Matt Harvey's DFA Proves Angels Offseason Signings Were a Complete Joke

On Friday, the Los Angeles Angels (finally) opted to give up on their $11 million investment in Matt Harvey, designating the former All-Star for assignment less than 24 hours after his putrid showing against the Astros the day prior.

The 30-year-old right-hander has been a genuine disaster for the Angels, no questions asked. However, the former Mets ace was the last domino to fall which confirmed that LA's offseason, in terms of acquiring pitching, was an utter catastrophe.

The organization also previously DFA'd Cody Allen, whom they signed for roughly $8.5 million, and they were forced to transfer Trevor Cahill, who currently has $9 million to his name, into a bullpen role.

As the ever-reliable Bill Shaikin points out, that's a compilation of nearly $30 mil down the drain. Fortunately, they were all one-year deals, so that cap space will become available again next season.

All told, we're not exactly sure why general manager Bill Eppler is still holding onto Cahill. The 31-year-old vet has been almost as rancid as Harvey in 2019, nodding a lousy 6.43 ERA and 1.416 WHIP while surrendering 18 home runs in 19 appearances, 11 of which were starts.

It really makes you wonder why the club didn't just splash the cash on a $30 million-hurler, like say Astros world-beater Gerrit Cole. Once again, Shaikin delivered the goods.

Sure, we guess you can say its unfair to call this all Eppler's fault. After all, how often do you see a GM strikeout on three arms in one offseason. However, Harvey, Cahill, and Allen were all very much on the decline, making them high-risk acquisitions at the time. Surely not everyone would predicted that all three would blow up to this degree, however.

Truthfully, the gamble had more of a chance of going up in flames than actually translating to winning baseball. All that's left to do now is wait for Cahill's inevitable discharge.