Angels Acquire Lefty Cesar Ramos for Mark Sappington

Jerry Dipoto had a busy Wednesday - after trading Hank Conger to the Astros earlier this afternoon the Angels GM traded minor league relief pitcher Mark Sappington to the Tampa Bay Rays for situational lefty Cesar Ramos. The trade of minor league potential for major league track record has to be a plus in Dipoto's column.

Ramos will most likely replace reliever Joe Thatcher in the Angels pen although he has been used as a spot starter and had thirteen games of two or more relief innings pitched in 2014.

Sappington was rushed to AA as a challenge and he melted. Sent back to Single A Inland Empire he still could not get it going for most of the year. Sappington was switched from a starter to a reliever late in the season and flourished, finishing the season as the closer of the 66'ers. But he is still a few years away from the bigs while Ramos has been getting paid to get big league pitchers out for six seasons. Ramos, who turned thirty in June, went to high school at El Rancho in Pico Rivera and went to Cal State Long Beach where he was teammates with Jered Weaver so this is a major homecoming. Remember what Joseph Campbell said about mythology: The hero always returns home.