The Angels have signed infielder Jeimer Candelario to a minor league deal, according to a report from Jon Heyman of the New York Post. Candelario’s deal comes with an invite to big league Spring Training.
Candelario, 32, will enter camp looking to find a roster spot ahead of what would be his 11th big league season. Signed by the Cubs out of the Dominican Republic as an amateur, he made his pro debut back in 2011 and made it to the majors for a five-game cup of coffee during Chicago’s World Series-winning 2016 campaign. He once again got into a smattering of games in an up-and-down bench role with the club in 2017 before being included alongside Isaac Paredes in a deadline trade with the Tigers where the Cubs landed catcher Alex Avila and Justin Wilson. After the deadline, he played in 27 games for Detroit down the stretch and hit an impressive .330/.406/.468 in 106 trips to the plate.
The switch-hitter would struggle at the dish over the next few years with the Tigers before breaking out during the abbreviated 2020 season. From 2020-21, Candelario slashed an excellent .278/.356/.458 with a wRC+ of 124, and led his league with 42 doubles in the latter season. Some across the board regression led to a tough 2022 campaign that saw the Tigers non-tender him, but he rebounded well in 2023 with a strong season (118 wRC+, 3.2 fWAR) for the Nationals and Cubs in order to return to free agency with a solid chance at landing a multi-year deal.
That deal eventually came with the Reds, who signed him to a three-year, $45MM contract that was set to run from 2024 through 2026. His first year in Cincinnati was a disappointing one, as he hit just .225/.279/.429 with a wRC+ of 89 in 112 games to go along with atrocious defensive numbers at third base. That down season came while he battled knee tendinitis and a fractured toe. Even with those injuries casting uncertainty over his performance, Candelario’s defensive struggles were still enough to lose him the third base job with the Reds entering 2025. He played just 22 games for the Reds last year (and posted an ugly 10 wRC+ in those 91 plate appearances) before being sidelined with a lumbar spine issue. When his rehab window for that injury ended in late June, the Reds opted to release him rather than give him another shot on their roster.
He eventually signed with the Yankees on a minor league deal to finish out last season, and wound up hitting just .203/.289/.357 at Triple-A without getting a call-up to the majors. As he returned to free agency this offseason, he represented an interesting flier a team could take at relatively low risk. Given that Candelario will earn his $13MM salary with Cincinnati this year even after being released, he’ll only cost a club that puts him on the active roster the prorated league minimum, which will come out of what the Reds have to pay him for this year.
The team that decided to take that flier on Candelario is the Angels, who currently figure to enter camp with Yoan Moncada, Vaughn Grissom, and Oswald Peraza in the mix for reps at third base with Nolan Schanuel locked in at first base and some combination of Mike Trout and Jorge Soler expected to handle DH. That seemingly leaves little room for Candelario to make the roster, but it’s certainly possible he could find his way into the mix at one of those positions with a strong performance in camp or an injury or two clearing the way for him to snag a roster spot.
I remember him being all the rage a couple of deadlines ago
That 3yr/$45M from the Reds looked bad from day one, but man was it *bad*
Yep. They got -1.6 WAR and now they are paying for him to play for someone else.
We would’ve traded McCullers Jr. for him
Dang a wRC+ of 24 at his peak? Amazed he made it this far
The Angels certainly have a type.
Amazing!!!
He’ll have a really good season, get traded at the deadline, and then sign another free agent deal that the team will immediately regret.
To this day, I still do not understand what the reds were thinking when they gave him that contract. It seemed crazy from the minute he signed it.
I also don’t understand why we gave Montero 3/34.
When he was hitting his swing looked like he was swatting mosquitoes and when he was in the field he might as well have been wearing catchers mitts on both hands. Why the Reds ever signed this clown for 45 million is beyond me. They usually get stuck with dog meat when they sign a free agent. Moustakas got so fat he looked like he was going to play on the Bengals offensive line. Hopefully they break that trend with Suarez.
Wow. :(
What happened to this dude? Just fell off of a cliff….
Reds are paying him $16 million to play for someone else. Brilliant!
Another great signing. Candle can hit.
Hit what?
Hit the waiver wire
I would be shocked if he does anything something just fell apart for him a while ago.
While the stupid Mariners waste money on proven guys….we keep making these super-smart and super-inexpensive “throw it against the wall and see what sticks” moves. Take that Mariners!