The Angels have signed catcher Chad Wallach to a minor league deal, according to his transactions tracker at MLB.com. Wallach was with the club in 2022 but elected free agency after being outrighted in October.
Wallach, 31, has seen MLB action in each of the past six seasons, splitting time between the Reds, Marlins and Angels. The Marlins put him on waivers in July of 2021, with the Dodgers putting in a claim. They kept him in the minors until putting him back on waivers a week later, when the Angels swooped in.
The backstop got into 12 MLB games but spent most of the year in Triple-A, suiting up for 89 contests there. He hit .219/.304/.361 in that time for a wRC+ of 66. He’s never been a huge threat with the bat but has a solid reputation for his defense and game calling.
The Angels will be without Kurt Suzuki next year, as he announced his retirement as the 2022 campaign was winding down. That leaves them with three catchers on the 40-man roster in Logan O’Hoppe, Max Stassi and Matt Thaiss. O’Hoppe looked great last year but he’s still a bit green, in the sense that he’s only played six Triple-A games and five MLB games. He could take the starting job and run with it but it’s not guaranteed at the moment. Stassi seemed to have that job locked down a year ago, with he and the club agreeing to an extension in March. However, his bat took a huge downward turn and he’s now a question mark going into next year. Thaiss played other positions last year just as much as he did behind the plate and is probably considered more of an emergency catcher. Wallach will give the club an experienced backstop in Triple-A who can come up in the event that one of the other options gets hurt or underperforms.
Guess they don’t feel like spending or thinking they can get a quality backstop..
Lots of promise in O’Hoppe and Stassi really gave it his all this past season; just it turned into too many games for him and too heavy a work load to be the full time catcher. Stassi’s numbers don’t show it but he really gave it his all.
Or…they know the guy, and need some organizational depth at the minor league level.
Did he catch Detmers NoNo?
Why do depth moves always create these types of reactions online?
Such a strange phenomenon.
He did catch the no-hitter, and also hit a 3-run homer in the same game.
@ocsports
Oh, sorry, I didn’t realize my post came off so negatively. Wasn’t my intent. More of an observation. I just found it curious they chose to re-sign Wallach after the two “big” moves they’ve made. I mean, its not like Wallach is offensively better than Stassi. He could be a better defensive catcher, but I’m admittedly clueless when it comes to understanding the defense of that position.
With small pickups this early in the offseason; think of it as half priced meat at grocery store. You pick some up; throw in the freezer (AAA) Then down the road come full season when you need it – its steak night!
@buff
I’m really hoping Stassi rights the ship after last year.. he seemed like he was on target for being a good offensive catcher.
Keep in mind he had a lot of head injuries last year. It can take longer to recover from those. I think he called a good game, His defense dropped from top notch down to about average. He should have spent more time on the injured list in my opinion. Let us hope he will bounce back in 23.
Angels need to address The more priority positions right now rather than a catcher like a closer and a few other bullpen pieces give Logan O’Hoppe a look this spring training and Rookie shortstop Ivan Soto chance to win that position this spring
Homer, you and I are in agreement.
Now they can trade Stassi.
Start O’Hoppe in AAA. Give Stassi a chance to earn his contract. Let Thais be the backup. In May, bring up O’Hoppe and get seven years of service instead of six.
This works for me.
Halo11 spot on.
Time to lure Posey outta retirement.
Son of Tim Wallach.
And another Titan!
Lot of Cal State Fullerton Pride on this team. I have been a big fan of them since I was a kid. I never went there but my wife as an alumni. I did go to Fullerton High school. Lorenzen went to both. a lot of everything came from fullerton High. From Freddy Fender (music) to Nixon (not so good Pres) to Brigg Owens (NFL) to Cruz Reynoso (Cal Supreme Justise) but the best is baseball. with Manager Del Crandell and hall-a-famers SS Arky Vaughan and P Walter Johnson. a lot of people think Johnson is the best pitcher ever. Look at his war totals. I read once that Fullerton was the only High school with 3 players that have thrown MLB no-hitters. (Mike Warren, Steve Busby and Johnson. Also, Wallach is from Yorba Linda where I live now. Maybe I went a little crazy there.
Wallach is a solid backup catcher. He’s exactly the profile you want backing up a starter.
No harm in this pick up. Depth is good.
Feel like Wallach has been a wanted glove man forever. 7 million a year Stassi. How did that happen. Crazy over pay.
Ohoppe is going to kill it. Like like Judge standing next to Gallego
Angels are set a catcher. You have O’Hoppe set to prove himself this year, and he looks solid. Then u have Edgar Quero, thou young, busting out this year at “A” ball, and could be as little as 2 years away.
As far as SS, we have Soto and Neto. But that shouldn’t stop the Angels signing one of the big SS’s this off-season. Those 2 SS prospect’s can easily transfer over to 2b. I got to think 1 will stick.. looks solid, let’s get a SS and Closer and “Finnish the game”.