Angels, Meibrys Viloria Agree To Minor League Deal
The Angels have agreed to a minor league contract with catcher Meibrys Viloria, according to the transactions log at MLB.com. He’s been assigned to Triple-A Salt Lake. It’s their second non-roster deal of the day, as they also added reliever Reyes Moronta this morning.
It’s a sensible depth addition for Los Angeles. The Halos have been dealt a serious of injuries to their catching core. Rookie Logan O’Hoppe had his blistering start cut short by a labrum tear in his shoulder last month. He’ll miss most or all of the season. Expected backup Max Stassi opened the season on the injured list with a hip strain. Sam Blum of the Athletic wrote yesterday that Stassi has been attending to a family emergency and is without a timetable for his return.
That left the Angels counting on Matt Thaiss as their starter. They selected veteran backstop Chad Wallach from Triple-A but quickly lost him to concussion-like symptoms. The Halos then tabbed Chris Okey — a career .208/.283/.333 Triple-A hitter — as Thaiss’ backup. It’s understandable they’d look to add a player with upper level experience to the organization.
Viloria, 26, has appeared in parts of five major league seasons between the Royals, Rangers and Guardians. He’s functioned in a depth capacity for the majority of that time, tallying 280 cumulative plate appearances. He’s just a .198/.270/.279 hitter against big league pitching, but he’s been quite a bit better in Triple-A. The lefty-swinging backstop owns a .257/.395/.412 line over 430 trips at the top minor league level.
The Guardians carried Viloria on the MLB roster as their third catcher to start the season. He barely played, hitting just four times in roughly a month before being designated for assignment. Upon clearing waivers last week, he elected minor league free agency and quickly finds a new opportunity. The Halos’ injuries figure to give him a good shot at returning to the MLB roster. Viloria is out of minor league options, so if he’s promoted at any point, the Angels will have to keep him in the majors or DFA him themselves.
According to the transaction log, the Angels also optioned veteran first baseman Jake Lamb to Salt Lake. As a player with over five years of major league service, Lamb would ordinarily have the right to decline any minor league assignment in favor of free agency. However, Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register reports (on Twitter) that Lamb had agreed to a 45-day window from the start of season in which the Halos could send him down without exposing him to waivers.
That would have closed this weekend, so the Angels decide to send him down. The lefty-hitting Lamb is hitting only .216/.259/.353 through 54 plate appearances. He’ll remain on the 40-man roster but moves into a depth capacity as the Angels near the return of Jared Walsh. The 2021 All-Star will begin a minor league rehab assignment this weekend as he works back from insomnia that delayed his start to the season.
Angels Place José Marte On 60-Day IL
The Angels announced a series of roster moves today, including the previously-reported selection of infielder Jake Lamb. To open a spot for Lamb on the roster, right-hander José Marte was placed on the 60-day injured list. Additionally, the club placed catcher Max Stassi and infielder Jared Walsh on the 10-day injured list, and placed right-handers Chris Rodriguez and Griffin Canning on the 15-day injured list.
Marte, 27 in June, was recently shut down for four weeks due to a stress reaction in his elbow. Even if that cool down period helps get him back to health, he will then have to ramp back up into game readiness at that point, so it’s not shocking to see the club doesn’t expect him back in the next two months. He’s made 15 major league appearances for the Halos thus far in his career with a 7.80 ERA.
As for other IL placements, they’re all of the smaller variety. Stassi has a hip injury while Walsh is currently plagued by headaches and insomnia. Both of those issues were reported earlier this week when it was reported that Lamb would make the team. In the case of Rodriguez, he underwent shoulder surgery last year and it was reported last month that the club would be ramping him up slower than his teammates as he gets back into game shape. To this point, there’s nothing to suggest that there’s been any sort of setback from that plan, and the fact that he hasn’t been placed on the 60-day IL suggests he could return fairly early in the season.
As for Canning, the club announced his injury as a groin strain, which is a recent development. Manager Phil Nevin told Adrian Garro of MLB.com about the issue yesterday. “It’s something that’s not really alarming, but it’s there for sure,” Nevin said.
Canning, 27 next month, has shown some promise in his career, particularly during the shortened 2020 season. He made 11 starts that year with a 3.99 ERA, 23.5% strikeout rate, 9.7% walk rate and 36.3% ground ball rate. Unfortunately, his ERA ticked up to 5.60 in 2021 and then he missed all of 2022 due back issues. He was healthy here in spring, making four starts with a 1.32 ERA. That got him into the conversation for a sixth starter job behind Shohei Ohtani, Tyler Anderson, Patrick Sandoval, Reid Detmers and José Suarez. Unfortunately, this groin issue will keep him out of action for the start of the season, seemingly giving Tucker Davidson that sixth starter gig, at least for the time being.
Jared Walsh, Max Stassi To Start Season On Injured List; Angels To Select Jake Lamb
Angels first baseman Jared Walsh and catcher Max Stassi will begin the 2023 season on the injured list, tweets Sam Blum of The Athletic. Walsh is currently being plagued by headaches and insomnia, while Stassi is dealing with a hip injury. With that pair of IL stints, the Halos will carry top catching prospect Logan O’Hoppe and veteran corner infielder Jake Lamb on the Opening Day roster. Lamb, who’s in camp on a non-roster deal, will need to have his contract selected.
Walsh’s trip to the injured list is an unfortunate development for the Halos, given the resurgent showing he turned in this spring after undergoing thoracic outlet surgery in 2022. The 29-year-old Walsh’s 2021 breakout sent him to the All-Star Game, and he finished out that season with a hearty .277/.340/.509 batting line and 29 homers. He hit just .215/.269/.374 in 2022 before landing on the injured list and undergoing surgery, but through 14 spring games in 2023 Walsh looked like his old self: .400/.512/.686 with a pair of homers and four doubles in 43 plate appearances. He’ll meet with a specialist to determine the root of his current issues.
With Walsh out, the veteran Lamb could step into the large half of a first base platoon. He’s had a monster spring, batting .324/.419/.595 with a pair of homers, four doubles and a 9-to-5 K/BB ratio in 43 plate appearances. Lamb hit 59 home runs as the D-backs’ regular third baseman back in 2016-17 but has since had his career derailed by shoulder injuries. He’s batted just .198/.310/.394 in 606 plate appearances since 2018 shoulder surgery. That said, Lamb is a .251/.339/.455 hitter against right-handed pitching.
There’s no timetable provided for Stassi’s return, but his trip to the IL paves the way for O’Hoppe, one of the sport’s top catching prospects, to open the season as the Angels’ primary starter. It also at least temporarily resolves the Angels’ dilemma with regard to catcher/first baseman Matt Thaiss, who’s out of minor league options. Thaiss will now slot in as the backup to O’Hoppe early on, and his experience at first base will also be a factor with Walsh sidelined.
O’Hoppe, 23, made his big league debut with the Angels late in the 2022 season but received just 16 plate appearances in five games. Acquired from the Phillies in the deadline deal that sent center fielder Brandon Marsh the other way, O’Hoppe posted a combined .283/.416/.544 batting line in 447 plate appearances between the Double-A affiliates for his two organizations.
With this Opening Day assignment, he’ll skip the Triple-A level entirely. He’s looked ready for the challenge in Cactus League play, batting .281/.361/.438 with a homer and a pair of doubles. O’Hoppe’s 13 strikeouts in 36 plate appearances are a red flag, but he’ll get the chance to prove he’s ready to step up as the organization’s long-term option behind the plate right now. Baseball America currently ranks O’Hoppe as the game’s No. 42 overall prospect.
Turning to the rest of the Halos’ roster, there’s further clarity being gained. While the Halos are still deciding who’ll round out the final spot in their six-man rotation, they’ve decided on carrying righty Andrew Wantz in the bullpen and, perhaps more interestingly, will run with offseason trade acquisition Gio Urshela as their Opening Day shortstop.
It’s long been expected that Urshela would see some time at shortstop in Anaheim, and he’ll get the nod over Luis Rengifo and David Fletcher. It bears mentioning that the Angels will face a lefty starter (Kyle Muller) on Opening Day, so getting Urshela’s right-handed bat into the lineup is particularly sensible. Whether he holds the shortstop job on an everyday basis will be seen, but he’s made a strong case for as much playing time as possible this spring, batting .382/.417/.471 with a double, a triple and just two strikeouts in 36 trips to the plate.
Angels Sign Jake Lamb, Jhonathan Diaz To Minor League Deals
The Angels are signing infielder Jake Lamb to a minor league contract, reports Jon Heyman of the New York Post (Twitter link). Lamb’s deal would come with a $1.25MM base salary if he cracks the major league roster, reports Sam Blum of the Athletic (on Twitter). Blum adds that Lamb would be able to opt out of the deal if he’s not in the majors by July 1.
Lamb is hoping to reach the MLB level for a tenth straight year in 2023. The left-handed hitter was an everyday third baseman with the Diamondbacks for a few seasons, combining for 59 home runs between 2016-17. Things went downhill after he sustained a shoulder injury that required surgery, however, and he’s worked more as a journeyman in recent years.
Over the past three seasons, Lamb has appeared at the major league level with six different clubs (Arizona, Oakland, White Sox, Toronto, Dodgers and Seattle). He split the 2022 campaign between Los Angeles and Seattle, going to the Mariners in a deadline trade. Lamb combined for a .216/.315/.392 line in 111 MLB plate appearances between the two clubs. He struck out in a massive 34.2% of plate appearances but walked at a quality 9.9% clip while picking up three homers and six doubles.
Lamb had started well in Los Angeles but tailed off upon landing in the Pacific Northwest, and the Mariners designated him for assignment in September. He cleared waivers, reached minor league free agency and finished the season unsigned. Now 32, he’ll look to get back to the highest level as a lefty bench bat in Orange County. Lamb broke into the majors as a third baseman but has seen increasing action at first base and in the corner outfield in recent years. He’s a bat-first depth option, one who had an impressive .290/.395/.537 showing in 61 Triple-A games in the Dodgers organization this year.
The Halos also recently inked left-hander Jhonathan Diaz to a minor league contract, according to Chris Hilburn-Trenkle of Baseball America. The 26-year-old returns to the organization where he’s spent the past two years. Signed to a non-roster deal over the 2020-21 offseason, Diaz made the majors late in the ’21 campaign. He pitched three times for the Halos that year and logged four more appearances this past season. At year’s end, the Angels opted not to tender him a contract. That sent him directly to free agency without first exposing him to waivers, and the Halos quickly circled back to ink him to a new minor league pact that didn’t require a 40-man spot.
Diaz has a 3.49 ERA in 28 1/3 MLB innings to date. He’s started five of seven outings, inducing grounders at a solid 47.1% clip but not managing impressive strikeout or walk rates. Diaz has only fanned 16% of opponents while averaging 91.4 MPH on his fastball. He’d succeeded more on the strength of his control in the minors, though he’s walked 13.6% of MLB batters faced. He’ll presumably return to Salt Lake, where he has a 4.76 ERA over the last two years, as rotation depth.
Jake Lamb Elects Free Agency
The Mariners announced that infielder/outfielder Jake Lamb, designated for assignment earlier this week, has cleared waivers and rejected an outright assignment in favor of electing free agency. As a player with more than five years of MLB service time, Lamb has the right to reject an outright assignment without forfeiting any salary.
It’s been a mercurial season for Lamb, who turns 32 years old in a couple weeks. He began the year with the Dodgers on a minor league deal that would pay him $1.5MM in the majors, but he didn’t crack the Opening Day roster. He went down to Oklahoma City and crushed baseballs for a couple of months, socking 15 home runs in 61 games and slashing .290/.395/.537, wRC+ of 131.
The Dodgers selected his contract at the end of June and he continued hitting after his promotion, producing a line of .239/.338/.433 in 25 games with the Dodgers, good enough for a wRC+ of 120, or 20% above league average. Despite that solid showing, he was flipped to Seattle on deadline day for cash considerations.
Once he moved up the coast to Seattle, things look a turn for the worse. He struggled with his new team and saw his playing time dry up, only getting into five games in the month of September. Since the trade, he hit just .167/.265/.300 and lost his roster spot.
With just over a week remaining in the regular season, Lamb is now free to sign with any team, though he wouldn’t be eligible for the postseason. Teams can only include someone on their playoff roster if the player was in the organization prior to September 1. He can now be signed for the prorated league minimum with the Mariners on the hook for the remainder of his salary. Despite his recent downturn, Lamb should finish the season with an above-average batting line, barring an extended look elsewhere down the stretch. Between Los Angeles and Seattle, he hit .216/.315/.392 for a 105 wRC+ in 41 games. The veteran corner infielder has expanded his defensive repertoire in recent seasons to include corner outfield work.
Mariners Select Luis Torrens, Designate Jake Lamb
The Mariners announced a series of roster moves today, recalling outfielder Jarred Kelenic and selecting the contract of catcher Luis Torrens. In corresponding moves, outfielder Taylor Trammell was optioned to Triple-A while infielder/outfielder Jake Lamb was designated for assignment.
Torrens, 26, had a strong season for Seattle last year but struggled to carry that forward into 2022. He was hitting .214/.262/.252 in August, producing a wRC+ of just 53. For a catcher with a bat-first reputation, that was clearly not cutting it, leading the club to designate him for assignment. Torrens cleared waivers and was outrighted but will now return to the club just over a month later to get another crack at things. The M’s already have a couple of catchers in Curt Casali and Cal Raleigh, though Raleigh has missed a few games this week due to thumb soreness. Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times also adds that Casali is expected to go on paternity leave soon, compounding the need for some extra depth behind the plate.
Lamb, 31, began the year with the Dodgers but was traded to Seattle just prior to the deadline. He hit .239/.338/.433 for a wRC+ of 120 in Los Angeles but hasn’t been able to carry that up the coast with him. He’s hit just .167/.265/.300 since joining the Mariners, producing a wRC+ of 70. Due to that tepid showing, he’ll relinquish his roster spot to Torrens.
Of course, outside the 40-man roster implications, today’s moves also carry intrigue for Seattle given that they are swapping out a pair of young outfielders. Kelenic, 23, arrived with much fanfare in May of 2021 as one of the top prospects in the sport, but struggled in his first taste of MLB action. He’s been bounced on and off the club’s major league roster ever since but always scuffling in the bigs. Through 133 major league games so far, he has a batting line of .167/.246/.329 for a wRC+ of 63. He’s been on a heater in Triple-A this year, however, showcasing why he’s always been considered such an exciting young player. In 86 games for Tacoma this season, he’s hit 18 long balls and stolen nine bases, creating a batting line of .295/.365/.557 for a wRC+ of 123. Of course, he’s often hit well but then struggled after a major league promotion, but he’ll now get another chance to break that cycle.
The Mariners have been scuffling a bit lately but are still in good position to break their 21-year postseason drought. They are holding onto the final AL Wild Card spot at the moment, five games ahead of the Orioles with just two weeks left on the schedule. If Kelenic brings his hot bat up to the majors, he could both give the club a boost down the stretch and earn himself a spot on the playoff roster.
Mariners Designate Travis Jankowski For Assignment
The Mariners announced they’ve designated outfielder Travis Jankowski for assignment. The move opens an active roster spot for corner infielder/outfielder Jake Lamb, who has reported to the club. Seattle acquired Lamb from the Dodgers in the hours leading up to the trade deadline. The M’s 40-man roster count falls to 39.
Jankowski was just claimed off waivers from the Mets on Monday. He made a lone appearance as a Mariner, striking out in his one at-bat. The left-handed hitter worked primarily as a defensive specialist and pinch runner in Queens, seeing action in 43 games but only walking up to the plate on 63 occasions. He didn’t produce much offensively, hitting .167/.286/.167 without an extra-base hit.
The 31-year-old has appeared in parts of eight big league seasons, also spending time with the Padres, Reds and Phillies. He’s a career .236/.319/.310 hitter, showing solid plate discipline and bat-to-ball skills but very little power. Jankowski’s an elite runner who’s capable of playing all three outfield positions, leading clubs to give him opportunities as a fourth or fifth outfielder.
Lamb was already on the 40-man roster, but the Mariners had to designate Jankowski for assignment if they wished to take him off the big league club. As a player with more than five years of major league service time, he’d have the right to refuse any optional assignment to Triple-A Tacoma in favor of a trip to free agency. Seattle will now place him on waivers over the next few days, where another team could bring him aboard if they’re willing to assume the remainder of his $1.25MM salary (approximately $426K) and keep him in the majors.
Mariners To Acquire Jake Lamb
The Mariners are acquiring Jake Lamb from the Dodgers for cash considerations, tweets Robert Murray of FanSided.
Lamb, 31, signed a minor league deal with the Dodgers in March and had his contract selected in late June. Much of his brief time with the Dodgers has been spent at designated hitter, but Lamb in left field and at first base for the club. He’s primarily served as a third baseman in his nine-year career. Lamb’s 2017 season was a highlight, as he hit 30 home runs and made the All-Star team as a member of the Diamondbacks. A left-handed hitter, Lamb has struggled against southpaws in his career, though he’s shown a reverse platoon split in more recent years. He’s hit well with a 121 wRC+ in his brief 77 big league plate appearances this year.
Lamb, a native of Seattle, may have become expendable for the Dodgers upon today’s acquisition of a more accomplished lefty bat, Joey Gallo. Lamb can complement right-handed hitters for the Mariners, including Eugenio Suarez, Kyle Lewis, and Ty France.
Dodgers To Select Jake Lamb
The Dodgers are planning to select Jake Lamb onto the major league roster, manager Dave Roberts announced (via Fabian Ardaya of the Athletic). The veteran infielder would’ve soon been able to opt out of his minor league contract had he not been added to the 40-man roster. Utilityman Zach McKinstry is headed to the 10-day injured list with neck soreness in a corresponding move. Los Angeles had a 40-man roster vacancy after designating Stefen Romero for assignment last week.
Whenever he gets into a game, it’ll be the ninth consecutive year of big league action for Lamb. A longtime division rival as a member of the Diamondbacks, he’s also suited up with the A’s, White Sox and Blue Jays over the past few seasons. Lamb had a couple nice seasons early in his Arizona tenure, including a 2017 campaign that earned him an All-Star nod. Since suffering a shoulder injury that eventually necessitated surgery, the University of Washington product has been up-and-down offensively.
Lamb owns a .203/.308/.355 line in a bit more than 700 MLB plate appearances dating back to the start of the 2018 season. He’s walked at an excellent 12% rate over that stretch, but he’s punched out in almost 27% of his trips to the plate and not maintained the same kind of power he showed at his peak. It was a similar story last year, as Lamb hit .194/.306/.368 in 55 games between Chicago and Toronto.
The Dodgers signed Lamb to a minor league contract over the offseason. The 31-year-old has spent the season with Triple-A Oklahoma City, earning his way back to the big leagues with a strong performance. Lamb has a .290/.395/.537 mark with 15 home runs over 276 plate appearances for OKC. He’s continued to demonstrate the high-walk, high-strikeout form he’s shown in the majors of late, but Lamb has had a power resurgence in the minors. In addition to the 15 round-trippers, he’s collected 12 doubles and posted a whopping .247 ISO (slugging percentage minus batting average).
Jake Lamb, Kevin Pillar Will Open Season In Triple-A With Dodgers
The Dodgers reassigned several non-roster invitees to minor league camp today, including Jake Lamb, Kevin Pillar, Tony Wolters, Shane Greene, Reyes Moronta, Tomas Telis, Stefen Romero and Eddy Alvarez.
While many minor league deals for veterans contain out clauses if they don’t make the roster, Lamb will remain with the Dodgers, per MLB.com’s Juan Toribio (Twitter link). His minor league deal does have out clauses in both May and July, Toribio adds. Similarly, The Athletic’s Fabian Ardaya tweets that Pillar passed on his first opt-out opportunity (April 2) but has other opt-out chances later in the deal.
Lamb had a huge Spring Training, going 9-for-27 with a pair of homers and three doubles, but his bid to make the roster as a corner bat off the bench will come up a bit short, at least initially. Los Angeles is going with a short three-man bench to begin the season, deferring to a slate of 16 pitchers at least early on in the wake of an abbreviated Spring Training.
Pillar, meanwhile, signed a bit later and had just two hits in 18 plate appearances, albeit one of them being a home run. He, in particular, seems like a candidate to eventually get a look as a bench option for the Dodgers, who don’t look as though they’ll carry a traditional fourth outfielder alongside backup catcher Austin Barnes, utility infielder Hanser Alberto and infielder/outfielder Edwin Rios. The recent trade of AJ Pollock thinned out the outfield mix in L.A., likely leaving Rios and infielder Gavin Lux as the backup options to Mookie Betts, Cody Bellinger and Chris Taylor across the outfield.
It’s not yet clear whether all of the players who were reassigned today will stick with the team and head to the minors, though it’s common this time of year to see veterans on non-roster deals return to the open market or, in some instances, be traded to another club that has a more clear opening for their services.