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Angels Non-Tender Patrick Sandoval, Three Others

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The Angels announced that they declined to tender a contract to left-hander Patrick Sandoval, as well as infielder Eric Wagaman and outfielders Jordyn Adams and Bryce Teodosio.

Sandoval, 28, was projected by MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz to earn $5.9MM. However, he’s not a lock to pitch in 2025 after undergoing Tommy John surgery in late June. In the event that he doesn’t pitch at all, he’d likely have been ticketed for a repeat of that $5.9MM salary in 2026. By tendering him a contract with that type of expected payday, the Halos would’ve effectively been running the risk of committing $11.8MM over two seasons just to get Sandoval’s 2026 season, when he’d be on an innings limit after that UCL reconstruction. He’d been slated to reach free agency in the 2026-27 offseason.

While the health outlook is uncertain, Sandoval is clearly a quality arm when healthy. He ought to be able to find a modest two-year deal that’ll pay him to rehab in year one and hopefully pitch in year two of the contract. Just days before his injury, MLBTR’s Steve Adams took a look at the similarities between Sandoval and oft-cited trade candidate Jesus Luzardo, noting that the two are quite comparable from a statistical standpoint.

Dating back to 2021, Sandoval sports a 3.80 ERA, 22.6% strikeout rate and 10.2% walk rate in 460 innings of work. His command has never been great, but that walk rate is inflated by an anomalous 11.3% mark in 2023. Sandoval’s walk rate in the other three seasons has sat at 9.3% — not good, but not egregiously poor. The lefty sits 93-94 mph with his heater, misses bats at a roughly average level and piles up grounders at a strong 47.5% clip. He’s not a star, but Sandoval is a fine third or fourth starter for a competitive club.

Teodosio made his major league debut this year and played in five games. Adams and Wagaman were designated for assignment earlier this week. Any of that trio could potentially return on minor league deals. Sandoval is a near lock for a big league contract, potentially a backloaded two-year deal to cover the second season of his rehab.

American League Non-Tenders: 11/22/24

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The deadline to tender a contract to arbitration-eligible players is tonight at 7pm CT. Here’s a rundown of the players on American League teams that have been non-tendered today. This post will be updated as more decisions are revealed. MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projected salaries for all players eligible for arbitration last month. All players who are non-tendered before this evening’s deadline go directly into free agency, where they’re eligible to sign with any of MLB’s 30 clubs.

Onto the transactions…

  • The Angels announced that they have non-tendered left-hander Patrick Sandoval, infielder Eric Wagaman, as well as outfielders Jordyn Adams and Bryce Teodosio. You can read more about those moves here.
  • The Astros tendered contracts to their entire arbitration class.
  • The Athletics announced that they did not tender a contract to right-hander Dany Jiménez, who was projected for a $1MM salary. He posted a 4.91 in 25 appearances for the A’s in 2024. He struck out 21.4% of opponents but gave out walks at a 16.2% clip.
  • The Blue Jays are planning to non-tender righty Dillon Tate, per Ben Nicholson Smith and Shi Davidi of Sportsnet (X link). Tate was just claimed off waivers at the start of September and had a projected salary of $1.9MM. He’s a former fourth overall pick with some good numbers in his career but he missed most of 2023 due to injury and then posted a 4.66 ERA in 2024. The Jays are also non-tendering righty Jordan Romano, which you can read more about here.
  • The Guardians have non-tendered outfielder George Valera and right-hander Connor Gillispie, per Paul Hoynes of cleveland.com (X link). Both players were designated for assignment earlier this week.
  • The Mariners are going to non-tender outfielder Sam Haggerty, per Ari Alexander of KPRC 2 (X link). He was limited to just eight games in 2024 due to a torn achilles. He was only projected for a salary of $900K but the M’s have decided to move on. They also non-tendered infielder Josh Rojas and righties Austin Voth and JT Chargois, moves that are covered with more depth here.
  • The Orioles plan to non-tender right-hander Jacob Webb, per Andy Kostka of the Baltimore Banner (X link). Webb was projected for a salary of $1.7MM next year. The righty tossed 56 2/3 innings for the O’s in 2024 with a 3.02 ERA and 24.5% strikeout rate, but an 11.4% walk rate.
  • The Rays announced they have non-tendered outfielder Dylan Carlson as well as left-handers Tyler Alexander, Colin Poche and Richard Lovelady. Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times relayed the news (X link) prior to the official announcement. Carlson once seemed like a building block in St. Louis but his offense has declined for three straight years now and he was projected for a $2.7MM salary. Alexander was projected for $2.8MM and had a 5.10 ERA this year. Poche had a solid 3.86 ERA but was projected for $3.4MM. Lovelady was designated for assignment a few days ago.
  • The Rangers tendered contracts to their entire arbitration class.
  • The Red Sox announced that right-handers Bryan Mata and Isaiah Campbell were both non-tendered. Those two had been designated for assignment earlier this week.
  • The Royals tendered contracts to their entire arbitration class.
  • The Tigers announced that they have non-tendered infielder Eddys Leonard as well as right-handers Ricky Vanasco, Brendan White and Wilmer Flores. Three of those four were designated for assignment earlier this week. Flores, the lone exception, is the younger brother of the same-named Wilmer Flores of the Giants. The younger Flores was once a notable pitching prospect but was injured for most of 2024.
  • The Twins tendered contracts to their entire arbitration class.
  • The Yankees have non-tendered infielder Jon Berti, per Robert Murray of FanSided (X link). He was projected for a salary of $3.8MM. He was injured for much of the year and only got into 25 games. The Yankees also announced that they have non-tendered left-hander Tim Mayza, who was projected for a $4MM salary but had a 6.33 ERA in 2024.
  • The White Sox will non-tender first baseman/outfielder Gavin Sheets, which MLBTR covered earlier today. The Sox later announced Sheets and also that they non-tendered right-hander Enyel De Los Santos as well. De Los Santos was projected for a salary of $1.7MM but posted a 5.20 ERA this year.

Cubs Acquire Matt Thaiss

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The Angels announced that they have traded catcher Matt Thaiss to the Cubs for cash considerations. The Halos had designated him for assignment last week. The Cubs have designated right-hander Trey Wingenter for assignment to open a roster spot, per Meghan Montemurro of the Chicago Tribune on X.

Thaiss, 30 in May, leaves the Angels for the first time in his professional career. He was a first-round pick of that club in 2016, getting taken 16th overall. He was a catcher in college but the Angels announced him as a corner infielder when they drafted him, clearly more interested in his bat.

As he worked his way up the minor leagues, he did indeed show that his offense could be an asset. He hit .279/.363/.445 for a 117 wRC+ across multiple minor league levels from 2016 to 2019. However, his major league work hasn’t been nearly as impressive. At this point, he has 771 big league plate appearances with a .208/.313/.342 line and 83 wRC+.

That production would be unacceptable for a corner infielder but not bad by backup catcher standards. The Halos often had a crowded mix of guys vying for playing time as the designated hitter or the corner spots over the years, such as Shohei Ohtani, Albert Pujols, Anthony Rendon, Jared Walsh and others. That prompted them to move Thaiss back behind the plate in 2021. Most metrics view Thaiss as a subpar defender back there, perhaps not surprising for a guy who spent several years away from that spot.

Though he’s been a passable backup to Logan O’Hoppe in recent years, the Angels decided to move on. After Travis d’Arnaud was let go by Atlanta, the Halos quickly swooped in and signed him to a two-year deal. That nudged Thaiss down to #3 on the catching chart. Since he’s out of options, they designated him for assignment, which led to today’s deal.

For the Cubs, he’s a sensible landing spot for now, as they have question marks behind the plate. They released Yan Gomes in June, Tomás Nido in August and then outrighted Christian Bethancourt in November. Prior to acquiring Thaiss, Miguel Amaya was the only catcher on their 40-man roster. It was reported back in August that they would be looking for catching help this winter.

Amaya performed well down the stretch for the Cubs but was subpar for the season overall. He’s out of options and not far removed from being a top prospect, so he probably has a decent grip on a roster spot, but he’s far from established as a big leaguer. He has 170 major league games under his belt with a .227/.300/.357 batting line and 87 wRC+.

Perhaps the Cubs envision a platoon arrangement, since Amaya hits from the right side and Thaiss from the left, though Amaya has reverse splits in his short career so far. It’s also possible that the Cubs will sign a more established catcher and try to pass Thaiss through waivers later in the offseason. Danny Jansen, Kyle Higashioka and Carson Kelly are just some of the many backstops available in free agency.

Perhaps Moisés Ballesteros will be a factor as well, as he is considered one of the top 100 prospects in the game and has reached Triple-A. However, he has only 68 games at that level and is still just 21 years old, so keeping him on the farm a little longer is also possible.

Time will tell if the Cubs continue addressing their catching mix throughout the winter, but for now, they’ve taken a flier on a sensible stopgap. For what was surely a small amount of money in baseball terms, they’ve added an experienced catcher with an intriguing past pedigree, without doing anything to block the possibility of other moves down the road.

Wingenter, 31, was just claimed off waivers in August and made five appearances for the Cubs late in the 2024 season. They could have retained him for next season via arbitration, with MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projecting him for a $1.4MM salary next year. It seems they didn’t plan on doing that, so they have sent him into DFA limbo today. They will have a few days to see if there’s any trade interest, but he could end up back on waivers or non-tendered later this week. In his 95 1/3 major league innings, he has a 5.66 earned run average, 30.5% strikeout rate and 12% walk rate.

Angels Designate Jordyn Adams, Eric Wagaman For Assignment

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The Angels made a couple changes to their 40-man roster on Tuesday. Los Angeles designated outfielder Jordyn Adams and infielder Eric Wagaman for assignment. That opens a pair of 40-man roster spots for infielder Matthew Lugo and left-hander Jack Dashwood, both of whom are now ineligible for next month’s Rule 5 Draft.

Adams, 25, is perhaps the most well-known of the group. He was the 17th overall pick in the 2018 draft. The Halos bet on his speed and power potential, but the bat hasn’t progressed as hoped. Adams has a middling .252/.333/.377 batting line over six minor league seasons. That includes a .261/.333/.386 showing across 549 Triple-A plate appearances this year. That’s well below-average production in the Pacific Coast League. Adams has appeared in 28 big league games over the last two seasons, hitting .176 with a near-36% strikeout rate in sporadic playing time.

Wagaman had a nice season in the upper minors. Selected out of the Yankees organization in the minor league portion of the Rule 5 draft, he hit .274/.339/.469 between Double-A and Triple-A. That earned Wagaman, an Orange County native, a cup of coffee with the Halos. He hit a pair of homers with a .250/.270/.403 slash in 18 games. As a 27-year-old rookie who has never had much prospect fanfare, he had an uphill battle to holding his 40-man roster spot all winter.

Lugo, 23, is a former second-round pick of the Red Sox. He went unselected in last year’s Rule 5 before a breakout showing in the minors. The Puerto Rico native hit .287/.376/.578 with 17 homers in 79 games between the top two minor league levels. He’s one of four players the Angels acquired in the deadline deal sending veteran reliever Luis García to the Sox. Two others, Niko Kavadas and Ryan Zeferjahn, already made their MLB debuts late last season. Lugo could join them in Anaheim next year.

Dashwood, who turned 27 this week, was a 12th-round pick out of UC Santa Barbara in 2019. The 6’6″ southpaw spent most of this season on the minor league injured list. He ran a 15:1 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 10 innings at the Double-A level and punched out 17 batters in 10 frames during the Arizona Fall League. The Halos were concerned that another team would skip him past Triple-A and jump him to the majors, so they’ll give him a roster spot. He’ll probably open next year in the Triple-A bullpen.

Royals Have Shown Interest In Alec Bohm, Taylor Ward

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The Royals have reportedly spoken to the Reds about a trade involving Kansas City right-hander Brady Singer and Cincinnati infielder Jonathan India, but that’s just one of multiple pursuits for Royals general manager J.J. Picollo, it seems. Anne Rogers of MLB.com reports that while no deals are necessarily close as of this moment, the Royals have also spoken to the Phillies about third baseman Alec Bohm and to the Angels about outfielder Taylor Ward. Like India, both Bohm and Ward are right-handed bats with multiple seasons of club control remaining.

Bohm, 28, was the No. 3 overall pick back in 2018 and has settled in as a regular at third base in Philadelphia over the past four-plus seasons. He’s coming off an uneven 2024 season in which he was one of the game’s most productive hitters in April but followed it with five months of effectively league-average production. On the whole, he turned in a .280/.332/.448 batting line (115 wRC+). Over the past three seasons, Bohm has combined for a .278/.325/.427 slash, demolishing left-handed pitching along the way but producing at a roughly average clip against fellow righties.

Given his excellent bat-to-ball skills — 14.2% strikeout rate in 2024; 15.7% dating back to 2022 — Bohm is a sensible target for a Royals club that places a heavy emphasis on putting the ball in play. Kansas City had baseball’s third-lowest strikeout rate in 2024, and since 2021 only five teams have posted a lower collective strikeout rate than the Royals. Plugging Bohm in as a regular at third base would provide an offensive upgrade over slick-fielding Maikel Garcia, who’s arguably better suited as a utilityman, given his defensive chops.

Speaking of glovework, however, Bohm is something of a mixed bag on that front. The Royals have typically prioritized plus defenders in addition to their affinity for contact-oriented bats. Bohm has typically graded out as a poor defender at the hot corner, but he posted career-best marks in Defensive Runs Saved (0) and Outs Above Average (4) in 2024. If the Royals believe those gains can be sustained, he’d make all the more sense as a trade target.

Bohm is controlled for another two seasons. He’s projected by MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz to earn $8.1MM in his penultimate year of arbitration eligibility in 2025. It’s a generally reasonable rate that shouldn’t be cumbersome, even for a mid-level payroll club like Kansas City. While the Royals have in-house options at third base (Garcia) and at second base (Michael Massey), their interest in India and Bohm suggests a desire to add at least one bat to that infield mix. First baseman Vinnie Pasquantino and, of course, shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. aren’t going to be displaced, leaving second base or third base as the likely positions to be upgraded.

For the Phillies, trading Bohm wouldn’t be so much about shedding salary or moving on from an unproductive player as it would reimagining an offense that hasn’t gotten them over the hump in recent postseason trips. Bohm has hit well with men on base in recent seasons (hence consecutive 97 RBI campaigns) but offers average power and stark platoon splits. The Phillies, meanwhile, don’t have ample pathways to pursuing upgrades in the lineup. First base (Bryce Harper), shortstop (Trea Turner), designated hitter (Kyle Schwarber), catcher (J.T. Realmuto) and right field (Nick Castellanos) are all manned by expensive veterans. Third base (Bohm), second base (Bryson Stott) and the other two outfield spots (combination of Brandon Marsh, Johan Rojas and Austin Hays) are the primary areas where president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski can look to bring about some form of change.

As for Ward, he’s an on-paper trade candidate for an Angels club that just finished dead last in the American League West. However, owner Arte Moreno and GM Perry Minasian have both expressed a desire to put forth a competitive club next winter. Ward, coming off a .246/.323/.426 (111 wRC+) showing in 2024 and a .259/.338/.440 line (118 wRC+) since 2021, is seemingly a part of that vision. Few outsiders see a path to contention for the ’25 Angels, but the team’s actions thus far — trading for Jorge Soler and signing Travis d’Arnaud, Kyle Hendricks and Kevin Newman — suggest that they’re more focused on adding than on subtracting.

As MLBTR’s Anthony Franco explored last month, there’s a scenario where the Angels move Ward and still make an effort to compete. Ward could be flipped for rotation help — a potential match with the Royals — or traded for younger talent, with the Angels reallocating his would-be salary to other areas of need. Swartz projects Ward for a $9.2MM salary in 2025, which isn’t unreasonable for a player of his ability but also isn’t a raucous bargain. The Royals could plug Ward into left field, providing a stark upgrade over MJ Melendez, and pair him with defensive standout Kyle Isbel in center and rebound hopeful Hunter Renfroe in right field.

There’s no telling just yet how it’ll all shake out, but it seems Kansas City is quite active on the trade front at the moment. In addition to the bats they’ve targeted, the Royals have received interest from other clubs in each of the aforementioned Garcia, Singer, right-hander Alec Marsh and left-hander Kris Bubic. Picollo and his staff seemingly have plenty of potential concepts to explore, with the end goal of bolstering a currently top-heavy lineup a fairly obvious priority.

Angels Among Teams With Interest In Tomoyuki Sugano

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After 12 excellent seasons in Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball, right-hander Tomoyuki Sugano is expected to sign with a major league team. Sugano is a true free agent and thus does not need to be posted. He’s eligible to sign a major league deal with any club for any amount, with no release fee heading to his former club — the Yomiuri Giants. The Angels are among the big league teams with interest in the 35-year-old righty, Jon Morosi of MLB.com reports on the MLB Network (video link; Sugano talk beginning around the 2:55 mark).

A two-time winner of the Sawamura Award (Japan’s Cy Young equivalent), Sugano has flirted with the idea of a major league run before. He was posted by the Giants and gauged interest from MLB teams in the 2020-21 offseason but wound up staying put on a four-year, $40MM contract with opt-out clauses after each season (a massive commitment by NPB standards). Beyond the magnitude of that contract, Morosi points out that Sugano had other reasons for feeling committed to his NPB club; Sugano’s uncle, Tatsunori Hara, was in the midst of a 17-year run as the Giants’ manager. He stepped down after the 2023 season, however.

Sugano could perhaps have looked to test free agency last winter, but his 2023 season was cut short by an elbow injury. He began the season on the shelf and wound up pitching only 86 innings with a 3.14 ERA that’s still strong but a ways from his typical standard. There were no such issues in 2024. To the contrary, Sugano enjoyed one of the finest seasons of his career in 2024. The 6’1″ righty fired 156 2/3 frames with an immaculate 1.67 earned run average. His 18.2% strikeout rate doesn’t stand out, but Sugano’s 2.6% walk rate was sensational. He’s always had pinpoint command — Sugano has walked just 3.8% of opponents over the past three seasons and just 4.7% in his career — but a 2.6% mark is on another level even by his own lofty standards.

In many ways, Sugano makes sense as an Angels target in particular. The Halos clearly have a dire need for rotation help, but owner Arte Moreno has typically eschewed long-term deals — or even multi-year deals of any kind — for starting pitchers. The three-year, $39MM contract signed by Tyler Anderson two offseasons ago was the first multi-year deal the Angels had given to a free agent starting pitcher since Joe Blanton in 2012. The Halos haven’t gone beyond three years for a starting pitcher since signing lefty C.J. Wilson for five years and $77.5MM back in December 2011 (MLBTR Contract Tracker link).

Sugano, already 35 years old, isn’t likely to command a long-term arrangement. It’s possible a team could still put forth a multi-year offer, but given his age and lack of experience against big league pitching, a weighty long-term deal would be surprising. That generally meshes with Moreno’s free agent tendencies, and the Angels have sufficient payroll space to put together a compelling offer for Sugano on a one- or two-year arrangement. RosterResource projects a payroll of about $175MM right now. That’s roughly in line with where they ended the 2024 season, but Moreno has already stated this winter that his team’s payroll will increase in 2025.

As things stand, the Angels’ rotation is threadbare. They already signed veteran Kyle Hendricks on a one-year, $2.5MM deal in hopes that the soft-tossing righty could rebound after a disappointing end to his lengthy Cubs tenure. Joining him in the rotation will be the aforementioned Anderson and righty Jose Soriano, at the very least. The other spots are less concrete. Former first-rounder and top prospect Reid Detmers should get another look but spent much of the 2024 season in Triple-A after struggling in the majors. Righty Jack Kochanowicz posted a 3.99 ERA in 11 starts during last year’s MLB debut but did so with a 9.4% strikeout rate that stood as the lowest of the 541 pitchers who tossed at least 20 innings. Top prospect Caden Dana is largely ready for a look but will need to earn a spot in spring training.

The Angels have been among the most active teams in the still nascent stages of the offseason. In addition to signing Hendricks, they’ve acquired Jorge Soler in a trade with the Braves and given out big league contracts to free agents Travis d’Arnaud (two years, $12MM) and Kevin Newman (one year, $2.75MM). None of those register as major acquisitions, necessarily, but they’re indicative that Moreno and GM Perry Minasian are indeed aiming to add to the roster in hopes of beating expectations and emerging as a playoff contender next season, as they indicated last month.

Rays Had Interest In Travis d’Arnaud

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The Rays had interest in a reunion with veteran catcher Travis d’Arnaud prior to his deal with the Angels, according to Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times.

d’Arnaud, 36 in February, spent the past half decade in Atlanta but was a member of the Rays during the 2019 season, when he played 92 games for the club as part of a catching tandem with Mike Zunino and was a key part of the club’s first trip to the postseason since 2013. He split time between catching and playing first base with Tampa, and hit a solid .263/.323/.459 with 16 homers in just 365 trips to the plate. That production was good for a wRC+ of 109, and his excellent work with the Rays served as a springboard for him as he entered free agency that winter.

Of course, d’Arnaud ultimately landed with the Braves prior to the 2020 season and has spent the past five seasons as a fixture of the lineup in Atlanta, catching more games for them than any other player in each season except 2023, when Sean Murphy took over primary catching duties. The veteran has served as a roughly league average hitter overall during his time with the Braves, slashing .251/.312/.443 with a 106 wRC+. That’s just about in line with his production in 2024 as well, as he slugged 15 homers in 99 games en route to a 103 wRC+ with Atlanta this year. Valuable as d’Arnaud has been for the Braves, the club opted to part ways with him this winter with Murphy expected to be healthy enough to resume primary catching duties next year and catching prospect Drake Baldwin knocking on the door at Triple-A.

A reunion between d’Arnaud and the Rays would have certainly made sense given the club’s obvious hole behind the plate. Ben Rortvedt is on the roster as the club’s primary catcher after he posted a decent 87 wRC+ in 112 games for Tampa in 2024, but the club has parted ways with both Alex Jackson and Rene Pinto already this winter. That leaves them in need of a partner for Rortvedt, and preferably one who can become their primary catcher and allow Rortvedt to shift into a backup role. That’s a bill d’Arnaud would’ve fit nicely, offering a substantial upgrade over the club’s 67 wRC+ from the catcher position in 2024. That wasn’t meant to be, however. Topkin notes that d’Arnaud (a native of Long Beach, CA) was motivated to return to southern California, and his two-year, $12MM pact with the club allowed him to do just that.

Even as d’Arnaud landed elsewhere, however, Topkin suggests that free agency remains the best place for the Rays to find an upgrade behind the plate with few options known to be available on the trade market. Topkin suggests that veteran backstops Danny Jansen and Kyle Higashioka could be the best fits for the Rays’ needs behind the plate. Jansen, 29, struggled badly after a hot start this year but was a reliable presence behind the plate for Toronto in a part-time role from 2021-23 with an excellent .237/.317/.487 slash line (121 wRC+) in 754 trips to the plate over those three seasons. Even in his down 2024 season, he hit a respectable .237/.372/.342 against left-handed pitching this year, making him a solid platoon partner for Rortvedt.

Higashioka, on the other hand, is coming off a strong platform season but has less of a track record offensively and is entering the market at age 34. After spending parts of seven seasons in the Bronx, Higashioka split time with Luis Campusano behind the plate in San Diego this season and flashed impressive power with 17 home runs in just 264 trips to the plate. That incredible pace is somewhat stymied by his lackluster .263 on-base percentage, however, leaving him with a 105 wRC+ overall last year. Higashioka’s contributions were fairly split neutral this year as well, making him perhaps a somewhat less attractive platoon partner for Rortvedt than Jansen.

That said, it’s at least possible that Jansen and Higashioka could wind up out of the Rays’ price range this winter. MLBTR predicted two-year guarantees for both players on our annual Top 50 MLB Free Agents list. We predicted that Jansen will land a $20MM guarantee while Higashioka will find a guarantee of $15MM. For a Rays club that RosterResource projects for an $87MM payroll in 2025 after opening the 2024 campaign with a payroll just under $100MM, an annual salary in the $8MM to $10MM range might be difficult for the club to justify when the club could also look to upgrade its outfield mix this winter. Carson Kelly, Elias Diaz, James McCann, and Gary Sanchez are among the other options available this winter who could be had for a lesser guarantee than Jansen and Higashioka if the Rays are looking to save money.

Angels Release Guillo Zuñiga

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The Angels announced that right-hander Guillo Zuñiga has been released. He had been designated for assignment earlier this week as the corresponding move when the club signed catcher Travis d’Arnaud.

Zuñiga, 26, spent less than a year as an Angel. He was acquired from the Cardinals in February in a cash deal and spent the 2024 season as an optionable depth arm for the Halos. He made 15 appearances at the big league level, allowing 5.09 earned runs per nine. His 15.8% strikeout rate and 10.5% walk rate in that time were both subpar. He also tossed 28 1/3 innings in the minors with a 5.08 ERA, 15.4% strikeout rate and 7.3% walk rate.

Those results got the righty bumped off the roster and into free agency. He will now assess options on the open market, which will likely lead to a minor league deal. He does have upper 90s velocity and was able to put up some good numbers not too long ago.

With the Dodgers in 2021 and 2022, he tossed 90 Double-A innings with a 4.10 ERA, 29.8% strikeout rate and 11.1% walk rate. He reached free agency ahead of 2023 and got a surprising major league deal with the Cards. But that club only let him toss two major league innings while he posted a 7.63 ERA in Triple-A. A trade to the Angels didn’t lead to a bounceback but he’s still young and some club might take a bet on the arm to see if they can work with it.

Angels, Scott Kingery Avoid Arbitration

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Nov. 15: Kingery will earn $770K this season, tweets Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register — just $10K north of the league minimum.

Nov. 14: The Angels reached agreement with Scott Kingery on a one-year deal to avoid arbitration, reports Jon Morosi of MLB Network (X link). Salary terms have not been reported. Kingery is under arbitration control through the 2027 season.

Kingery just landed with the Halos a few weeks ago. Los Angeles acquired the infielder from the Phillies in a small trade. They added him to their 40-man roster to keep him from hitting minor league free agency. Kingery has more than three years of service time from his stint with the Phils, so he immediately became eligible for arbitration when the Angels put him on the roster. MLBTR did not project a salary for Kingery because he was not on a 40-man at the time of our arbitration projections (courtesy of Matt Swartz). It’d be a surprise if he’s in for a salary much above the league minimum.

In any case, the Arizona product has a clear path back to the majors. Kingery, who signed a $24MM extension before making his debut in 2018, has played in all of one big league game in the last three years. That came as a defensive substitute in 2022. He hasn’t reached 40 games in an MLB season since 2019. Kingery didn’t make much of an impact in Philadelphia, running a .229/.280/.387 line in more than 1100 plate appearances.

The Phillies kept him in Triple-A after outrighting him off the roster. Kingery didn’t have the ability to test minor league free agency without forfeiting the remainder of his extension, which expired last winter. He has essentially spent the last three seasons in the upper minors, turning in roughly league average results. The former second-rounder hit .268/.316/.488 with 25 homers and stolen bases apiece in a hitter-friendly setting this year.

While he came up as a second base prospect, Kingery spent most of this past season at shortstop. He can cover both middle infield spots and move around the outfield. The Angels could be without Zach Neto to begin the season after his recent shoulder procedure. The Halos just signed Kevin Newman as their expected fill-in at shortstop. Kingery can bounce around the diamond in a bench role.

Angels Sign Kevin Newman

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The Angels announced the signing of free agent infielder Kevin Newman on a one-year deal with a club option for 2026. The Halos designated catcher Matt Thaiss for assignment to create a 40-man roster spot. Newman, a Jonathan Weiss client, is reportedly guaranteed $2.75MM. That takes the form of a $2.5MM salary for next season and a $250K buyout on a $2.5MM club option for 2026. The Angels recently announced that shortstop Zach Neto could miss the start of the 2025 season following shoulder surgery.

Newman, 31, had a nice year in a utility role with the Diamondbacks in 2024. The former Pirates first-rounder hit .278/.311/.375 (89 wRC+) with plus defense at both middle infield spots. He also logged brief time at third base and in the outfield corners. He doesn’t provide any power (three homers, .097 ISO) or draw many walks (4.8%), but Newman also showed pesky contact skills, fanning in only 15.4% of his plate appearances. He’s a roughly average runner but has savvy enough instincts to have gone 30-for-35 in stolen base attempts over the past four seasons (85.7% success). Newman swiped eight bags in each of the past three seasons and peaked at a career-best 16 steals when he was given more playing time with the Pirates in 2019.

Even in the event that Neto is ready for Opening Day, Newman makes some sense as a pure bench option for an Angels club that’s lacking any sort of proven contributor. Former top prospect Scott Kingery is currently in line to hold a bench role. The only other infield options on the 40-man roster are Eric Wagaman, who debuted as a 27-year-old rookie in September, and former second-round pick Kyren Paris, who struggled immensely at Double-A, Triple-A and in the majors last season. Newman will add some necessary depth and raise the team’s floor with his track record of excellent glovework.

Newman can also provide the Halos with some depth in the event that oft-injured veteran Anthony Rendon again requires an absence of length. Newman has been better suited at the middle infield spots than at third base, but the Halos could shift Luis Rengifo to the hot corner if Rendon misses time and plug Newman in at second in his place.

While Newman doesn’t have a strong track record at the plate, he’s settled into a fairly specific range in terms of offensive output over the past three seasons. His 2024 output is a good approximation of what to expect. Dating back to 2022, he’s a .270/.313/.371 hitter in 873 plate appearances. It’s about 14% worse than average, by measure of wRC+, but when coupled with plus defense and above-average baserunning skills it’s enough to make Newman a useful role player who can help any club that’s short on infield depth — a description that currently fits the Angels to a tee.

Will Sammon and Sam Blum of the Athletic first reported the Angels and Newman were nearing a deal. Jon Heyman of the New York Post confirmed there was an agreement in place. Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register reported the salary breakdown.

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