Angels Designate Jake Lamb For Assignment, Reinstate Anthony Rendon
The Angels have designated Jake Lamb for assignment, per a team announcement. The move creates a 40-man roster spot for Victor Mederos, who has officially been selected onto the roster. The Halos also reinstated Anthony Rendon from the 10-day injured list and optioned Andrew Velazquez and Andrew Wantz to Triple-A Salt Lake.
Lamb broke camp after an offseason minor league deal. He didn’t hit well in a limited look, putting up a .216/.259/.353 line over 54 trips to the plate. In mid-May, the Halos optioned him to Salt Lake. As a player with five-plus years of MLB service, Lamb would’ve ordinarily had the right to refuse any minor league assignment. However, his contract reportedly contained a 45-day window in which the Angels could send him down.
The left-handed hitter has spent the past month and a half in Triple-A. He raked at a .317/.453/.492 clip, connecting on five homers and drawing walks in 17.3% of his 150 plate appearances. Even with infield injuries mounting at the MLB level, the Angels decided not to give him another look. They’ll now take him off the roster entirely, likely ending his time in the organization.
Los Angeles has a week to trade the 10-year MLB veteran or place him on waivers. Should he go unclaimed on waivers, he’d have the right to test free agency while retaining the entirety of this year’s salary.
Rendon draws back into the lineup two weeks after bruising his left wrist. He’ll return to the hot corner, hitting cleanup against Arizona left-hander Tommy Henry. With Velazquez going back to the minors, the Angels have an MLB infield of Rendon, Eduardo Escobar, David Fletcher, Mike Moustakas and Brandon Drury.
The Halos also announced that Kevin Padlo has accepted an assignment to Triple-A. The infielder was outrighted off the 40-man roster this afternoon.
Angels To Select Victor Mederos
The Angels are promoting Victor Mederos to the majors, reports Robert Murray of FanSided (on Twitter). The right-hander is not on the 40-man roster, so the Halos will have to officially select his contract and make corresponding active and 40-man roster transactions.
It’s another bold promotion for the Angels. The Halos haven’t been afraid to aggressively call on prospects they feel are ready for an MLB look. They made Chase Silseth the first player from the 2021 draft to reach the big leagues last May. Infielder Zach Neto earned the 2022 honors when the Angels called him up this April; reliever Ben Joyce followed a month thereafter. Mederos joins his now-teammates as the only players from last year’s draft to yet get to the bigs.
Mederos was a sixth-round pick out of Oklahoma State. He’d been a high-profile high school pitcher who began his college days at Miami. He never found consistent success at the amateur level, dropping him into the middle rounds on draft day. Baseball America nevertheless ranked him 29th among Anaheim prospects over the offseason, praising his mid-90s fastball and potential plus slider.
The 22-year-old has spent this season at Double-A Rocket City. He’s made 12 starts, allowing a 5.98 ERA across 55 2/3 innings. While he has allowed over two homers per nine innings and is walking 10% of opponents, he’s striking hitters out at a strong 28.3% clip. The front office evidently feels his arsenal will play against MLB hitters in spite of the middling minor league numbers.
Mederos has started all 18 of his professional appearances. Prospect evaluators have pointed to a likely bullpen future because of spotty command. It seems likely he’ll break in at the MLB level as a multi-inning reliever. The Angels’ bullpen ranks eighth in the majors with a 3.69 ERA.