The Angels removed a pair of infielders from their roster today, the team announced. Carter Kieboom and Logan Davidson both cleared waivers, and the Angels sent them outright to Triple-A Salt Lake. This was the first career outright for Davidson, who therefore had no choice but to accept the assignment. Kieboom, however, was outrighted by the Nationals in March 2024. So, he had the right to reject the assignment in favor of free agency, a right he quickly exercised.
According to the transaction tracker on MLB.com, the Angels have also outrighted right-handers Connor Brogdon and Carson Fulmer (h/t to Ethan Hullihen on X). However, neither player was mentioned in the team’s announcement today. Both Brogdon and Fulmer have the necessary service time to reject an outright assignment in favor of free agency, and the team may be simply waiting on Brogdon and Fulmer to formally make that decision – a decision they are both all but certain to make, presuming they have indeed been removed from the 40-man roster.
Kieboom, 28, was once a highly-touted prospect in the Nationals organization. Yet, he just couldn’t translate all that potential into big league success. All told, he played 133 games for Washington from 2019-23, batting .199 with a .598 OPS. He struck out 138 times and ground into 17 double plays in 508 trips to the plate. His -2.0 FanGraphs WAR might be overstating just how much he struggled with the Nationals – he was somehow worth -0.6 fWAR in just 11 games in 2019 – but with those numbers, and his frequent injuries, it was hardly surprising to see him outrighted before the 2024 campaign.
After slashing .265/.365/.386 (103 wRC+) in 91 games at Triple-A that year, Kieboom elected free agency and signed a minor league pact with the Angels last December. He put up very similar numbers with the Salt Lake Bees for most of 2025, until the major league club selected his contract in mid-September. Playing first base for the first time in his MLB career, he appeared in three games for L.A., going 2-for-8 with one RBI. Now a free agent once again, he will presumably look to sign a new minor league deal and try to earn a more substantial big league opportunity in 2026.
Davidson, 27, made his MLB debut earlier this year with the Athletics. He was the A’s first-round pick in 2019, but a fall down the defensive spectrum and continued struggles with the strikeout caused his prospect shine to fade. He played in nine games for the Athletics in May and June before he was optioned, and about a month later, he was designated for assignment. The Astros claimed him off waivers, but a .681 OPS with Triple-A Sugar Land led to another DFA in September. That’s when the Angels swooped in. Davidson went 4-for-22 in 10 games with L.A. until he was optioned once again toward the end of the season. He will stick around in the organization for now and hope to earn his way back to the big league roster.
Kieboom goes the dynamite!
How can you not love that name for a baseball player who is not a pitcher!!!!
If only he could hit which he cannot consistently in the bigs.
Passes it to the man, shoots it…
I remember this guy was quite a Nationals prospect – drafted 1st round in 2016.
He is a great warning to armchair scouts everywhere: you can have all the approach in the world, it doesn’t matter if you don’t have any the raw tools like power, speed, and arm strength.
A testament to Mike Rizzo’s draft and development strategies.
Yes we suffered thru quite a few of his picks.
Logan Davidson was quite like that too with Oakland.
With the exception of Will Smith at pick #32, the 2016 MLB draft 1st round was a near wipeout.
Kieboom… a perfect example of why the “experts” top 100 prospects means nothing.
MLB drafting is way different for a reason
I remember when they thought Kieboom would have a blast in MLB too.
Now he just got blasted back to AAA. Probably will drive a tow truck for them.