The Angels announced that infielder Scott Kingery has cleared waivers and been outrighted to Triple-A Salt Lake. He had been designated for assignment earlier this week when righty Shaun Anderson was selected to the roster.
Kingery has the right to reject this assignment but likely won’t. Players with at least three years of major league service time have the right to reject outright assignments in favor of electing free agency. However, they need five years of service to do so while keep their remaining salary commitments intact. Kingery is in that three-to-five window. He and the Angels avoided arbitration in the offseason by agreeing to a $770K salary. There’s a little under $200K still to be paid out, so he would have to walk away from that money to hit the open market.
Once a notable prospect with the Phillies, he signed a $24MM extension with them back in 2018. At the time, that was a record for a player who had not yet made his major league debut. Unfortunately, he wasn’t able to give the Phils the return they were expecting. He hit just .229/.280/.387 in 1,127 plate appearances for the Phillies. He was often passed through waivers as that extension ran its course, with no other club wanting to take it on.
That deal was done when the Angels brought him aboard and gave him a 40-man spot to prevent him from reaching minor league free agency. They agreed to the aforementioned arbitration salary and then passed him through waivers prior to Opening Day. Due to the aforementioned conditions, Kingery accepted an outright assignment in March, sticking around as a non-roster depth player who could slot in at multiple defensive positions.
He was added back to the 40-man in May but has largely been on optional assignment. He got into 14 games for the Halos and took 27 plate appearances. He produced a .160/.222/.200 batting line in those and now has a .228/.279/.382 line for his career. In Triple-A this year, he has a .256/.317/.424 line. In the hitter-friendly environment of the Pacific Coast League, that translates to a 78 wRC+, indicating he’s been about 22% below league average.
Assuming he accepts this assignment and rejoins the Bees, he’ll look to play his way back to the majors. If not added back to the 40-man by season’s end, he’ll be able to elect minor league free agency, as is the case for all players with at least three years of service who are removed from a 40-man during a season.
Photo courtesy of David Richard, Imagn Images
Scott and Evan White made out like bandits!
Jarred Kelenic shrugs. Oh well!
He will be applying at a Wisconsin supermarket for work soon.
How did they make out like bandits when the Phillies are the ones who offered them the contract and mutually agreed to it?
Time to head to KBO or Japan
Gabe Kaplan wrecked him. It would’ve been interesting if he’d never been extended and spent some time in the minors with routine expectations. I think he was a Covid casualty too.
“Gabe Kaplan wrecked him”…Exactly. After being unceremoniously let go by the Philadelphia Phillies, Scott Kingery was well on his way to baseball superstardom with the San Francisco Giants.
Scott Kingery was doing things that had not been seen before; running bases at light speed and hitting with tremendous consistency, confidence and power. He was quickly becoming must-see television.
And this all came crashing down on Scott Kingery, because of a couple of weeks spent in the Majors with ex-Giants manager Gabe Kapler. Oh the great career that might have been, if Scott Kingery had never met Gabe Kapler.
Kapler was the Phillie’s manager when Kingery debuted. And Scott looked pretty good at the time.
I know the Phils and Kingery disagreed on his outside swing coach who started having him swing for power rather than simple contact.
“Kapler was the Phillies”..I shanked that one. Kap’s time in Philly was very short and I’d forgotten all about it until you reminded me. Thanks for the correction, but I still doubt that Kap “wrecked him”.
Probably would have been the next Jose Oquendo or Mike Gallego. But definitely not Mike Bordick or Mike Mordeci. Or Tommy Herr, there’s another possibility. But we’ll never know and the Phillies could have gotten away with it if not for those meddling kids, Gabe Kapler, and that dog.
@mlb fan,
Yes, but wrong.
Kingery was one of the sweathogs in “Welcome Back Kotter.”
I did not know that!
Really, Kepler, gosh
He surely did.
Time to give the KBO, NPB, or the Mexican Baseball League a shot to restart his career.
What I’d give to be the highest paid current AAAA player and former prospect. He doesn’t even have to worry about playing 10 yrs.
$24 mil is know to help out a lot and ease the pain. Oh and collecting league minimum for pocket change or start up money to set up a baseball academy to sell the dream to crazy parents.
To date, Kingery has earned just over $10,000 for each hit! That’s dang impressive!
Lol, spending appx. $400 mil plus and getting swept by the lowly Angels!
The juiced 2019 season cost a lot of franchises empty money. Insert Anthony Rendons contract here.
Teacherman ruined him. If you know you know