The Angels have claimed infield Livan Soto off waivers from the Orioles, per an announcement from both teams. Anaheim placed left-hander Jose Quijada on the 60-day injured list to make room for Soto on the club’s 40-man roster. The Orioles had designated Soto for assignment earlier this week to make room for infielder Diego Castillo (who was coincidentally DFA’d himself earlier today) on the 40-man roster.
Soto’s sojourn to Baltimore was a brief one, as he returns to the Angels just over two weeks after the club designated him for assignment to make room for right-hander Jose Cisnero on the club’s 40-man roster. The 23-year-old infielder is considered a quality defender at not only shortstop but also second and third base, having spent time considerable time at each position during his professional career. He also boasts solid contact skills, as indicated by a strikeout rate of just 19.3% across six seasons in the minor leagues, though he sports minimal power with just 24 career home runs between the majors and minors.
Soto’s big league experience has been minimal to this point in his career. Though he appeared in majors with the Angels in each of the past two seasons, slashing a strong .375/.414/.531 along the way, that production has come in just 71 trips to the plate spread across 22 games in the majors. That incredible slash line has been bolstered by an unsustainable .469 BABIP throughout his big league career, making his career slash line of just .245/.339/.332 in the minor leagues likely closer to Soto’s true talent level.
Even if Soto can’t maintain his small-sample production in the majors, he still offers plenty of value to the Angels as a left-handed bat with quality defense all around the infield. It’s possible to imagine Soto competing for a bench role on the big league club this spring with the likes of Michael Stefanic and Kyren Paris. If Soto doesn’t secure a role on the Opening Day roster, the Angels will have the ability to option him to the minors and stash him as depth to protect against future injuries.
Rather than sign Snell.
Soto would walk fewer for much less and don’t have to take a shower after doing a deal with Boras or throw away Blake’s Free Agent Book.
Paying full price for a 31 year old pitch coming off a career year is foolish.
Especially for a team that is not expected to complete.
Good.
This move was obvious as soon as Baltimore did that. Angels never wanted him plucked in the first place
Says a lot about the Angels Franchise. Reclaim a player off of waivers that they just placed on waivers days ago.
Please explain Zach.
They had to expose him, the didn’t want to lose him, and they claimed him when he became available.
Most teams are going to have to expose players again in the next few weeks. If they have to expose him again, he has a much better chance to sneak through.
This doesn’t say anything about the franchise. Nice reach.
They obviously thought they could pass him through waivers. How many guys have been picked up to be put back on waivers a day later so far a lot, it’s really not saying anything
fwiw, the O’s claimed Soto last week, released him to claim Castillo and have now released Castillo. What are your thoughts on the O’s?
Angel’s & NL — Thoughts on O’s; they have done this the last three years–pluck waiver guys from other organizations, then try to sneak them through themselves. Standard operating procedure at this point.
Last year the Os claimed and wavered a guy 3 times before he finally passed through waivers w/o being claimed. (Lowen Dias??)
It just another way to build depth for orginzations.
Thanks, O’s. I get it. I didnt have a real question, I was just being an obnoxious, anonymous social media poster because of Zach’s comments. I didnt do very well. Next time, I will keep it to myself.
For Lewin Diaz, they picked him up on waivers from Pittsburgh. Then traded him to Atlanta, Then picked him up on waivers again and kept him. Yes, the last time DFAed he cleared. DFAed 5 times in one offseason.
Really? Your comment says a lot more about you and your lack of understanding how the business side of baseball works than it does about the Angel franchise.
My first reaction was to laugh.
But the Angels need him.
It’s like he never left.
He had two weeks of being a World Series contender…
Soto can’t believe his bad luck.
And in 2 days, the Angels will DFA Soto after they claim Castillo from the Orioles smh
The circle of life is complete. Just wonder how many flights he took.
Livan, we hardly knew ye!
But seriously, being an on-the-bubble guy must suck.
He’s really not a bubble guy for the angels they currently have no backup ss, why many people were scratching their heads about the move, but I guess they knew he would either sneak through or make his way back at some point.
de ja vu all over again!
Welcome back.
I think he told Perry he need to ge things taken care of in FL. So Perry found a way to get him to FL and back to AZ
Good defender. Glad he’s back.
LOL. Minasian DFA’s Soto, claims Castillo, finds out Castillo stinks and DFA’s him, then reclaims Soto and we are back where we started. That is funny.
To be fair, it was the O’s that claimed Soto, DFAd Soto to claim Castillo and DFAd Castillo all in a weeks time. All Perry did was DFA Soto and claim Soto.
You are correct. I missed that part. Soto was DFA’d by Minasian and then claimed when O’s DFA’d him.
Another HUGE move by Perry. It’s world series or bust this year!!!!