Los Angeles Angels Sign Recently DFA'd OF to Take the Spot of Mike Trout

In the wake of Mike Trout's devastating knee injury, the Los Angeles Angels have signed veteran outfielder Kevin Pillar to a contract. He had recently been designated for assignment by the Chicago White Sox and had elected free agency.

Taylor Blake Ward, who covers the Angels, had the news on social media:

Angels signed Kevin Pillar to league minimum contract

Pillar had a chance to accept a minor league assignment from the White Sox, but he elected to wait for a Major League job instead. That turned out to be a good choice, as he only needed to wait two days.

Over the 12 years in his career, Pillar has played with the Toronto Blue Jays, San Francisco Giants, Boston Red Sox, Coloardo Rockies, New York Mets, Los Angeles Dodgers, Atlanta Braves and White Sox. He is most notable for his seven-year tenure with the Jays in which he was one of the top defensive outfielders in the league. He started 140 games or more in four consecutive years for Toronto and was part of two ALCS teams North of the Border (2015-2016).

Lifetime, Pillar is a .257 hitter with 107 homers. He's also close to multiple career milestones as he is 17 hits shy of 1,000 and two stolen bases shy of 100.

Off to a slow start this year, he was hitting just .160 for the White Sox with a homer and four RBI. He had a career-high 21 homers back in 2019. He also had 88 RBI that year and received MVP votes.

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