The Angels announced Tuesday that they’ve selected the contract of infielder Carter Kieboom and placed shortstop Zach Neto on the 10-day injured list due to a left hand strain. The Halos had an open 40-man roster spot after previously outrighting utilityman Scott Kingery.
Kieboom, 28, hasn’t appeared in the majors since 2023. The former top-100 prospect was once viewed as a potential long-term contributor with the Nationals but never found his footing in the big leagues. He’s a career .199/.297/.301 hitter in 508 plate appearances, all of which came with the Nationals, who selected him with the No. 28 overall pick back in 2016.
The 2025 season is Kieboom’s first away from the Nats. He’s had a fine year in Triple-A Salt Lake, slashing .319/.368/.449 with nine homers and 11 steals in 402 trips to the plate. It’s an impressive-looking stat line, though after weighting for home park and league run-scoring environment, Kieboom’s rate stats are about two percent better than league average in the overwhelmingly hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League (by measure of wRC+).
Neto, 24, returns to the injured list for the second time this season. The 2023 first-rounder missed the first few weeks of the year recovering from 2024 shoulder surgery but has largely matched his breakout 2024 form when healthy. In 128 games and 554 plate appearances, Neto has slashed .257.319/.474 with 26 homers and stolen bases apiece. He hit .249/.318/.443 with 23 homers and 30 steals in 155 games/603 plate appearances last season.
The Angels haven’t specified how long Neto will need to recover, although given how close we are to the end of the season, it’s obviously possible that he could miss the remainder of the year. With Neto sidelined, the Angels’ options at shortstop include Denzer Guzman and Oswald Peraza. Veteran utilityman Chris Taylor has plenty of career innings at shortstop under his belt as well, though he hasn’t played there at all since the 2023 season.
So they cut Kingery and add essentially the same guy in Kieboom. What a wretched, pathetic franchise.
how and why is it wretched?
Why not see what Kieboom can do in a short stretch? They already know what Kingery is capable of. Which unfortunately is not a whole lot.
I would say your take is what is pathetic.
The lack of depth is astounding. Not only is Kieboom proven over and over that he’s not a major league player but he’s not even a shortstop.
This is another example of this franchise being a joke. I have nothing against them at all. But, man do they run a bad franchise. I hope it changes at least for Trout’s sake if not the fans.
No one said Kieboom is playing shortstop.
Just another halo 4.0 season
Although he’s not the biggest reason why the Angels are stuck it’s now clear that Mike Trout is just a shadow of the past and a hindrance to the team.
Now up to TEN straight losing seasons. From 2004-2015, the Angels had a winning record in 12 of 16 seasons.
There are 11 games left in another miserable season. Does it really matter who they put out on the field? The Angels have a terrible system that much has been well established for years. It is nice to see Guzman get his feet wet these last dozen games. What harm is there in giving Kieboom a look when they have no other alternatives. September is the time that teams that are out of the race take a look at their top prospects. Guzman is a top prospect who could be an answer at third base. He will get the most play at SS for the last eleven games.
Thanks, Perry, for your thoughtful response. The fact that after five years under your leadership the Angels have no prospects better than a 28 year-old lifetime.200 hitter to try out during yet another meaningless slate of late September games is, indeed, quite wretched and pathetic. I stand by my original accurate assessment.
It’s been wretched for ten years. Doesn’t matter who the GM is. Just look at what Dipoto has done in Seattle after leaving Anaheim.
The Angels best player goes down and there is about a dozen comments on an Angel thread. We’re about as relevant as late night talk shows.