What It Means:

He's back to full strength after dealing with shoulder tightness, but the Angels evidently don't believe that Tropeano is worthy of their top-five at the moment. He conceived three runs and struck out seven across five innings in his first minor league rehab start with High-A Inland Empire on Thursday. The move apparently isn't sitting well with Tropeano, according to Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register, who reports that Tropeano isn't pleased. Assuming he's able to prove his worth in the minors, it won't be long before he makes his return to the Angels' rotation.

Tropeano is 3-2 in 10 starts this season, recording a 3.25 ERA, 1.55 WHIP and 22.13 strikeout percentage across 55 1/3 innings.