The Angels have claimed catcher Chad Wallach off waivers from the Dodgers and optioned him to Triple-A, per the team. In a corresponding move, Anthony Bemboom has been designated for assignment.
Wallach never appeared with the Dodgers in the Majors after being claimed off waivers from the Marlins. The Dodgers had hoped Wallach could serve as backstop insurance for Will Smith and Austin Barnes after the deadline departure of Keibert Ruiz. Still, he was only an extra man for the Dodgers, who still have Tim Federowicz in the organization as their presumptive third catcher.
As for Wallach, he heads to the Angels, where he will slot in behind Kurt Suzuki and Max Stassi in the depth chart. Most of Wallach’s Major League playing time came with the Marlins over the last four seasons, though he did make his debut with the Reds back in 2017. In total, he owns a .207/.271/.303 line across 231 plate appearances.
As for Bemboom, the 31-year-old heads to the waiver wire. While his success in the bigs has been fleeting — from an offensive standpoint — he’s having a nice year at Triple-A this season, slashing .255/.364/.482 in 165 trips to the plate.
Sounds good
It’s probably safe to say that Chad will never be as good a ball player as his father Tim.
Dodgers legend
0 passed balls 🙂
Assume the open 40 man spot will soon be going to Knebel
is it seriously that hard to find a catcher that can even be a slightly below average hitter ??
also, why not put Thaiss or Ward back at Catcher ??? I dont understand why they were both moved off it
Thaiss is back at catcher.
Yes. That’s why it’s so hilarious that people who want to get rid of P hitting reference how terrible they’re. Take the top 5 catchers off and than average the rest of the catchers in the league and the averages are going down yearly. At what point do you DH for catchers?
Neither Thaiss nor Ward can properly handle a pitching staff. Ask Jeff Mathis if that’s important.
I agree, handling a staff is mega important !! but Ward was drafted as the top defensive catcher they’ve seen, and had a well below average bat.. and was a stretch in the first round. then all the sudden they move him to outfield and he raked in the minors . seems like if he could hit how he does now and is an average catcher , he’s a top 5-7 catcher ?!
Exactly. Eats was supposed to be Mathis 2.0 but was moved off tre position.
Then again, Thaiss had the most project able swing in the draft class and was immediately given multiple swing and position changes.
Our development sucks. And it shows.
Why do they Angels waste their time on a 30 year catcher when they could slot a younger talent like Matt Thaiss into the back up role?
i find it interesting they’ve moved him back there. are they still not sure he’s ready to catch in the Majors?
@DarkSide830 They moved him out of catcher because he was one of the Angels top hitting prospects. Both 3rd base and 1st base were needs at the time. The Angels didnt have a viable 3rd baseman and Pujols was a shell of his former self. Now that the Angels have signed Rendon and the emergence of Walsh has kind of forced Thaiss back to catcher if he wants to make it long term at the major leagues.
Thaiss like Ward gets blocked wherever he gets moved to. Angels have been to afraid to just go with their youth, and their new young rotation is proving they should’ve been going that route years ago. And then they could’ve used their freed up money each offseason to load up on depth. But hey, in corporate America that probably makes too much sense.
You earn ABs. They haven’t. It’s that simple. If they could help, they’d be here.
And the aging veterans they signed who sharply declined have? When you go younger with enough money to supplement with good depth, you do it. It’s not about who earned the AB’s, it’s about making better player development and roster building choices as an organization. The Angels’ biggest down fall both in the past decade and in the 1980’s was turning away from their youth in favor of aging stars who lost their legs with the Angels.
Thaiss cannot handle a pitching staff (I mentioned the same above). If he could, with his bat, he’d be entrenched as their catcher right now. It’s one of the most difficult positions in all of sports. That’s why so many guys get moved out of the position.
No one cares.
Any relation to Tim Wallach?
To answer my own question, yes, he’s Tim’s son. Also, a local OC product.
Had no idea Wallach or FedEx were still playing ball with LA in any affiliate. Thought fedex went home 5+ years ago
If you told me that Tim Federowicz was 63 years old I’d believe you, it seems like he’s been around that long.
Was very impressed with one Patrick Sandoval last night.
He looks like a REAL keeper; not like that faux fur Heaney
Doesn’t seem fair to Detmers to have him go on Sunday, ida bumped him, I feel pain in his near future
David Fletcher is also awesome I might add, every team could use more of those type guys
Sandoval has been a nice little surprise for the team this season.. he’s generally pitched well, something certain other pitchers who got demoted cant do.
I was really impressed-
Composed, beautiful tilt, works the lower zone masterfully, great pitching body arm-side, good movement, works both sides of the plate
Looks like a young poor mans prime Cole Hamels
I think he slides into a firm SP 3 role today with potential for more, definite keeper
I didn’t even know Wallach was with the Dodgers. Must have been quick
Please god cut Suzuki