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Ron Washington To Stay On Medical Leave For Remainder Of Season

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The Angels announced today that manager Ron Washington will stay on medical leave for the remainder of the 2025 season. Ray Montgomery will continue to serve as the interim manager. Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times was among those to relay the info. Infield coach Ryan Goins will take up Montgomery’s previous bench coach role.

Reports emerged one week ago that Washington would be stepping out of the dugout for an indefinite amount of time due to an unspecified health concern. The issue still hasn’t been publicly specified but it is apparently serious enough that Wash won’t be resuming his managerial duties for the rest of the season.

Now 73 years old, Washington signed a two-year deal to manage the Halos ahead of the 2024 season. They went 63-99 last year but are faring much better so far this season. They are currently 40-40 and just one game back of a playoff spot. Shaikin reports that Washington’s contract has a club option for 2026.

Montgomery, 55, has been the bench coach for the Angels since 2022, which has allowed him to be a constant presence over multiple managerial tenures. Joe Maddon was the skipper at the start of 2022 but he was fired in June of that year. Phil Nevin replaced Maddon and held the role through the end of the 2023 season. After Nevin’s contract expired, Washington was hired for the 2024 campaign.

His managerial experience thus far is fairly limited. Nevin got a ten-game suspension in the wake of a brawl with the Mariners in 2022, with Montgomery stepping in to cover at that time. He’s been at the helm for the past week to replace Washington and will now seemingly get the job for the second half of the season as well.

Goins, 37, just retired from playing after the 2023 season. A month later, he was added to Washington’s staff as infield coach. He’ll now get a role change as the Angels adjust on the fly to cover for Washington’s absence.

Photo courtesy of Jason Parkhurst, Imagn Images

Angels Place Jorge Soler On 10-Day IL With Low Back Inflammation

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The Angels placed Jorge Soler on the 10-day injured list yesterday with inflammation in his lower back. To take his place on the active roster, Gustavo Campero was recalled from Triple-A.

June has been a difficult month for Soler. Over 14 games, he has gone 5-for-42 with 17 strikeouts and a .315 OPS. He hasn’t had an extra-base hit since May 30. (He has been sitting on 199 career home runs for three weeks.) His offensive struggles likely have to do with the fact that he’s taken on a heavier workload despite a couple of injury issues. With Mike Trout limited to DH duty since he came off the IL at the end of May, Soler was forced to move into right field. On June 4, Soler was pulled from a game with groin tightness. Three days later, he was removed again for the same reason. He went for an MRI after that (per Rhett Bollinger of MLB.com), but evidently, it came back clean, as the 33-year-old continued to start in right field. This past Wednesday, however, manager Ron Washington told reporters (including Bollinger) that “back stiffness” would keep Soler out of the lineup. On Friday, that diagnosis was updated to low back inflammation as the team placed Soler on the IL, retroactive to June 18.

Even before he took over regular right field duties, Soler had not quite been himself in his first season with the Angels. He hit 57 home runs with an .817 OPS and a 122 wRC+ from 2023-24, but he had just seven home runs, a .674 OPS, and an 87 wRC+ through his first 50 games in 2025. Nevertheless, he was consistently batting in the middle of the Angels’ order, and they will look to have him back as soon as possible as they try to cling on in the AL Wild Card race (despite having the fourth-worst record in the AL, they’re currently only three games out of a playoff spot). Hopefully, some time off his feet will help him recover from his nagging injuries so he can supply the kind of power the Angels were looking for when they took on the two years and $32MM remaining on his contract over the offseason. It will also help if Trout can get back in the field, allowing Soler to return to the DH role he’s best suited for.

Campero, 27, returns for his third stint with the big league club. He made his MLB debut last September and re-joined the Angels this past April before an ankle injury landed him on the IL. Last night, he entered as a late-game defensive substitution and knocked a single off of Bryan Abreu in his lone at-bat. All told, he has gone 14-for-57 with a .628 OPS and a 78 wRC+ in 19 games for the Angels, splitting his time between right and left field. His ability to switch hit, steal bases, and catch in a pinch (he’s a former catcher) should make him a useful bench piece.

Ron Washington Taking Indefinite Break From Managing Angels Due To Health Concern

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Ron Washington will not manage the Angels for an indefinite period of time due to a health concern, reports Sam Blum of The Athletic. He will attend tonight’s game against the Astros and will watch from the suite. Bench coach Ray Montgomery will manage for however long Washington is unavailable.

Shortly before reporting the news on Washington, Blum noted that the Angels were holding a players-only meeting. GM Perry Minasian is expected to address the media shortly. Mike DiGiovanna relayed a comment from Minasian that Washington has not felt well for the past few days.

Washington, 73, is in his second season leading the Halos. They lost a franchise-record 99 games a year ago but have been far more competitive this season. They’re taking a 36-38 record into this weekend’s set against Houston. They’re in third place in the AL West, 6.5 games back of the Astros. They’re only two games out in what remains a jumbled Wild Card picture. Their -60 run differential is fourth-worst in the American League, but only the White Sox and A’s seem firmly out of the race in the AL.

Montgomery has been the Halos’ bench coach since 2022. He has held the position under each of Joe Maddon, Phil Nevin and Washington. Montgomery spent some time as acting manager during the ’22 campaign when Nevin was suspended for 10 games for his role in a benches-clearing brawl against the Mariners. The 55-year-old has never held a full managerial position but has been mentioned as a candidate in the past — including during the 2023 hiring process that eventually led to Washington. MLBTR sends best wishes to Wash on a speedy recovery.

Angels Re-Sign Shaun Anderson To Minor League Contract

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The Angels brought back righty Shaun Anderson on another minor league contract, as reflected on the MiLB.com transaction log. The tracker also indicates that the Halos released Buck Farmer and Andrew Vasquez from their minor league deals. Anderson will head to Triple-A Salt Lake.

Anderson has signed three separate minor league deals with the Halos this year. They’ve called him up twice but needed to designate him for assignment to take him off the active roster, as he’s out of options. Anderson elected free agency both times and has returned to the organization on new minor league pacts.

Around the transactions, the 30-year-old Anderson has made six big league relief appearances. He has surrendered nine runs on 16 hits (including a trio of homers) in 10 2/3 innings. He’s been pitching out of the rotation in Salt Lake, allowing 5.74 earned runs per nine through 42 1/3 innings. Anderson has an ERA just under 4.00 in seven Triple-A campaigns but has allowed a 6.20 ERA through 162 2/3 MLB frames.

Farmer and Vasquez each signed with the Angels last month. Farmer allowed 12 earned runs in as many innings for the Bees. Vasquez allowed nine earned across 13 frames with 10 strikeouts and five walks. Neither pitcher has logged any MLB action this year.

Shaun Anderson Elects Free Agency

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TODAY: Anderson cleared waivers and elected free agency over an outright assignment to Triple-A, the Angels announced.

JUNE 13: The Angels announced today that they have selected the contract of infield prospect Christian Moore and recalled right-hander Sam Bachman. In corresponding moves, outfielder Matthew Lugo has been optioned to Triple-A Salt Lake and righty Shaun Anderson has been designated for assignment. MLBTR covered the Moore/Lugo swap yesterday. Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register reported today’s full slate of moves prior to the official club announcement.

Anderson, 30, has been on and off the Angels’ roster this year. He signed a minor league deal in the offseason and was called up in early May. He was designated for assignment later that month, cleared waivers, elected free agency, re-signed with the club and was added back to the roster a few days ago. Around those transactions, he has logged 10 2/3 innings over six appearances. He allowed nine earned runs on 16 hits, giving out three walks while striking out ten opponents.

Broadly speaking, Anderson has usually been able to put up decent Triple-A numbers that haven’t translated to the big leagues. He made his major league debut in 2019 and now has 162 2/3 innings under his belt with a 6.20 earned run average. In that same time frame, he has a 3.93 ERA in 307 Triple-A frames. He also spent a season in Korea and put up a 3.76 ERA there.

Since he’s out of options, he can’t be easily sent back down to the minors. The last time he lost his roster spot with the Halos, he cleared waivers and circled back to them, so it’s possible that same sequence will play out in the coming days.

Photo courtesy of Cary Edmondson, Imagn Images

Angels Return Rule 5 Pick Garrett McDaniels To Dodgers

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The Angels announced that left-hander Garrett McDaniels has been returned to the Dodgers, as per his status as a Rule 5 Draft pick.  McDaniels was designated for assignment earlier this week, and since he went unclaimed on waivers, the Angels were required to offer him back to the Dodgers for $50K (teams that select players away in the R5 give a $100K fee to the club losing the player).

Rule 5 picks must spend an entire season on their new team’s active roster before the new team can fully obtain their rights, and McDaniels’ stint in Anaheim ended after 10 relief appearances and an IL stint for biceps tendinitis that lasted over a month.  McDaniels posted a 5.91 ERA over his first 10 2/3 career innings as a big leaguer, as he had never pitched above the Double-A level before making his MLB debut this season.  In fact, even McDaniels’ Double-A resume consisted of only two appearances and three innings with the Dodgers’ Tulsa affiliate in 2024.

A 30th-round pick for the Marlins in the 2018 draft, McDaniels chose to attend Coastal Carolina instead of starting his pro career out of high school, and a subsequent Tommy John surgery limited his college ball experience.  He went undrafted entirely and didn’t join the Dodgers until May 2022, but then made a relatively quick climb up their minor league ladder.  McDaniels has a 3.43 ERA in 99 2/3 career minor league innings, and he recorded a good number of strikeouts while working mostly as a reliever, though he made a handful of starts in A-ball.

This was enough to get the Angels’ attention in the Rule 5 Draft, but McDaniels didn’t quite seem ready for the majors.  He’ll now return to the Dodgers’ farm system to continue his development, and another trip back to the big leagues might not be out of the question in 2025 given how the injury-plagued Dodgers are constantly churning through arms.

Pirates Claim Michael Darrell-Hicks

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TODAY: After a consultation with Dr. Neal ElAttrache, Rodriguez will get a PRP injection next week and then be shut down for the next four weeks, Pirates manager Don Kelly told reporters (including MLB.com’s Alex Stumpf).

JUNE 13: The Pirates announced that they have claimed right-hander Michael Darrell-Hicks off waivers from the Angels and optioned him to Triple-A Indianapolis. He had been designated for assignment by the Halos a few days ago. To open a spot on the 40-man roster, catcher Endy Rodríguez has been transferred to the 60-day injured list.

Darrell-Hicks, 27, was an undrafted free agent signing from 2022. The Angels moved him from a starting role to the bullpen going into the 2024 season. He logged 62 1/3 innings combined between Double-A and Triple-A last year, allowing 2.60 earned runs per nine. He struck out 26.4% of batters faced, limited walks to a 5% clip and got grounders on 48.8% of balls in play. FanGraphs ranked him as the #21 prospect in the system going into this year.

The Angels added him to their roster in early April and he has been shuttled between Triple-A and the majors since then. In his 7 2/3 big league innings, he has allowed eight earned runs while striking out six and giving out four walks. In his 22 1/3 Triple-A innings, he has an 8.87 ERA but a lot of that is likely luck, as his .386 batting average on balls in play and 59.5% strand rate are both on the unfortunate side. His 21.3% strikeout rate, 7.4% walk rate and 46.7% ground ball rate are all decent numbers.

He still has a full slate of options and just a handful of service days, so he can potentially be a long-term depth arm for the Pirates if he continues to hang onto his 40-man roster spot. For now, he’ll head to Indianapolis and await his next big league opportunity.

As for Rodríguez, his status isn’t clear but the transfer to the 60-day IL is a bit ominous. He was only placed on the 10-day IL a few days ago due to right elbow inflammation. Based on today’s move, the Bucs don’t expect him back until August at the earliest. He missed the entire 2024 season due to UCL surgery on that elbow.

More information should be forthcoming on his status in the coming days or weeks. For the time being, he won’t factor into the club’s catching mix. Henry Davis and Brett Sullivan are the active backstops. Joey Bart is on the concussion-related IL but should be back in the mix soon since he has already begun a rehab assignment.

Photo courtesy of Raymond Carlin III, Imagn Images

Angels To Promote Christian Moore

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The Angels are calling up second base prospect Christian Moore, as first reported by @kat_wrld and confirmed by multiple outlets. The Halos optioned rookie outfielder Matthew Lugo during today’s off day, according to the MLB.com transaction log. They will need to make a 40-man roster move tomorrow.

This kind of aggressive promotion for top prospects is par for the course for the Angels. They skew extremely towards the college side in the draft and push their most talented minor leaguers as quickly as any organization. Each of the Halos’ past three first-round picks (Zach Neto, Nolan Schanuel and Moore) were college hitters who were in the majors within the opening half of their first full professional season. Neto was drafted in 2022 and promoted the following April. Schanuel went from Florida Atlantic to the big leagues within two months during the ’23 season.

While Moore took the longest of the three, he’s now slated for his MLB debut around 11 months after being selected. A Tennessee product, he impressed amateur scouts by hitting .375 with 34 homers during his junior season with the Vols. Evaluators have had concerns about his defense, but he has a chance to provide rare power from an up-the-middle position.

The Halos almost immediately pushed Moore to Double-A, where he hit .322 with five homers in 23 games during his draft year. That established him as the top offensive player in a weak Halos farm system. He ranked among the sport’s top 100 talents over the winter at each of Baseball America, MLB Pipeline and ESPN.

Moore returned to Double-A to open this season. He got out to a rough start in a pitcher-friendly environment. The righty hitter only managed one homer while striking out at a 27.4% clip through 146 plate appearances. The Angels nevertheless moved him to Triple-A Salt Lake on May 13. Moore has thrived in the much more favorable Pacific Coast League, collecting four homers while hitting .350 in 20 games. He has posted consecutive multi-hit games with a home run in each of his two most recent outings.

It’s a tiny sample, but it was enough to convince the ever-aggressive Halos front office to bring him up. There’s a relatively low bar to clear to upgrade the second base position. Chris Taylor went on the injured list on Tuesday with a broken left hand. Luis Rengifo has mostly been filling in at third base for the injured Yoán Moncada. The Halos have given Scott Kingery three of the past four starts at second base. He has had a monster season in Salt Lake but has played seven MLB games since the start of the 2022 campaign.

The Angels have hung around .500 through the season’s first few months. They’ve been outscored by 50 runs, but they’re coming off a sweep of the A’s that pulled them back into second place in the AL West. They’ll hope for Moore to provide an offensive spark. He joins Jac Caglianone, Nick Kurtz and Cam Smith as members of last year’s first round to reach the big leagues. He’s the second member of the Halos’ 2024 class to get there. Second-rounder Ryan Johnson broke camp in the bullpen before being optioned to High-A last month.

Moore meets the eligibility for the Prospect Promotion Incentive. He’d earn a full year of service time if he manages a long shot top two finish in Rookie of the Year balloting. (The Angels would not receive a pick in that scenario.) Moore would otherwise remain under club control for at least a full six seasons after this one. That timeline could be delayed if he requires any more time in the minors after his first look at MLB pitching.

Image courtesy of Imagn Images.

Angels Sign Chad Wallach To Minor League Deal

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The Angels have signed catcher Chad Wallach to a minor league deal, according to his transactions tracker at MLB.com. He had previously been with the Rangers on a minor league deal but was released a few days ago.

Wallach, 33, is a known commodity for the Halos. He got into 77 games for them over the 2022 and 2023 seasons. He also spent last year at Triple-A Salt Lake on a minor league deal but didn’t get called up.

He pivoted over to the Rangers at the start of this year and got into 28 games for Triple-A Round Rock. He struck out 27.2% of the time but also walked at a strong 11.4% clip and hit four home runs. That added up to a .245/.333/.408 line and 89 wRC+.

Wallach faced a steep path to playing time in Texas, where Jonah Heim and Kyle Higashioka are the primary catching duo. Even when Higashioka went on the injured list earlier this year, it was Tucker Barnhart who got the call to cover for him. Higashioka subsequently returned from the IL and Barnhart was bumped off the roster but quickly re-signed on a new minor league deal.

The Angels have Logan O’Hoppe and Travis d’Arnaud at the big league level. For much of the season, they had Chuckie Robinson at Salt Lake on an optional assignment, but he was lost to the Dodgers via waivers a couple of weeks ago. Though Wallach is not on the roster, he essentially replaces Robinson as the top option to get called up if either O’Hoppe or d’Arnaud suffers an injury.

Including his time with the Angels, Wallach has also suited up for the Reds and Marlins. He has 155 big league games under his belt over seven separate seasons. He has a .198/.263/.328 batting line but solid defensive grades.

Image courtesy of Dale Zanine, Imagn Images

Angels Select Shaun Anderson, Designate Garrett McDaniels For Assignment

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The Angels announced that they have selected the contract of right-hander Shaun Anderson.  Fellow righty José Fermín has been optioned to Triple-A Salt Lake as the corresponding active roster move.  To open a 40-man spot, left-hander Garrett McDaniels has been reinstated from the injured list and designated for assignment.

Anderson has a 6.30 ERA over 10 relief innings for the Halos this season, with most of that damage caused by three home runs allowed during that small sample of work. Los Angeles signed Anderson to a minors contract in February and selected him to the active roster for the first time a month ago, but designated the righty for assignment in the wake of his struggles.

The home run ball has long been an issue for Anderson, who has a 6.11 career ERA in the majors over 162 innings with eight different teams. Despite his lack of production at the big league level, Anderson has consistently kept drawing interest due to his ability to work as a swingman, though he hasn’t gotten much consistent work as a starter since the 2019 season when he pitched for the Giants. There is also a bit of a “quad-A” air to the righty’s career, as Anderson has pitched decently well at the Triple-A level and during a brief stint overseas in the KBO League in 2023.

Anderson will now get a chance to cover some innings and see if he can stick in the L.A. bullpen, with McDaniels the odd man out on the 40-man roster.  McDaniels was a Rule 5 Draft pick out of the Dodgers organization back in December, and his debut season in the majors saw the southpaw post a 5.91 ERA over 10 2/3 relief innings, with more walks allowed (eight) than strikeouts (six).  In fairness to McDaniels, he had only two games of Double-A experience on his resume before being exposed to MLB hitters this season, and he didn’t make his Triple-A debut until this year, while rehabbing from biceps tendinitis.

McDaniels’ Rule 5 status would carry over if another team acquired him via claim or trade during the DFA period, so this new club would also have to carry McDaniels on its active roster for the entire roster in order to fully obtain his rights.  If McDaniels clears waivers, the Angels would have to offer him back to the Dodgers for $50K (i.e. half of the original $100K fee the Angels paid the Dodgers for making the Rule 5 selection).

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