3:15PM: The Angels have officially announced Soto’s selection, Fletcher’s placement on the 10-day IL, and Velazquez’s move to the 60-day injured list.
11:45AM: The Angels are going to select the contract of infield prospect Livan Soto, reports Daniel Álvarez-Montes of El Extra Base. He will take the active roster spot of fellow infielder David Fletcher, who was already reported to be headed to the injured list. A corresponding move will be required to get Soto onto the 40-man roster, though it will likely be Andrew Velazquez getting transferred to the 60-day IL. Velazquez recently underwent knee surgery that is going to keep him out of action well beyond the end of the schedule.
Soto, 22, was originally signed as an amateur by Atlanta but was one of several prospects later released when an MLB investigation found that the club violated various international signing rules. Soto played for Atlanta’s rookie ball in 2017 team but signed on with the Angels prior to the 2018 season.
Soto was featured in Baseball America’s list of top 30 Angel farmhands in 2018 and has been there ever since, currently occupying the #19 slot. Their report on him notes that he is regarded as a strong defender who doesn’t provide much with the bat, though Soto seems to have taken a step forward in that department this season. In 119 Double-A games this year, he’s walked in 13.1% of his plate appearances while striking out in 18.8% of them. His batting line of .281/.379/.362 amounts to a wRC+ of 104, or 4% above league average. That’s not an eye-popping result, but getting above-average production from a glove-first prospect is an encouraging development. Soto’s also added value on the basepaths, swiping 18 bags on the season.
The Angels have used a motley crew of veteran role players up the middle this year, with the injury bug eating into that group recently by taking out both Fletcher and Velazquez. With the Halos well out of contention and just over two weeks remaining in the season, they can give a bit of playing time to Soto down the stretch and see how he fares. He’s mostly played shortstop this season in the minors, but with a bit of time at second base and third base mixed in. While Fletcher is out of action, Soto will join an infield mix that includes Luis Rengifo, Matt Duffy and Michael Stefanic.
Why does LAA have a AAA team if they only call up guys from AA?
Because if they didn’t have a AAA team they couldn’t keep optioning Adell to play there
Could be a number of things like the team thinking AA is the best place for the players’ development due to the PCL’s elevation, Minasian’s philosophy from his time with Atlanta, or because the injuries to Velazquez and Fletcher created a need that the team is filling with a guy who was going to be added to the 40-man anyway and could use some looks in the bigs
Their AAA team is filled with minor league journeymen. Average age has to be 30 on that roster.
A lot of teams have been doing that for a /ten or twenty years now. AA is where the top prospects hone their craft. They might make a quick stop in AAA but really, once they’re good enough to play in AAA they’re probably good enough to play the majors.
AAA has become the place for prospects who are developing, but slowly, or guys who are up and down repeatedly.
Another reason I’ve heard is that AAA is filled with disgruntled journeymen and teams prefer not to have their prospects exposed to those guys.
Better to expose them to “disgruntled journeymen” in the majors.
If you’re in the majors you’re making at least $700k and you’re collecting service time towards a pension. If you’re in the minors you’re making around $25k and hoping you don’t get hurt and released. I’m guessing one of those two groups is more disgruntled than the other.
PCL Elevation and sometimes it’s just a closer location thing
Dodgers often send their dudes to single A as its just 44 miles (Rancho Cucamonga) down the road
In addition to what has already been stated, the AA is winning a ton of games and playoff bound.
I think the organization is purposely keeping that group together and will look to promote a lot of them at once.
Same with our low A squad.
FletcherFan69 & HalosHeavenJJ;
As I just responded to TrumboJumbo under the Fletcher article…..
When Elias took over the Orioles he sent a few of his top coaches to the minors to work with and create a relationships with some of the young players he and others were bringing in.
As those players were promoted he moved those coaches up to the parent team.
Perhaps Minasian is doing something similar.
Fun fact: He was one of the guys the Braves lost during the international signing scandal
His AA teammate Kevin Maitan was part of that as well
Pretty crazy that Soto is the biggest loss it would seem. Maitan might never make the majors, after all the ridiculous comps he was given. Yunior Severino is another name I vividly remember. Wonder if some of those guys would’ve had more success in the Braves system…
Wish this guy the best of luck. He and Kevin Maitan were the big gets during Coppy-gate. Hope he catches on with the club.
The next phenom
Congrats to him and hopefully he has a great career.
First of that entire group to reach the majors. Makes the Braves international signing rules violations look that much more dumb.
Why? If the Braves had been following the rules they wouldn’t have signed most of these guys anyway, so there’s not really a scenario where they’d be Braves in 22.
We are saying the same thing. It shows that it was a waste that produced nothing of value and was a dumb thing to do.
Who would of thunk. I thought the other guy Kevin miatian or something like that was the more hype
Congrats to Soto. The glove will play. The bat? Ehh, we’ll see.
If the MLB “braintrust” opened their eyes to the reality that the rule of the 40 man roster is woefully outdated for today’s game and increased it to 45, all of this constant DFA and roster jockeying of players could be avoided. At the very least, MLB should permit players on the 60 day DL to to remain a part of an increased 45 man roster. That way when they are able to rejoin the team, there are no roster manipulations necessary. The 26 man roster is also antiquated for the game of today and needs to be increased to 28, becoming 30 on Sept. first of every year.
To be fair, most of the DFAs are of players that arent of much importance.. it sucks for them, but in the long run I dont think it really affects teams all that much in a negative way.. but i do agree with you there should be more players per team.
The “antiquated” 26 man roster is three years old. Why do you need 30 guys to play a ball game? You’d have your starting nine, five starters, five bench bats, and eleven relievers. That seems exessive for nine innings.
Well. Whatever we think of Soto, he’s had a nice start.. second hit is a home run.. he’s 2-4.
Angels might have found a gem.