The Angels have called up 28-year old righty reliever David Pauley to replace LaTroy Hawkins in the bullpen. He pitched in 7 games (3 starts) in AAA-ball for the Angels this year and he was 2-0 with a 2.29 ERA and a 1.22 WHIP. Pauley has pitched in 81 games (20 starts) in his first four years in the majors and he is 9-18 with a 4.52 ERA and a 1.40 WHIP. Pauley should be able to help the Angels in middle relief.

The Angels are going to be without 39-year old righty reliever LaTroy Hawkins for a while as he fractured his right pinkie last night while earning the save. Hawkins has pitched in 10 games (0 starts) for the Angels so far this year and he is 0-1 with 1 save, a 1.08 ERA and a 1.32 WHIP. The Angels were lucky that they dealt for Ernesto Frieri last week, as he is going to be a very important pitcher for the Angels now. The Angels are going to miss Hawkins.

UPDATE: (5/7/2012) - LaTroy Hawkins is likely going to be out 4-6 weeks.

The Los Angeles Angels have traded 27-year old righty reliever Loek Van Mil to the Indians for future cash considerations. Loek Van Mil pitched in 8 games (0 starts) in AAA-ball for the Angels this year. He worked in 38 games (1 start) in AA+AAA-ball in his two years in the minors for the Angels and he was 4-5 with a 2.59 ERA and a 1.22 WHIP. Van Mil’s claim to fame is his size as he is 7′1″, 255 pounds. The Angels should be o.k. without him.

The Angels have acquired 26-year old righty reliever Ernesto Frieri from the Padres for 23-year old 2B/OF Alexi Amarista and 22-year old righty starting pitcher Donn Roach. Frieri pitched in 11 games (0 starts) for the Padres this year and he was 1-0 with a 2.31 ERA and a 1.11 WHIP. He has an amazing 18 whiffs in only 11 2/3 innings so far this year. Frieri has pitched in 105 games (0 starts) in his first four years in the majors and he is 3-3 with a 2.33 ERA and a 1.24 WHIP. He has only allowed 78 hits while whiffing 137 batters in his first 108 1/3 innings in the majors, and those are really impressive numbers. Frieri has walked 56 batters in his career so far, so he’s going to need to tighten up his control to have success in the A.L. Frieri will be pitching at the back end of the Angels’ bullpen.

Alexi Amarista came into this season as the Angels’ #19 prospect according to Baseball America. He played in 18 games in AAA-ball for the Angels this year and he was 21 for 77 (.273 avg, .692 OPS) with 11 runs scored, 0 homers, 12 RBIs and 1 stolen base. Amarista also played in 1 game for the Angels as a pinch runner and he scored a run but didn’t bat. He played in 24 games in his two years with the Angels and he was 8 for 52 (.154 avg, .432 OPS) with 3 runs scored, 0 homers and 5 RBIs. Donn Roach came into this season as the Angels’ #22 prospect according to Baseball America. He pitched in 6 games (all starts) in A-ball for the Angels this year and he was 5-0 wit a 2.16 ERA and a 0.94 WHIP.

Ernesto Frieri didn’t come cheap, but I like the move for the Angels as they needed bullpen help pretty badly.

22-year old righty swinging SS Jean Segura came into this season as the Angels’ #2 prospect according to Baseball America. Segura has played in 25 games in AA-ball so far this year and he is 24 for 94 (.255 avg, .690 OPS) with 10 runs scored, 2 homers, 12 RBIs and 8 stolen bases. Segura has now played in 322 games in his first six years in the minors and he is 392 of 1,260 (.311 avg, .809 OPS) with 217 runs scored, 21 homers, 175 RBIs and 110 stolen bases. He appears to have been placed on the fast track this year by the Angels.