The Angels have outrighted first baseman Jared Walsh, outfielder Brett Phillips, catcher Chad Wallach, right-handers Jaime Barria and Carson Fulmer, and left-hander Jhonathan Diaz, per MLB.com’s Transactions page. It had not previously been announced that the group were designated for assignment, but each player evidently cleared waivers. Walsh, Phillips, Wallach, Barria, and Fulmer will each now have the opportunity to elect free agency and hit the open market this offseason.
Walsh, 30, is perhaps the most noteworthy of the group. A 39th-round pick by the Angels in the 2015 draft, Walsh made it to the majors in 2019 and broke out in a big way during the shortened 2020 season, slashing an incredible .293/.324/.646 with nine home runs in just 108 trips to the plate. He followed up that breakout campaign with a strong 2021 as the club’s regular first baseman. In 144 games that year, Walsh hit .277/.340/.509 with 29 homers in his first full season of big league action en route to his first career All Star appearance. Unfortunately, things went down hill for Walsh from there. The slugger has struggled with neurological issues in recent years and struggled to be an effective big leaguer as a result, slashing just .197/.258/.355 in 157 games across the past two seasons. Deep as Walsh’s struggles have been in recent years, if he can prove himself to be healthy it’s certainly feasible that a club with a need at first base could give him a look thanks to his significant success in the relatively recent past.
Phillips, 29, made his big league debut with the Brewers during the 2017 season, slashing a solid .276/.351/.448 in 98 trips to the plate for the club. That said, Phillips’s true calling card is his outfield defense, which has allowed him to appear in the majors for each of the past seven seasons of his career despite only posting a better-than-average slash line in 2021 besides his debut season. Though he’s slashed a paltry .187/.272/.347 for his career including an abysmal .152/.230/.269 line the past two seasons, Phillips has managed to bounce between the Brewers, Royals, Rays, Orioles, and Angels throughout his career and could enter free agency as a solid, glove-first depth piece for interested clubs, though it’s possible he’ll have to settle for a minor league deal.
Wallach, 31, made is MLB debut in 2017 and since then has bounced around the major and minor leagues as a depth option behind the plate, with previous major league stints in Cincinnati and Miami as well as Anaheim. 2023 was the journeyman’s first extended big league opportunity thanks to injuries to the club’s typical catching corps of Logan O’Hoppe and Max Stassi, and Wallach performed passably in the role with solid framing numbers and 70 wRC+ that placed him 49th among 69 catchers with at least 100 big league plate appearances this season. Wallach figures to once again receive interest as a potential depth piece for clubs in need of additional catching options this offseason.
Barria, 27, made his MLB debut in 2018 and has spent his entire career with the Angels to this point. His rookie season was an impressive one, as he posted a 3.41 ERA that was 23% better than league average by ERA+ in 26 starts, though his 4.58 FIP left something to be desired. Barria struggled in a swing role in 2019 before bouncing back with a 3.62 ERA and matching 3.65 FIP in 32 1/3 innings of work during the shortened 2020 season. That set off what has become a trend of Barria alternating between struggles and success every other season; while he posted excellent numbers in 2022 with a 2.61 ERA as a multi-inning reliever, he struggled in 2021 and especially the 2023 campaign, during which he posted a 5.68 ERA and 6.07 FIP across 82 1/3 innings of work. Still, given Barria’s relative youth and previous success, it seems like a reasonable bet that he’ll find interest in his services this offseason.
Fulmer, who was selected eighth overall by the White Sox in the 2015 draft, struggled to a 6.41 ERA and 5.93 FIP across 130 2/3 innings for the first six seasons of his big league career while bouncing between the White Sox, Tigers, Orioles, and Reds organizations. After a solid season at the Triple-A level for Fulmer with the Dodgers in 2022, he signed on in Anaheim and return to the big leagues late in the year. He pitched fairly well in ten innings of work, striking out six while posting a 2.70 ERA across three appearances. The 29-year-old figures to once again receive interest from clubs this offseason, though it seems likely he’ll once again be limited to minor league offers.
Diaz, meanwhile, will remain in the Angels organization as a player with less than three years service time who’s just received the first outright assignment of his career. The 27-year-old lefty made his big league debut in Anaheim back in 2021, and has posted a 4.84 ERA with a 4.83 FIP across 35 1/3 innings of work in the big leagues split across the last three seasons. Diaz sports identical 14.4% strikeout and walk rates for his big league career thanks to a brutal 2023 campaign that saw him walk seven batters in seven innings while striking out just four and posting a 10.29 ERA. He’ll remain a decent left-handed depth option for the Angels going forward.
Tough luck for Walsh. He was an all-star the year before. Always worked on his defense and plays.
I would have thought some team would take a chance on Walsh by claiming him? Oakland? Washington?
At this point in the offseason, there is little reason to claim a player who is eligible for arbitration. Walsh actually has more leverage with an arbitration case than on the open market.
Jared Walsh just cratered hard the past two seasons now. A shame, he looked like he was going to be a fixture in that Angels lineup.
That -1.8 WAR combined would have come in handy.
Like Ohtani, they’ll run not walk far far away from this incompetent team.
Ohtani leaving makes sense. Why would bad players run from the team? Maybe they blame the Angels for their issues, but the Angels love “bad” everything. You can be bad and still have a large contract with the Angels. They will keep you until you are near the end, then release you so some team just has to pay the minimum for you.
Walsh is not a bad player. He had TOS surgery. Few are able to perform at big league level afterwards
Rj, u nailed it. It’s unfortunate for Walsh and the Angels. You just can’t forecast Walsh and this kind of thing. I feel for Walsh, but the Angels will be fine.
“Like Ohtani, they’ll run not walk far far away from this incompetent team.”
Incompetent? Them’s fightin’ words mister! Don’t forget we easily finished ahead of the A’s, Royals and WS! In fact, we were just an injury or two away from a ring! And Ohtani is coming back, His jersey sales alone make him worth any price..
Glad to see Barria finally go. I can’t imagine he’d stay in the minors.
Barria is the type of pitcher that the Dodgers, Giants or Brewers like to pick up and they’ll turn him into an effective pitcher somehow.
hated seeing him outrighted here for this reason only. though he would have been a non-tender candidate and then dfa candidate all winter too, so maybe a change of scenery is whats best for everyone.
The Jaime Barria drop surprises me a bit. I agree and understand it. He’s been given several shots in the rotation and the bullpen.
My bet Is LAA hire a first time manager pay him about 1 million dollars a year.
I humbly apply for the position, but the Uber fees might offset the gains… plus I’d have to “manage” Rendon? Nevermind, I’m out.
This is to lower the payroll and to get the highest comensation pick as possible. Thank you, Arte for running the team down and ruining its reputation while you try to maximize your income.
None of these players are worth the value they’re currently being paid. Cost cutting or not, the team needed to move on from them. There are a few others they should have outrighted as well, but c’est la vie.
I agree 100% These moves needed to be made. In fact, they would probably be better off with more of these moves.
The season is over and their salaries have been paid and calculated for this season’s tax. This is about clearing space on the 40 man roster by eliminating players who are easily replaced.
I do agree Arte is the root to all evil that ills the Angels.
your vendetta against the angels organization is so strong, yet it is quite misplaced as you blame the whole system for arte’s shortcomings. these are not baseball players worth keeping on their respective projected salaries, and the angels actually do have some young talent that will be worth taking a look at. however, they are hamstrung by contracts for rendon, and to a much lesser extent trout, so you are correct in your assumption that they will be below average for some time.
You must enjoy losing year after year. And hardly any signs of better future. And no, I do not have vedetta against the Angels. Only against people who are dragging the team into a sewer.
again, they have a whole team of people fighting against the owner’s restraints and commands. arte is the problem. perry is a good gm, and nevin was arte’s stopgap hire. this year will be his most telling offseason as far as perry’s competence goes; on the other hand, how much of the team’s direction will be dictated by arte? will they be allowed to lean into the rebuild, or will arte keep choosing to walk the long road of ‘contention’ by (low chance obv) either keeping ohtani or replacing him. i can really only point to the rendon signing(i thought it was egregious at the time), TA signing(didnt think they could get what the dodgers did out of him) and raisel iglesias trade(only getting tucker davidson made it the equivalent of a salary dump), as moves that i havent liked that perry has made. moniak, drury were both a little bit better than expected, ohoppe is great, and he recognizes the angels’ need to draft near mlb-ready players with their majorly lacking player development program not a good place to send ‘project’ prospects. you think the entire group is trudging through that sewer together, but arte is the one doing the dragging.
Diaz qualifies for minor league free agency after the end of the World Series
Jaime Barria, any relations to Yogi Barria?
Haha, like!
¡No hay relación! But if either one found a fork in the road, they’d take it.
Wallach should be resigned to a minor league deal. Hopefully, they won’t need him in 2024, but if O’Hoppe or Stassi go down again, he’ll be a nice AAAA depth piece.
Who says Stassi is coming back?
Artie gonna open that checkbook made out of alligator. The man has a real business sense.
Minasian gifting Phillips a 1.2 mil contract last off-season was one of his most baffling moves. No one was going to give him an MLB contract. He passed through waivers twice showing how much he was overpaid. And then they played him regularly down the stretch when they could’ve played younger guys made no sense knowing he probably may have no pro baseball future soon. At least not MLB. And then the Angels were so desperate to get rid of cap space that the 1.2 made a huge difference in the end.
And going with a Catching duo of Thaiss and Wallach in hopes of making the playoffs was disastrous. Just hoping healthy O’Hoppe as a rookie catcher to lead the team to the playoffs was risky in of itself.
Need to outright the owner
Freed up the spots needed on the 40 man roster, for the ones on the 60 day IL. I could see someone like the Rockies taking a flyer on Walsh.
Simple, u reboot if u don’t re-sign Ohtani. If u do, go for it. This 2023 Angels team isn’t much different from the Phillies. It’s just the current of The Phillies core of studs have been healthy, and at the right time. There pretty top heavy to, the Phillies that are currently built will never win there division. They Just get in with big talent and no depth, that has been a pretty solid way for a championship run with the current playoff structure.
Don’t forget the deep ancient monkey paw curse arte acquired for building billboards over native burial grounds in the American southwest.
“Simple, u reboot if u don’t re-sign Ohtani”
Well, the problem is we passed on a boatload of young talent by not trading him before the deadline……and then we doubled down by trading away a lot more young talent to rent players in hopes of making a run at a WC (which was never gonna happen). This team is a shambled mess and no simple reboot is not going to fix it anytime soon. It’ll take a huge commitment from some dedicated new ownership and several years to turn this hot mess into a competitive team.
Walsh should pick up pitching again.
Walsh sounds like a bounceback candidate for a 1B needy team like the Brewers or Nats. Barria too
No. Brewcrew has bad history with reclamation projects.
Unfortunately for Walsh but he done. Most will be pulling for the guy, but he is cooked.
Hopefully this was just phase one of cleaning house with more to come.
“Meanwhile” has to be at the start of the sentence; it can’t come in the middle.
Catching-wise, I wouldn’t count on Stassi coming back to play even a back-up role. Very strange how secretive his family issue was. It seems that his hip issue was the least of his problems.