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Angels Recall Livan Soto, Place Anthony Rendon On IL

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May 15: The Angels announced a series of roster moves today, including the recall of Soto and the reinstatement of catcher Chad Wallach from the injured list. In corresponding moves, Rendon was placed on the 10-day IL due to a left groin strain, retroactive to May 14, while catcher Chris Okey was optioned to Triple-A Salt Lake.

May 14: The Angels will be calling up infielder Livan Soto from Double-A to the majors, according to Daniel Alvarez-Montes of El Extra Base (Twitter link).  Soto began the season at Triple-A, but was shifted down to Double-A Rocket City about a month ago.

The hitting hasn’t been there for Soto this season, as he has hit only .177/.349/.226 over 129 combined plate appearances at the two minor league levels, with only slightly improved numbers at Double-A.  This lack of production makes the two-level promotion a little unusual, but the Angels also promoted Soto to the majors in 2022 without any Triple-A experience, and he posted an impressive .996 OPS over 59 PA after making his Major League debut.

Soto has drawn far more praise for his glove than his bat during his six minor league seasons, as scouts consider him a big-league caliber defender at shortstop.  He has also played a good deal of second base in the minors and a handful of games at third base, so Soto will provide the Halos with some utility infield depth.

Some extra infield help is perhaps a sign that Anthony Rendon might require a trip to the injured list.  Rendon left Saturday’s game due to left groin tightness, and Angels manager Phil Nevin told reporters (including MLB.com’s Rhett Bollinger) today that Rendon was going to miss a couple of games while being evaluated.

It could be that the testing has revealed an injury that requires some time off for Rendon, or since the Angels don’t have an off-day until May 25, the team might be making a precautionary IL placement just to fully heal Rendon up, and to not leave the roster short-handed.  Conversely, Rendon might be avoiding the IL and another player might end up being optioned or designated for assignment to make room for Soto.

Angels Designate César Valdez, Select Chris Okey

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The Angels announced a series of roster moves, recalling right-hander Jimmy Herget and selecting catcher Chris Okey. In corresponding moves, righty César Valdez was designated for assignment while catcher Chad Wallach was placed on the 7-day concussion injured list . Sam Blum of The Athletic reported on the moves prior to the official announcement (Twitter links).

Valdez, 38, was just selected to the club’s roster yesterday. At that time, it seemed like he was there in case the club needed someone to eat multiple innings of long relief. José Suarez only last 2 2/3 innings on Sunday and Chase Silseth had to throw 3 1/3 innings of relief to get the club through that game. With Suarez then placed on the IL and Silseth seemingly ticketed to replace him in the rotation, the bullpen was a bit vulnerable going into Monday’s night game. But Patrick Sandoval was able to toss 6 1/3 frames last night and the Halos finished out the contest using only two relievers, Matt Moore and Carlos Estévez.

With the bullpen a bit more refreshed and an off-day coming up on Thursday, it seems they decided they could get by without Valdez and have designated him for assignment just about 24 hours after he was added to the roster. The veteran has been in and out of the majors over the years, having recently leaned hard into being a changeup specialist. He’s thrown the pitch 76.7% of the time over his 49 appearances dating back to the start of the 2020 season, posting a 4.84 ERA in that stretch.

The Halos will now have a week to trade Valdez or pass him through waivers. In the event that he clears, he would have the right to reject an outright assignment and elect free agency by virtue of having a previous career outright.

As for Herget, he will get a chance to get his season back on track after a rough start. He registered a 6.23 ERA through his first eight appearances and got optioned down to Triple-A Salt Lake. That was a disappointing dip from the encouraging breakout he had last year when he had a 2.48 ERA, eventually earning nine saves and six holds. Since being optioned, he has a 5.40 ERA in five appearances despite strong strikeout and ground ball rates of 28% and 50%, respectively. A .462 batting average on balls in play and 83.3% strand rate likely inflated his ERA but his 16% walk rate surely played a part as well.

Turning to the backstops, the Halos have been doing a bit of scrambling behind the plate this year. Max Stassi has been on the injured list all year with a hip injury and personal issue while Logan O’Hoppe had his hot start ended by a torn labrum that’s going to cost him four to six months. Chad Wallach was added to the roster over two weeks ago to join Matt Thaiss as the club’s catching tandem but will now join Stassi and O’Hoppe on the injured list.

All of that has created an opening for Okey, who made his major league debut with the Reds last year, though he got just 13 plate appearances in seven games. He was outrighted off the club’s roster in July and reached free agency at season’s end, signing a minor league deal with the Angels. He’s made 45 trips to the plate for the Bees so far this year but has hit just .125/.205/.225 in that time. His overall Triple-A batting line is a bit better, coming in at .208/.283/.333 in 401 plate appearances dating back to 2019.

In one other note relating to the Angels, Suarez won’t require but will be shut down from throwing for four weeks, per Rhett Bollinger of MLB.com. He’ll have to ramp back up at that point, meaning he likely won’t be available for a couple of months. He seems likely to be replaced by Silseth, who will join Sandoval, Shohei Ohtani, Tyler Anderson, Reid Detmers and Griffin Canning in the club’s six-man rotation.

Angels Select Austin Warren, Chad Wallach; Designate Justin Garza

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5:50pm: The Angels have now announced all the moves listed below, as well as the fact that right-hander Justin Garza has been designated for assignment as the move to open up a second spot on the 40-man roster. The 29-year-old Garza posted a 4.71 ERA in 21 games with Cleveland in 2021 but hasn’t made it back to the big leagues since. The Angels signed him to a split contract over the winter and he has a 4.32 ERA through six Triple-A appearances so far this year.

5:30pm: Bollinger adds (Twitter links) that right-hander Jimmy Herget was optioned as the corresponding move for Warren, and that catcher Logan O’Hoppe has been placed on the 10-day injured list due to his shoulder injury. Chad Wallach was selected to take O’Hoppe’s spot, but he wasn’t on the 40-man and will need a corresponding move.

The optioning of Herget comes as a surprise as he registered a 2.48 ERA last year and got himself some high-leverage work, racking up nine saves and six holds. However, he’s struggled to a 6.23 ERA so far this season, with his strikeout rate dropping to 13.2% after being at 23.7% last year.

The club still doesn’t know the severity of the shoulder issue that has been plaguing O’Hoppe of late, but he’ll sit for a week-plus while they figure it out. Wallach is a 31-year-old with 90 games of major league experience scattered over the past six seasons. He’s hit .198/.265/.296 in that time but has a good reputation for his defense and game calling.

5:20pm: The Angels have added right-hander Austin Warren to their 40-man roster, reports Rhett Bollinger of MLB.com (Twitter links). The club already has a vacancy on their 40-man due to outrighting infielder David Fletcher earlier this week, though a corresponding move will be required to get Warren onto the active roster.

Warren, 27, was selected by the Angels in the sixth round of the 2018 draft and has spent his entire career with the organization to this point. He was selected to the big league roster in 2021 and has 30 games of major league experience thus far. He has a 3.47 ERA in 36 1/3 innings, striking out 18.8% of his opponents, walking just 6.5% of them and getting grounders on 45.9% of balls in play.

Back in January, Warren was designated for assignment when the club signed Brett Phillips, ultimately clearing waivers and sticking with the organization. He started the year at Triple-A and tossed seven scoreless innings over five appearances before getting brought back to the big leagues today. He’ll give a fresh arm to an Angels bullpen that has seen a decent amount of work this week. Shohei Ohtani’s start on Monday was interrupted by a rain delay when he had only thrown two innings and he didn’t return after the game resumed. Then José Suarez lasted just 3 1/3 innings on Tuesday. Griffin Canning got to 5 1/3 frames on Wednesday but Patrick Sandoval tallied just four innings yesterday.

Warren still has a couple of options remaining, which means he can be easily sent back down to the minors the next time the Halos need to make a bullpen swap.

Angels Re-Sign Chad Wallach To Minor League Deal

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The Angels have signed catcher Chad Wallach to a minor league deal, according to his transactions tracker at MLB.com. Wallach was with the club in 2022 but elected free agency after being outrighted in October.

Wallach, 31, has seen MLB action in each of the past six seasons, splitting time between the Reds, Marlins and Angels. The Marlins put him on waivers in July of 2021, with the Dodgers putting in a claim. They kept him in the minors until putting him back on waivers a week later, when the Angels swooped in.

The backstop got into 12 MLB games but spent most of the year in Triple-A, suiting up for 89 contests there. He hit .219/.304/.361 in that time for a wRC+ of 66. He’s never been a huge threat with the bat but has a solid reputation for his defense and game calling.

The Angels will be without Kurt Suzuki next year, as he announced his retirement as the 2022 campaign was winding down. That leaves them with three catchers on the 40-man roster in Logan O’Hoppe, Max Stassi and Matt Thaiss. O’Hoppe looked great last year but he’s still a bit green, in the sense that he’s only played six Triple-A games and five MLB games. He could take the starting job and run with it but it’s not guaranteed at the moment. Stassi seemed to have that job locked down a year ago, with he and the club agreeing to an extension in March. However, his bat took a huge downward turn and he’s now a question mark going into next year. Thaiss played other positions last year just as much as he did behind the plate and is probably considered more of an emergency catcher. Wallach will give the club an experienced backstop in Triple-A who can come up in the event that one of the other options gets hurt or underperforms.

Outright Assignments: Wallach, Ellis

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2:10 pm: The Angels announced that Wallach has elected free agency.

1:05 pm: The latest outright assignments from around baseball…

  • The Angels outrighted catcher Chad Wallach to Triple-A, as per the club’s MLB.com transactions page.  It isn’t known if he’ll accept the assignment or not, but since this isn’t the first time Wallach has been outrighted, he can opt to reject the Angels’ assignment in favor of free agency.  Wallach was claimed off waivers from the Dodgers in August 2021, and he played in 12 games with Anaheim this season when Max Stassi and Kurt Suzuki were on the injured list.  Best known for his time with the Marlins, Wallach has appeared in parts of the last six MLB seasons, and has a reputation as a solid defensive catcher and game-caller.  At the plate, Wallach has hit .198/.265/.296 over 271 PA and 90 games in the majors.
  • The Mariners announced that Drew Ellis was outrighted off their 40-man roster, and the infielder was assigned to Triple-A after clearing waivers.  This is first time Ellis has been outrighted, and since he also lacks the prerequisite MLB service time or seven seasons in the minors, he cannot elect free agency.  The 26-year-old came to Seattle via waiver claim off the Diamondbacks roster in June, though he only appeared in a single MLB game in a Mariners uniform.  Making his Major League debut with the D’Backs in 2021, Ellis has played in 35 games in the Show, with a .482 OPS over an even 100 plate appearances.  Arizona selected Ellis in the second round of the 2017 draft, and his minor league numbers improved after a promotion to Triple-A in 2021, but his production declined again this past season.  Ellis brings some infield depth with his experience at first, second, and third base during his minor league career.

Angels Designate Jose Rojas For Assignment

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The Angels announced a series of roster moves Monday, reinstating catcher Max Stassi and right-hander Archie Bradley from the injured list. In order to open roster space for the returning veterans, the Halos optioned catcher Chad Wallach and lefty Jose Suarez to Triple-A Salt Lake. Infielder Jose Rojas, meanwhile, was designated for assignment. A 40-man move was necessary due to the fact that Stassi had been on the Covid-19-related injured list and was thus not counting against the 40-man roster.

Rojas, 29, has seen Major League time at second base, third base, first base and in both outfield corners. He’s a .199/.261./.377 hitter through 207 plate appearances in that time but does possess a much more appealing track record in Triple-A, where he’s logged a .274/.340/.496 slash in 950 trips to the plate. Rojas swatted 31 home runs with Triple-A Salt Lake back in 2019, although that came during a season when the baseball is widely believed to have been juiced both in the Majors and in Triple-A.

A former 36th-round pick, Rojas still has a pair of minor league options remaining, meaning any club that picks him up via waiver claim or a small trade will be able to shuttle him back and forth between Triple-A and the big leagues as some additional outfield/infield depth both this season and next. The Angels will have seven days to trade Rojas, attempt to pass him through outright waivers or release him.

Angels Place Kurt Suzuki On Injured List; Select Chad Wallach, Kyle Barraclough

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The Angels announced some roster moves, including the news that catcher Kurt Suzuki has been placed on the injured list.  Left-hander Jhonathan Diaz has also been optioned to Triple-A.  To fill the two roster spots, the Halos have selected the contracts of catcher Chad Wallach and right-hander Kyle Barraclough from Triple-A Salt Lake.

Since no designation was given for Suzuki’s injury, it would seem like his absence is related to COVID-19, whether a positive test, or possibly Suzuki just has symptoms or a close contact.  Suzuki has hit .179/.273/.282 over 44 plate appearances, splitting time behind the plate with Max Stassi for the second consecutive season in Anaheim.

Wallach will now fill that role for the time being, and after nine months in the Angels organization, Wallach is now on the verge of his first official game in a Halos uniform.  The Angels selected Wallach off waivers from the Dodgers last August but he didn’t receive any big league action; he also elected to forego free agency after the Angels outrighted him off their 40-man roster back in November.

Appearing in each of the last five seasons at the MLB level, Wallach has carved out a niche for himself as a solid defensive catcher, but his lack of hitting (.207/.271/.303 over 231 career PA) has limited his playing time.  Much of Wallace’s Major League career has come in a Marlins uniform, as Wallach played 72 of his 78 career games with Miami from 2018-21.

Wallach and Barraclough were teammates on that 2018 Marlins team, in what was Barrraclough’s final season in South Beach.  The righty posted a 3.21 ERA over 218 2/3 innings with the Marlins from 2015-18, despite some control problems that have plagued Barraclough throughout his career.  Since leaving Miami, Barraclough has also been hit hard by the home run ball, allowing 13 homers and posting a 5.59 ERA over 46 2/3 total frames with the Nationals, Giants, and Twins.  Los Angeles signed Barraclough to a minors contract in January.

Angels Outright Chad Wallach, Select Elvis Peguero

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The Angels announced Friday that catcher Chad Wallach went unclaimed on waivers and has been outrighted to Triple-A Salt Lake. In his place, the Halos selected righty Elvis Peguero to the roster. Meanwhile, right-hander Junior Guerra, who was designated for assignment earlier this week, has been released.

Wallach, 30, never appeared in a game with the Angels after being claimed off waivers out of the Marlins organization in August. The Angels haven’t given any indication that Wallach will elect free agency, but he’d technically be able to do so if he wishes.

A former fifth-round pick and the son of former big leaguer Tim Wallach, the younger Wallach has posted a .207/.271/.303 line in 231 plate appearances between the Reds and Miami. He’s typically operated as a backup, as last year’s 66 plate appearances marked a career-high. For now, he’s been assigned to Triple-A, where he’s a .220/.317/.392 hitter in parts of four seasons.

Peguero, 24, joined the Angels in the trade that sent Andrew Heaney to the Yankees. He made a brief MLB debut late in the season as a Covid-19 replacement player but didn’t need to be formally selected to the roster for that to happen. He’s now been permanently added to the 40-man. The hard-throwing righty soared through four minor league levels this season, pitching to a collective 3.43 ERA with a 30.1% strikeout rate and 7.9% walk rate.

Angels Claim Chad Wallach Off Waivers From Dodgers

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The Angels have claimed catcher Chad Wallach off waivers from the Dodgers and optioned him to Triple-A, per the team. In a corresponding move, Anthony Bemboom has been designated for assignment.

Wallach never appeared with the Dodgers in the Majors after being claimed off waivers from the Marlins. The Dodgers had hoped Wallach could serve as backstop insurance for Will Smith and Austin Barnes after the deadline departure of Keibert Ruiz. Still, he was only an extra man for the Dodgers, who still have Tim Federowicz in the organization as their presumptive third catcher.

As for Wallach, he heads to the Angels, where he will slot in behind Kurt Suzuki and Max Stassi in the depth chart. Most of Wallach’s Major League playing time came with the Marlins over the last four seasons, though he did make his debut with the Reds back in 2017. In total, he owns a .207/.271/.303 line across 231 plate appearances.

As for Bemboom, the 31-year-old heads to the waiver wire. While his success in the bigs has been fleeting — from an offensive standpoint — he’s having a nice year at Triple-A this season, slashing .255/.364/.482 in 165 trips to the plate.

Deadline Day Roster Moves

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After what was arguably the wildest trade deadline in years with dozens of deals around the league, multiple teams made follow-up roster moves. Trades end up squeezing some players off of rosters, or creating holes that need to be filled. This post will itemize the many 40-man roster moves that teams made after a dizzying array of blockbuster deals earlier in the day.

AL East

AL Central

  • Pablo Sandoval was released by the Indians. This was just hours after he was acquired in the Eddie Rosario trade. Based on his release, it’s clear that he was only included as salary offset.
  • The Tigers selected the contract of reliever Ian Krol. The left-hander is back after being designated for assignment earlier in the week.

AL West

NL East

NL Central

NL West

  • The Diamondbacks claimed outfielder Jake Hager off waivers from the Mariners. This will be Hager’s fourth club on the season, having been previously designated for assignment by the Mets, Brewers and Mariners. Arizona also selected the contracts of infielder Drew Ellis and left-hander Miguel Aguilar.
  • The Dodgers announced that they claimed catcher Chad Wallach off waivers from the Marlins. Wallach was recently designated for assignment when Brian Anderson was reinstated from the IL.
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