Lost in the shuffle of trade deadline hysteria is the roster juggling that follows, and the Boston Red Sox certainly had their fair share of moves to make in order to welcome in their collection of new talent. Both Greg Weissert and Romy Gonzalez were optioned to the minors, while Rule 5 pick Ryan Watson was designated for assignment in order to make room for Erik Miller on the active roster.
The Los Angeles Angels were quick to jump at the newly-available reliever, plucking him off waivers and inserting him into one of their own vacant 40-man spots after trading away three bullpen arms at the deadline. Still just 28 and with a half-decade of team control remaining, Watson should have a long leash the rest of the way in Anaheim.
So, what's the problem exactly? Well, the Angels just capitalized on another former Red Sox reliever at the trade deadline, sending Ryan Zeferjahn to the Chicago Cubs in exchange for an impressive prospect haul, highlighted by Moises Ballesteros. Might history repeat itself with Watson?
Which of former Red Sox reliever Ryan Watson's attributes can Angels exploit?
We should preface this discussion with the fact that we're not expecting the Angels -- and their notoriously bad player development program -- to turn Watson into the next Zeferjahn. It's not as though he was outright bad in his tenure in Boston, pitching to a 4.53 ERA and 4.60 FIP over 55.2 innings, but that's exactly replacement-level production (i.e., 0.0 fWAR).
Of course, Red Sox will remember that he had been much better since a very difficult start to his major-league career. After a very ugly debut month in March/April (6.62 ERA) that had him on DFA watch from the jump, Watson settled down and recorded a 3.55 ERA from May 1 onward. He was merely crowded off the roster following the addition of Miller, mostly because he can't be optioned to the minor leagues due to his Rule 5 draft pick status.
Watson does well in the areas that the Red Sox like, including his huge extension numbers of the mound (7.1 feet, 94th percentile) and impressive ability to get batters to chase outside the zone (31.7%, 62nd percentile). Those are areas of his game the Angels will lean into, leaving questions about his deep arsenal of five pitches that gives him the leeway to turn over a lineup multiple times as a bulk reliever.
The Halos had a lot of success paring down Zeferjahn's repertoire, turning him into the sweeper-fastball monster the Cubs splurged on at the deadline. Perhaps they'll attempt the same trick with their newest addition, whose sweeper is already one of the better breaking balls in the game.
It's obvious that the Red Sox wanted to keep tinkering with Watson after having so much success with fellow Rule 5 picks Garrett Whitlock and Justin Slaten, but the roster crunch forced them into action early. Hopefully this won't evolve into another story of regret for the front office, though it's clear Watson has the tools to succeed at the major-league level.
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