The Angels have released first baseman and outfielder LaMonte Wade Jr. and selected the contract of outfielder Bryce Teodosio, per a team announcement. The moves were first reported by Rhett Bollinger of MLB.com. The club also announced that infielder Kevin Newman has been released after he was designated for assignment on the day of the trade deadline to make room for infielder Oswald Peraza on the 40-man roster.
Wade, 31, was a ninth-round pick by the Twins back in 2015 and appeared in 42 games for the club early in his career before joining the Giants prior to the 2021 season. In San Francisco, Wade established himself as a quality first baseman with a .248/.352/.415 slash line (115 wRC+) between 2021 and 2024. After crushing 18 homers in his first 381 plate appearances with the club in 2021, he posted below-average numbers (93 wRC+) in a 2022 campaign derailed by both knee and hamstring issues.
After returning to health in time for the 2023 season, Wade lacked the power he had flashed in his first season with San Francisco but made up for it by serving as one of the league’s top on-base threats. While it was a non-traditional profile for a first baseman, it was nonetheless an effective one. Wade slashed .258/.376/.401 with a wRC+ of 120 over the 2023 and ’24 seasons, and only ten players posted a higher on-base percentage that him during those two seasons: Aaron Judge, Juan Soto, Ronald Acuna Jr., Shohei Ohtani, Yordan Alvarez, Freddie Freeman, Mookie Betts, Bryce Harper, Christian Yelich, and Kyle Tucker. It’s a list stacked with superstars and MVP candidates.
Given that elite company Wade found himself in, his fall from grace this year has been shocking. In 50 games with the Giants this year, Wade maintained his trademark plate discipline with a 20.7% strikeout rate against a 12.4% walk rate. A combination of a comically low .211 BABIP and a complete lack of power left Wade as a deeply unproductive bat in the club’s lineup, however, as he hit just .167/.275/.271 (59 wRC+) in 169 plate appearances. The production was weak enough that the Giants ultimately opted to designate him for assignment in early June. He was traded to the Angels just a few days later, and the Halos had plans to include him in their outfield mix going forward.
It’s a plan that did not work out particularly well. Wade performed even worse in Anaheim than he had been in San Francisco, posting a brutal 38 wRC+ as his plate discipline left him. He struck out in 31.5% of his 73 plate appearances with the Angels and walked at just an 8.5% clip. Now that he’s been released, he’ll be free to sign with any club with interest in his services. His poor performance this year might leave him relegated only to minor league deals, but there are surely teams around the league in need of first base depth as they gear up for the stretch run who would be interested in giving Wade a shot to prove himself for their team in the minor leagues.
Replacing Wade on the roster is Teodosio, who made his big league debut with the Angels last year before being outrighted off their 40-man roster during the offseason. He has just five games of big league experience under his belt but immediately becomes the best defensive center fielder on the club’s roster. A career .281/.342/.426 hitter at the Triple-A level in spite of playing in the Pacific Coast League’s inflated offensive environment, Teodosio is unlikely to offer much with the bat. Even so, he swiped 40 bases in 114 games last year and can provide plenty of value both defensively and on the bases for the club going forward.
I guess he will wade through his options.
Nah, it’s an underwater contract.
It got Late early for Late Night
Dude just hasn’t performed. He’ll get a minors deal somewhere next spring and get one more shot.
Thank God
Because Peraza and Teodosio are improvements? You’re basically shuffling rusty deck chairs at this point.
@kellin. Pretty much traded a quarter for 30 cents. That’s pretty much the moves they made this season. Just something different for a couple weeks.
At least we’re not dealing with Perry’s 2023 disaster.
And while I hate to say it, listening to the players and coaches and keeping the team together as a team, especially for the young players, is a good thing even if we don’t qualify for a WC berth.
I think it’ll be a growth spurt that will (ok, may) pay dividends next year.
It likely won’t happen, but I wouldn’t mind seeing the dodgers picking him up to try and fix his swing.
Worst case or didn’t work. Best case is he can help the team on the field or as a trade piece.
Blame it on the Wade
I heard a rumor that you’re a saint.
The Angels really should play some day games on Saturdays. Tuning in on a Saturday night after all the good teams play all day is like watching a Saturday night NCAA Football game between Hawaii and Fresno St.
You could always choose to not watch them.
Unless someone is forcing you to watch them, in which case, give us a signal of some sort and we’ll try to get you some help.
You could always choose to not read my comment.
Unless someone is forcing you to read them, in which case, give us a signal of some sort and we’ll try to get you some help.
Butter make your own comment instead of riffing off the Canuck.
He was a great Giant. Full stop.
Kind of like his hitting.
Good night to late night
Late night was his best stretch w the gigantes
Tough week for players named Wade.
He was a mediocre player that drew walks at a higher rate than most. – Hopefully he gets a minor league deal so he can fix his bat
Can he catch a fly ball? Can he play CF. Can we get Adell out of CF.?
Can we get out of the cellar of team defense?
He’s too slow and oft injured to man center
Hard to believe Wade was just as bad with the Angels as he was with the Giants
it’s time to resurrect the Lamont Sanford link, you big dummy!
What’s up with him this year? Is it a mechanical thing? Chase and whiff rates are still fine and the bat speed is down but only a little.
The Braves get him next.
Such a shame. I think ‘Late Night’ Lamonte is one of the best player nicknames modern baseball has given us.