Angels land Speier in $18-million deal

The Angels swung and missed again in an effort to bolster their offense, but they made solid contact Sunday with what many considered the best reliever on the free-agent market, signing right-hander Justin Speier to a four-year, $18-million deal that is contingent on the 33-year-old’s passing a physical.

On a day highly coveted slugger Alfonso Soriano reportedly reached an eight-year, $136-million agreement with the Chicago Cubs, the Angels fortified an already solid bullpen with a veteran who was 2-0 with a 2.98 earned-run average in 58 games for the Toronto Blue Jays last season, limiting opponents to a .235 average.

Speier, who delivers a low-90s fastball, slider and split-fingered fastball from a sidearm slot, should ease the burden on heavily worked setup man Scot Shields and give the Angels another attractive option in front of closer Francisco Rodriguez.

The deal appears to make veteran right-hander Brendan Donnelly, who was so unhappy with his reduced role he asked for a trade in April, expendable. The Angels must decide by Dec. 12 whether to tender Donnelly a contract.

Or, with Soriano’s big bat off the board, the Angels could be stockpiling pitchers to use highly coveted Shields in a deal for a slugger, such as Toronto’s Vernon Wells, Atlanta’s Andruw Jones or Boston’s Manny Ramirez.

“It might end up leading to something like that, but that wasn’t the objective here,” General Manager Bill Stoneman said. “We have a good bullpen; we want to make it even better.”

Speier’s contract is a reflection of the increased value of set-up men and this winter’s overheated free-agent market. Boston, Cleveland, San Francisco, the New York Yankees and Baltimore pursued Speier, who has been more effective against left-handers (.211 average against) than right-handers (.234) over the last three seasons.

“Everybody realizes how important the bullpen is, so competition for the good relievers is really strong,” Stoneman said. “Justin could have been a closer or primary set-up man in some places, but he really wanted to be part of a good team and a good pitching staff. He’s not an ego guy. He’s a team guy.”

Stoneman said Speier’s signing won’t necessarily lead to the departure of Donnelly, an All-Star setup man in 2003 who, because of injuries and inconsistency, was demoted to middle relief, a role he shared with Hector Carrasco last season.

But Donnelly, who was 6-0 with a 3.94 ERA in 62 games, could double his $950,000 salary in arbitration, and the Angels, notorious for scrimping on the back of their bullpen, may not want to commit nearly $2 million to a No. 4 or No. 5 reliever.

“It’s a business, and I have to be professional,” Donnelly said. “Everyone wants to win, but I have to think about security, because I’m 35, and I don’t have any. Who knows what they’re going to do? Are they loading up in the bullpen to trade someone everybody wants for a center fielder from Canada?”

The Angels don’t have one of the best offenses in the game, and two possible solutions -- Aramis Ramirez and Soriano -- have signed with the Cubs.

The Angels were believed to have offered Soriano a five- or six-year deal for about $14 million a year.

“That’s a big number, and beyond where we thought his value was,” Stoneman said of Soriano’s deal with the Cubs.

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mike.digiovanna@latimes.com