospects?

by blue bulldog on May 5, 2025 12:54 AM EDT reply actions

I mostly agree with you

I don’t think it matters where Roach comes in on the absurdly deep Padres prospect list, his own value is what matters.

That said, yeah, this isn’t a “WOW” return. Roach is interesting but is a ways off. Amarista is a neat add. He has nice pure hitting ability and can play 2B ably, but he isn’t showing secondary skill development at the plate.

I guess the thing that strikes me as odd is that depth at the fringes of AAA/MLB is not something the Padres lack for. There are lots of guys in the Padres org and already on the 40 man who could fill the utility role you suggest for Amarista. So adding him doesn’t really make sense unless the Padres think he has a very legitimate chance at being a starting-caliber player. And as you noted, he really hasn’t done much lately production-wise to show he’s worthy of that chance, although aggressive promotion and injury have hindered him.

by mrkupe on May 5, 2025 11:19 AM EDT up reply actions

i'm actually not as impressed by the Padres system

as a lot are on this site

but that being aside, the Padres top 15 comment was trying to indirectly get at what you are alluding to a little

Roach is a 22 year old in A+ who can’t miss bats, and relies on a (albeit extremely good) groundball rate. that’s just not impressive to me.

Mike Adams is probably better than Frieri. but the difference between Adams and Frieri (particularly once you take into account both service time and cost), is not the difference between Erlin/Wieland and Amarista/Roach. it’s not even close.

to me, the worst part of this deal if I were a Padres fan, is it is further evidence to the difference in GM abilities of Hoyer and Byrnes.

by blue bulldog on May 5, 2025 2:23 PM EDT up reply actions

Adams Trade

it isnt really comparing apples to apples when you talk about the return on trading Frieri and Adams. The Rangers were in playoff mode and were trying to get a valuable reliever to help solidify a team on its way to the WS (I think they overpaid quite a bit) and the Angels are just trying to tread water in early May (and I think they slightly over paid, but not by much) so there is less leverage for the Padres to utilize to maximize their return. My main point is that the expected return on trades made in July are very different that of those made in May.

Frieri is good, but is he better than Donn Roach (who spent 2011 refining his delivery) is going to be in 2 years? I think so but anything can happen. From what it looks like to me they gave up a guy who has value now for two guys who will have value when they are looking to compete. if Roach doesnt succumb to injury his floor will be a middle reliever.

"On [umpire] Jeff Kellogg taking a foul tip to the groin: ‘Two balls, one strike.’"

by James Westfall on May 5, 2025 5:57 PM EDT up reply actions

yes

I don’t think using the Adams trade return as a standard is a good idea. Perhaps Erlin and Wieland aren’t well-suited for Arlington, but both are going to be at least competent in a starting rotation. Two future starting-caliber pitchers who are already past A ball would make a great package for lots of players, many of whom are more attractive assets than a late-inning reliever who doesn’t pitch the 9th inning.

It’s not like Atlanta’s gift of most of its farm system to the Rangers for Mark Teixeira is used as the starting point of negotiations for All Star caliber position players.

by mrkupe on May 5, 2025 6:14 PM EDT up reply actions

exactly

“the expected return on trades made in July are very different that of those made in May”

if you already recognize that you can get more for a trade piece later during the year, then why make the trade now? the only reason why you make the trade now, is because you think that you can’t get a higher return for Frieri down the line, and there is little evidence of this. if anything, the new playoff rules have shifted the market to favor sellers around the trade deadline.

and yes, i would be willing to bet you that Frieri, over the period of “Padres looking to compete” timeframe, is more valuable than Roach. but again, even that is not my major point. the major point is still, as above, why sell Frieri when you can’t maximize your value from selling Frieri?

by blue bulldog on May 5, 2025 8:15 PM EDT up reply actions

I think the play

of Orlando Hudson and Jason Bartlett and the salaries they are being paid factored into this trade. Amarista is easily as good as Hudson right now and is significantly cheaper. Also the possibilty of adding a SP and a UT player for a middle reliever is a deal a small market team like the padres do every time. Plus the Padres have a knack for developing bullpen arms so they deal from a position of strength. On an aside the Angels also dealt froma position of strength as they have several good minor league middle infielders and both Aybar and Kendrick are locked up to long term deals at the ML level. I just think the Angels gave up too much for Frieri but time will tell.

"On [umpire] Jeff Kellogg taking a foul tip to the groin: ‘Two balls, one strike.’"

by James Westfall on May 6, 2025 5:09 PM EDT up reply actions