The Orioles announced that they have claimed Livan Soto off waivers from the Angels. The Halos designated the infielder for assignment on the weekend. The O’s had a vacancy on their 40-man roster but it is now full after this move. Daniel Álvarez-Montes of El Extrabase reported the claim prior to the club announcement.
Soto, 24 in June, is generally considered a strong defender and solid contact hitter, but with little power to speak of. He made his major league debut in 2022 and hit a tremendous .400/.414/.582 in his first 59 plate appearances, though that was largely the product of an unsustainable .500 batting average on balls in play. He only received 12 big league plate appearances last year and hit .222/.417/.222 in those.
That’s a small sample of work and tough to draw conclusions from. Over the past three years, he has made 1,470 trips to the plate in the minor leagues. He drew walks in 12% of those but only hit 22 home runs, leading to a combined slash line of .247/.341/.356 and 87 wRC+.
As mentioned, he’s considered a strong defender, having spent significant time at the three infield spots to the left of first base. The O’s are looking for a left-handed hitting infielder to factor in at second base, per general manager Mike Elias, to pair with the right-handed hitting Jordan Westburg. To that end, they have acquired Nick Maton in a cash deal yesterday. Soto also hits from the left side and will likely factor into the competition for that part-time role.
Maton is out of options, which could give him a leg up in that competition but also could lead to him getting squeezed off the roster at some point. Soto has a couple of option years remaining and could be kept in the minors as depth until he’s needed in the big leagues. He’s still quite young and perhaps the O’s could find a way to coax some more power out of him going forward.
Wasn’t he supposed to be the next big thing for the Angels?
Haha I was coming here to see if anyone posted this. 15+ years as a bottom 5 ranked farm system and he was one of their best. You could have thrown darts against the draft boards over that time and done better for your system.
We did a piece looking at the ESPN prospect rankings and had the Angels simply taken the best player available per those rankings when we actually drafted:
Reid Detmers was it in 2020 and we drafted him
Corbin Carroll in 2019. (Will Wilson)
Brady Singer in 2018 (Jordyn Adams)
Jake Burger in 2017 (Jo Adell)
That’s a huge difference in the organization. No scouts or front office types needed. Just an ESPN login and you have a drastically different franchise.
Hey that Wilson pick was good for us. It was the key chip in the Cozart salary dump. Who needs Corbin Carroll anyways?
Do you ever stop to think that maybe it’s not the players that the Angel’s draft but their developmental staff
Yes. Honestly it is a mix of both.
Eppler’s strategy was to draft raw athletes and hope to develop stars (Adell, Adams) all while Arte skimped on development. It was a doomed strategy to be sure.
However, picking such high variance guys when surer bets like Carroll, Singer, and Burger are on the table is just bad.
The Angels have enough financial strength to buy the occasional star if they rest of the team is home grown. Or to extend a guy like Carroll and keep him.
Just to show how bad the Wilson pick was, George Kirby was also on the board and we desperately needed pitching.
Jo Adell….I still have hope.
Bachman…. Not a chance. Not a chance from minute one.
I figured Bachman as a two pitch reliever from minute one.
Yes a good reliever is valuable, but not round one valuable.
I’m rooting for Adell but am out of hope. Having Burger likely means no Rendon and money for other needs. Burger put up 2.5 WAR last year. Rendon probably won’t produce 2.5 WAR for the Angels the last four years of his contract.
The best prospect (at the time) from Coppygate that was made a free agent from ATL not named Kevin Maitan.
Maitan was supposedly the big get from Atlanta. Soto was projected as a glove first utility guy with maybe SS upside.
Um….that’s 3 infielders added to the 40 man…what does it all mean??!!
Urias or Mateo will be traded, is my guess.
I think they’re trying to force a bunch of infielders through waivers to replace the void that will be left by Holliday/Mayo/Norby at Norfolk. Outside of those three they’ve got few infielders in the high minors.
I don’t think it’s about setting up trades. I think Elias wants some insurance.
Guys with options and flexibility gives them some way of moving the top prospects with corresponding moves up and down, just in case maybe one of the top guys struggle, need a breather, or just covering injuries. He’s trying to make sure he has an emergency button to push for every eventuality, just in case.
i think its Urias! They’re counting on Mateo being this big utility guy.
Likely just place holders since guys like Mayo and Holliday don’t need roster spots yet.
Means nothing. Just depth in case of injuries. Most likely will be DFA’d at some point in time this season.
Agree. One or two of these guys, esp. the Ones without options might not even make it into the season.
No relation to Juan?
If the Angels with that putrid roster can’t use him, how is he going to help Baltimore?
The Angels aren’t a bright organization. They were starting Andrew Velazquez with his putrid offense for nearly a year and a half instead of giving Soto a shot.
We’re probably going to use him to be backup insurance at AAA.
The O’s love claiming infielders
Do the Orioles need another infielder?
If they get all the infielders no one else will have any! Errr… yeah.
I really like this pickup, actually. He’s an optionable and versatile defensive standout who can serve as AAA depth for the next year or two. Sort of a potential replacement for the now-traded Ortiz’s glove as a potential UIF behind the big guns (Gunnar, Holliday, etc.) as well if he can figure out how to hit even just a little.
I like him a lot more than Maton. Also gives more roster flexibility
Who?
I can see Maton being DFA’d as soon as Elias sees something on the wire that interests him. if Maton goes unclaimed, he’ll go to Farmville. if he gets claimed, he can take his shaky glove with him. I do agree with you, @GoRav, Soto seems to have more upside.
Another really dumb move by the Angels FO to let this guy go for nothing. DUMB.
If the Angels were to ask the Os for something for him, they would have passed and moved on to the next options. The Orioles are just mining the waiver wire and DFAs, like they do every season, for cheap useful players. Not stars or prospects even. Just guys who can field, do one thing, and stash them at AAA to cover injuries or ineffectiveness that might pop up.
As an Angels fan, I hate this.
He is a promising young player and still has 3 years of pre-arb.
Can he play 3B?
Perry is a moron for DFA’ing Soto in the first place.
I’ll be surprised if Jose Cisnero even lasts the full season with the Angels.
He is acting like a new male lion in a pack. He either kills(Adell) or chase away(Marsh, Soto…).
Maybe it’s a precursor to a big big signing like Belly or Montgomery or ?
Livan Soto being DFA’d has no bearing on future moves. It was a result of the Jose Cisnero signing.
So, the Angels make room for an RP that couldn’t make in Detroit and lose a shortstop that can make it in Baltimore.
That’s a microcosm of everything that’s wrong with the Angels. Translation…..they have no idea what they are doing.
In Baltimore the SS is going to be Gunnar Henderson or Jackson Holiday.
Jettisoning 24 year old talent with lots of contract control to add 35 year old non talent.
That’s the Angels way right there.
Herget would’ve made the most sense to be dfa’d, and Soto could’ve filled the squid role. Honestly I’m not sure if he was the answer, and perry is familiar with him. I’m sure they will get someone that can play short as a backup.
Agreed.
The MLB roster is tough. We need our utility guy to be good at third because we can’t rely on Rendon at all. But guys who primarily play the corners generally don’t cover SS.
Shoot don’t get me started on urshela again, the other option could be Mondesí with the bigger bags he could be the pinch runner his fielding pct. Is decent can play the diamond, and hopefully he takes some tainted cough syrup again, and he’s only 28.
Who is the Angels backup shortstop if Neto’s back injury flares up?
He should not be taking up space on the major league roster.
@Halos,
I think the Angels are hoping that when their players start receiving their Social Security benefits, that it’ll be credited against their MLB luxury tax calculation. lol
Ha ha. that’s great.
Another nonsensical move. Why picking up all this trash?
I don’t know who you are claiming is “trash.” But major league teams make moves like this all the time.
TRASH. The orioles have the #1 farm system by far, and a crowded infield (and outfield). Unless it’s for deep deep minor league depth, this a nonsensical move.
It’s for AAA depth primarily. Sounds like you think injures don’t occur. Again, EVERY MLB team makes these moves. There is no justification for having empty spots on the 40. Some of the players will be attempted to be passed through waivers. And some will be claimed…
Your post is trash.
And he shall be Livan
And he shall be a good man
Vavra? I know he was injured last year, but he’s shown some potential when healthy. Not a lot of power, but a good eye and contact hitter. Seems like the O’s have given up on him
Vavra seems a little like Norby: very good hitters who should be able to succeed offensively at the MLB level if they get the chance but are probably only LF/DH guys. The only other possible spot is 2B, where they are both likely sub-par (Vavra is listed as an OF by the Orioles now, btw). Norby might be the better hitter, ultimately. He has major league power, which Vavra lacks.
Wow! It’s flat out hysterical that most of you on here are all hell bent over DFA’ing Livan Soto. Oh No! Don’t DFA another Squid! It’s just mind boggling, or should we say mindless.
PlugAndPlay.
Detroit doesn’t have relief pitching. Yet an RP that can’t make it in Detroit can make it in Anaheim?
Baltimore has more young middle infield depth than any team in the AL. So a middle infielder that can’t make it in Anaheim is picked up by Baltimore.?
The transitive property works everywhere except in the Angel front office. That’s my point without having to know a thing about these two players.
I was just saying, you picked up a nothing player, so then u had to drop a nothing player. So this means nothing. So that said, nothing to get bent about.
Halo11 – Not only that. Soto is still relatively young… I believe 23. He’s looked good in his limited time in the big leagues. And at worst, he’ll turn into a utility infielder (e.g., Izturis) or be used as part of a trade package. The bottom line is he has some value. The Angels could outright Cisnero right now and no one would take him.
Baltimore clearly saw some value in Soto that Perry missed.
Do waivers go in reverse order of last year’s standings? If so, because Baltimore had the second best record in MLB, every single team passed on Soto except for Atlanta who didn’t get a shot at him.
Soto has a wRC+ of 87 over his past 1500 PAs in the minor leagues. That’s who he is as a hitter. He won’t be a better hitter in the majors and he won’t have a .500 BABIP again. Why are people so bent out of shape that he was DFAd? If he got 200 PAs with the Angels this year, people would have screamed bloody murder, begged for his release and crushed Perry.
He has the best defense anmong the infielders at the team. He also has high OBP.
I concur that Soto has a reputation as a good defender. Given his 25% SO ratio, with zero pop, and lower OBP than Jo Adell last year in the minor leagues, my best guess is that if Soto got 400+ PAs, he would SO well over 30% of the time with a OBP well under.300.
I am a lifelong Orioles fan but I really don’t understand what are they planning to do with adquiring every single infilder out there, they have Mountcastle, O’Hearns, Westburg, Gunnar, Holliday, Mayo, Norby, Mateo, Urias, Vavra, Maton and now Soto?
Don’t worry, most of them won’t be on the 26.
You can tell the strategy because a lot of these guys have options. Meaning: they can be moved back and forth between the majors and minors. Elias is likely picking up infielders to cover AAA, for possible promotions of the heralded prospects like Mayo and Holiday. Also, if any of those guys need to work on things, like Grayson did last year, he has the flexibility to shuttle them back down. He can also move parts around easier without leaving the major league team with a hole during injuries too. He’s adding depth for emergencies.
Of course guys like signing Maton and Soto are mostly about AAA depth in case of injuries. And, yes, they could be called up if a youngster like Westburg struggles. I would say “that’s what good teams do” but I would actually venture that bad teams do it too.
Oh! I forgot Nevin
Good contact hitter, 375 avg. in 71 plate appearances, woth very little power but solid defensively
in light of the week we recently had… I don’t care at all. they could just as easily cut all these minor trades/effective waiver claims. the prorated expense of them all combined absolutely doesn’t matter.
a portion will become organizational depth and an even bigger portion will be released into the wild. best of luck to all these men chasing their dreams.
meanwhile, I hope that the Orioles at large are chasing a World Series championship.
let’s get the ownership approved and settled. and Spring Training underway. not necessarily in that order. Welcome Corbin Burnes. Welcome David Rubenstein and new ownership group.
Out with Johnny Boy as the main mouthpiece and out with Charlie Brown’s/fans’ nagging feeling that Lucy is going to snatch the football away *again*.
The average slash line at AA Rocket City went from .251/.351/.402 in 2022 to .232/.336/.360 in 2023. Would love to know why because that feels like a massive swing. Lotta guys who went bonkers there in 2022 fell off hard this year, ie Soto and Ryan Aguilar.