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Wade Meckler

Angels Outright Wade Meckler

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The Angels announced Monday that outfielder Wade Meckler, who’d been designated for assignment last week, went unclaimed on outright waivers and has been assigned to Triple-A Salt Lake. He has neither the three years of MLB service time nor the prior outright needed to elect free agency, so Meckler remain with the club as non-roster depth and presumably be invited to major league camp later this month.

Meckler, 26 in April, was a January waiver claim out of the Giants organization. He has just 20 big league games under his belt, all coming in 2023, when he hit .232/.328/.250 in 64 plate appearances. That cup of coffee came barely a year after he’d been taken in the eighth round of the 2022 draft, so some struggles at the plate weren’t exactly a surprise.

Since that brief 2023 audition, Meckler has spent the bulk of his time in Triple-A, where he’s a .296/.392/.429 hitter in 699 turns at the plate. He’s hit only 11 home runs but is a plus runner with high contact rates and a good eye at the plate. He’s fanned in only 16.7% of his plate appearances in Triple-A — a mark that’s well below the league average and not much higher than his gaudy 13.5% walk rate.

Meckler has played all three outfield spots, and the Giants gave him eight minor league games at second base this past season. He’ll stick with the Halos as a versatile bit of outfield depth. The Angels still don’t have a true center fielder. Jo Adell played there extensively last year but graded very poorly. Jorge Soler is sub-par even in a corner and isn’t an option in center. Trade acquisition Josh Lowe could get some run in center but has been below-average there in the past. The Angels might even try Mike Trout back in center at times this year, but his injury history and defensive decline are well known. Meckler could eventually resurface as an option to bring some speed and a truer center field presence to the roster.

Angels Claim Kaleb Ort, Designate Wade Meckler

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The Angels claimed righty Kaleb Ort off waivers from the Yankees, who had previously designated him for assignment, per announcements from both clubs. Outfielder Wade Meckler was designated for assignment in a corresponding move, the Angels announced.

Ort, 34 next week, made his big league debut with the ’21 Red Sox and has pitched in each of the past five major league seasons, the past two as a member of the division-rival Astros. He was excellent with Houston in 2024 but posted shakier numbers with the ’Stros in 2025. Overall, his past two seasons have resulted in a combined 4.08 ERA with a 26.1% strikeout rate, 10.8% walk rate and 38.2% ground-ball rate.

The hard-throwing Ort has averaged 96.8 mph on his four-seamer in that time and notched a strong 12.6% swinging-strike rate, generating plenty of whiffs with his slider, in particular. In addition to a walk rate that’s a bit heavy, Ort has been plagued by a major susceptibility to the long ball. He’s served up 25 round-trippers in 122 1/3 career innings in the majors, including 15 dingers in 70 2/3 frames across the past two seasons in Houston.

Ort is out of minor league options, so the Angels will have to either carry him in their Opening Day bullpen or else remove him from their 40-man roster between now and that point. The Halos are his third organization in as many weeks; Houston designated Ort for assignment in early January, after which he was claimed by the Yankees. He could have some more staying power in Anaheim, where there’s a clear need for bullpen help, but the Angels still need to clear a 40-man spot to make their re-signing of Yoan Moncada official, which could put Ort at risk again. Even if they go another route to open a spot for Moncada, Ort figures to be on the bubble for any subsequent additions to the Angels’ 40-man roster.

As for the 25-year-old Meckler (26 in April), he came to the Angels via waivers just three weeks ago, after the Giants had designated him for assignment. The 2022 eighth-rounder got his feet wet with 20 games and 64 plate appearances just over a year after being drafted. Predictably, he struggled in that initial — and, to this point, only — MLB exposure, hitting .232/.328/.250 in that tiny sample.

Meckler has spent the bulk of the past two seasons in Triple-A and hit well there, combining for 699 plate appearances with a .296/.392/.429 batting line. He doesn’t offer a ton of power (just 11 homers) and has only 21 steals in Triple-A despite plus speed, but Meckler is a high-contact hitter with a knack for drawing free passes. He’s gone down on strikes in just 16.7% of his Triple-A plate appearances against a stout 13.5% walk rate.

Meckler has plenty of experience across all three outfield positions and has seen brief action in the infield, primarily at second base (68 innings this past season). He has one minor league option remaining. A club seeking some speed, OBP and flexible left-handed-hitting outfield depth could take a look, whether via waivers or a small trade. The Angels will have five days to trade him before he has to be placed on waivers, though that waiver placement can also happen anytime in the interim. One way or another, his DFA will be resolved in a week’s time.

Angels Claim Wade Meckler

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The Angels announced that they have claimed outfielder Wade Meckler off waivers from the Giants. He had been designated for assignment by San Francisco last month. The Halos had a couple of 40-man vacancies and didn’t need to make a corresponding move.

Meckler, 26 in April, changes teams for the first time. The Giants drafted him in 2022 and he has been with that club until today. Generally speaking, he has a contact-based approach at the plate with limited power. He stepped to the plate 1,157 times in the minors over the past three years with just 16 home runs but his 13.1% walk rate and 16.7% strikeout rate in that span were both excellent figures. Even with the lack of power, his combined line of .311/.403/.431 in those seasons translated to a 127 wRC+, with some help from a .371 batting average on balls in play.

Despite the solid numbers, the Giants never gave him much time in the majors. He got a brief look in 2023, hitting .232/.328/.250 in 64 plate appearances, but wasn’t called up in either of the past two campaigns.

Whether his offensive approach can work against big league pitching isn’t really known at this point. According to Baseball America, he does well with fastballs but whiffs on a lot of breaking pitches. He does have a solid floor thanks to his speed and defense, however. BA describes his speed as “double-plus”. During his brief stint in the majors in 2023, Statcast ranked his sprint speed in the 95th percentile of big leaguers. He has played all three outfield spots in his professional career.

The Angels don’t really have a clear solution in center field right now. Jo Adell got most of the playing time there in 2025 but his defensive grades were poor. The Halos opened a corner for him by trading Taylor Ward to the Orioles for Grayson Rodriguez. The club has some willingness to let Mike Trout play center field going forward, after limiting him to right field and the designated hitter spot in 2025, but that likely wouldn’t be for more than an occasional appearance.

Bryce Teodosio got into 50 games in center for the Angels last year and got good grades for his glovework, but he hit just .193/.236/.287. Matthew Lugo is in the mix but he’s a converted infielder without the same defensive acumen. He hasn’t hit yet in the majors either. Kyren Paris is in a somewhat similar position. Nelson Rada might take over the position in the long run but he’s only 20 years old and hasn’t made his major league debut yet.

Considering that group, the Angels have been understandably linked to the center field market this offseason, but they haven’t really done anything about it. Perhaps that will change before Opening Day but it’s a good landing spot for Meckler now. He can battle for playing time either as the regular center fielder or for a role as a fourth outfielder. He also has an option remaining and could be sent to Triple-A as depth.

If things go well, the Angels can keep him around for a while. He has just 24 days of big league service time, that means he is still years away from qualifying for arbitration and even further from free agency.

Photo courtesy of Darren Yamashita, Imagn Images

Players In DFA Limbo

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When a team designates a player for assignment, he is removed from that club’s 40-man roster. The team then has a period of time with some ability to impact what is next for that player. This is colloquially referred to as “DFA limbo”.

The team can trade the player to another club, unless the trade deadline has passed and the new offseason has not yet begun. The team can also place the player on outright or release waivers. This limbo period can last as long as seven days. The waiver process takes 48 hours, so the team has a maximum of five days to work out a trade.

Or at least that’s the case for most of the year. It’s different around the holidays, with several instances in recent years of players being in DFA limbo for longer than two weeks. For instance, catcher Sam Huff was designated for assignment by the Rangers on December 23rd of 2024. He stayed in DFA limbo until he was claimed off waivers by the Giants on January 8th of 2025, 16 days later.

There has never been an official announcement made about what the rules are but it’s clear there’s some sort of freeze on the DFA clock around the holidays in late December and early January.

In this morning’s edition of The Opener, MLBTR mentioned two players who had been designated for assignment on December 17th, expecting those situations to be resolved today. There have been no updates as of the publication of this post. It’s possible the situations have been resolved but just haven’t been reported publicly because of media/communications people taking time off for the holidays. It’s also possible that those players have had their DFA clocks frozen and will remain in limbo into January.

Below is a list of players who have been designated for assignment in the past week without resolution, listed chronologically.

December 17th

December 19th

December 20th

December 22nd

December 23rd

Photo courtesy of Ken Blaze, Imagn Images

Giants Designate Wade Meckler For Assignment

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The Giants designated outfielder Wade Meckler for assignment, the club announced to reporters (including Shayna Rubin of The San Francisco Chronicle). They needed to open a 40-man roster spot upon finalizing the Adrian Houser contract this morning.

Meckler received his first MLB call in August 2023. He hit .232 without a home run in 20 games and was optioned back to Triple-A during the first week of September. He has not appeared in the majors since then despite continuing to hold a 40-man spot until tonight. The left-handed hitter has spent the past two-plus seasons on optional assignment while spending a decent chunk of time on the Triple-A injured list.

Listed at 5’10 and 190 pounds, Meckler has a smaller frame that doesn’t lend itself to much power potential. He has posted bottom of the scale hard contact rates while hitting almost everything on the ground. His skillset is built around an excellent understanding of the strike zone. Meckler has walked at a 13.4% clip in nearly 700 Triple-A plate appearances over the last three years. He pairs that with good bat-to-ball skills and has only punched out at a 16.7% rate. Meckler owns a .296/.392/.429 batting line at the top minor league level.

The Giants never gave Meckler much of a look despite mediocre outfield production over the past couple seasons. They’ll have five days to trade him or place him on waivers. The plate discipline and ability to play all three outfield spots could get him some attention from another club. He still has one minor league option year remaining.

Giants Select Johan Camargo

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The Giants announced they’ve selected the contract of infielder Johan Camargo. San Francisco also confirmed the selection of outfield prospect Wade Meckler and the designation of outfielder Luis González. Infielder Mark Mathias and rookie outfielder Luis Matos were optioned to Triple-A Sacramento in corresponding moves. To open a 40-man spot for Camargo, San Francisco transferred starter Anthony DeSclafani from the 15-day to the 60-day injured list.

Camargo gets back to the big leagues for a seventh straight year. The switch-hitting infielder had spent the ’23 campaign in Triple-A, moving from the Royals to the Tigers and then San Francisco. He just signed a minor league pact with the Giants over the weekend, reaching the majors after two appearances with Sacramento.

Between the three organizations, Camargo owns a solid .260/.339/.466 batting line. He’s been limited to 39 Triple-A games by an early-season injury. The 29-year-old has a fairly established track record, though. He owns an impressive .302/.375/.501 slash in a little more than 1000 career Triple-A plate appearances.

Camargo has a .255/.313/.410 mark over his MLB career. A productive everyday third baseman for the Braves between 2017-18, he’s settled into a journeyman role over the last few years. Camargo has hit .219/.271/.348 through 559 plate appearances over the past four seasons. The bigger appeal lies in his flexibility defensively. The Panama native has over 300 MLB innings at each of second base, third base and shortstop. Public metrics have given him roughly average reviews up-the-middle and plus marks for his work at the hot corner.

DeSclafani recently suffered a flexor strain in his throwing arm. He won’t throw until late September at the earliest and seems likely to miss the remainder of the season.

Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area first reported Camargo’s impending promotion.

Giants To Select Wade Meckler

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The Giants plan to select the contract of outfielder Wade Meckler, reports Jeff Passan of ESPN (Twitter link). San Francisco is reportedly designating Luis González for assignment to create a 40-man roster spot but will need to make a corresponding active roster move.

Meckler, an eighth-round pick from Oregon State last July, moved exceptionally quickly up the minor league ranks. The 23-year-old finished last season in the low minors and began this year with High-A Eugene. He destroyed generally younger pitching and was bumped to Double-A by mid-May. Meckler didn’t slow down, hitting .336/.431/.450 over 39 appearances to move up to Triple-A two weeks ago.

The left-handed hitter needed just 10 games with the River Cats to force the organization’s hand. He raked at a .400/.546/.600 line at the top minor league level. Overall, Meckler sports a ridiculous .379/.463/.522 batting line in 294 plate appearances on the season. He’s walking at an elite 13.3% clip compared to a modest 14.6% strikeout percentage.

Meckler doesn’t have overwhelming physical tools. He’s only homered five times and swiped just six bases in 10 attempts. Yet there’s little doubt he has quickly raised his profile thanks to his excellent contact skills and strike zone awareness. In June, Eric Longenhagen and Tess Taruskin of FanGraphs ranked him ninth among Giants’ prospects. Baseball America slotted him sixth in the system on their midseason update.

Both outlets call Meckler’s contact skills his carrying tool. He’s mostly a corner outfielder, though the Giants have given him 20 starts in center field this season. The extreme contact approach will be tougher to pull off if Meckler can’t stick in center field, but there’s little question about his minor league dominance. As Passan points out, he’s just the fourth player from the 2022 draft class to reach the big leagues — and the first non-Angel, as Zach Neto, Ben Joyce and Victor Mederos are the others.

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