First baseman Jared Walsh has cleared outright waivers and elected free agency, according to the transaction tracker at MLB.com. The Rangers had designated the former All-Star for assignment over the weekend.
Walsh broke camp with Texas while Nathaniel Lowe was sidelined by an oblique injury. He collected hits in seven of his first eight games before falling into a slump. In 60 total plate appearances, Walsh hit .226/.317/.321 with one home run and a pair of doubles. He struck out 21 times, a huge 35% clip. Once Lowe made his return, Texas squeezed Walsh off the roster.
It has been three years since Walsh was an impact hitter for the Angels. He followed up a huge showing in the shortened season with a 29-homer campaign in 2021. He slumped to a .215/.269/.374 line the following year, striking out at a 30.4% clip in the process. Towards the end of the ’22 season, Walsh underwent surgery to address thoracic outlet syndrome.
While he was able to get back on the field, the left-handed hitter hasn’t rediscovered his previous form. He punched out nearly 39% of the time in 116 MLB plate appearances last season, leading the Angels to cut him loose. Since the start of 2022, he’s a .200/.263/.352 hitter in 169 games. He’s hit 20 homers in that time but has a 32.4% strikeout rate.
Walsh can look for other opportunities now that he’s back on the open market. The Red Sox are a speculative fit after losing Triston Casas to a broken rib, though they’re reportedly considering bringing C.J. Cron back to the organization. The Rockies are without a clear timeline for Kris Bryant to return from a back issue, while the Astros have gotten very little production out of their first base combination of José Abreu and Jon Singleton.
They should have done it to overrated Langford
Usually I try not to shame others but that’s just about the dumbest comment I’ve read in a long time.
Porque?
Kind of an odd comment on a night where Langford is 3-3
If Walsh gets an offer from anyone, it will be a minor league deal at best.
Yeah, it’s pretty clear the desire is still there, but the skills are gone. I will say he was a hell of a hitter before the TOS issue. Probably would have been a perennial .300 hitter
I’ll give you .260, but ok
Maybe he should try his hand at pitching again.
Bring him back here on a minors deal. Schanuel isn’t exactly tearing the cover off the ball
HHJJ, it needs to be Brandon Belt. The dude had a decent 2023 and is better than several of the current Halos. No clue how that guy is not signed.
@nukeg I would be fine with schanuel getting sent down needs time in the minors. He’s not bad but he only played in the minors a couple weeks came up way to quick.
@nukeg No clue how Belt isn’t signed? He is 36 years old. He can’t hit lefties and is confined to 1B and DH where he has never been great and has had 2 good seasons of the past 5. His K% has risen in each of the past 4 years and last year he struck out at a 35% rate. Why would a team want him when they can have a younger guy with more upside playing or use the DH spot to cycle bats through?
Rather resign CJ Cron.
Walsh bat’s .450 at Fenway. Maybe a good first base band-aid?
That’s what I’m thinking I’d take the .317 OBP until Casas is back. Can’t replace Casas power but the OBP is a lot better than Dalbec.
Both strike out a ton so I don’t see the need to go out and get him.
@humanbeing @kingbum … the sox don’t need another left handed bat. Give me Garrett Cooper and Jose Iglesias over Dalbec and Valdez and let’s roll
I like Garrett as a choice. Don’t forget Jake Lamb and Dominic Smith as options too. I just figured Walshs’ numbers are like Rock em’ Sock em’ robots at Fenway.
Didn’t he get covid multiple times in 2020 and 2021? I remember him saying it gave him neurological problems. Tough blow. A curse amongst first baseman. First Casey Kotchamn caught mono and never recovered, Kendrys Morales freak injury at home plate on a walk off, then Pujols unnatural decline and finally Walsh with neurological disorder. Kinda crazy 20 years for Angels 1st baseman. Hope all the best for Walsh.
T.o.s. is from Repetitive arm motion he was a two way player. He did get covid, but the migraines, insomnia, body fatigue is from tos. Strasburg pitched 19 innings and retired. So far it’s the kiss of death. He can be a bench bat maybe? my guess is he will retire this year after trying.
I’ve really prided myself on my unrelenting support of my hometown team. I was truly convinced Espada was the “next one up” and still am for the most part. I’m starting to really wonder why he interviewed with SO many teams for vacant managers over the last several years. It cannot just be that. This sudden drop off from one year to the next. I remember AND supported my team and still am. I never really pay alot of attention to the minors, but ever since we lost 2 draft picks a year for two years and have an owner that felt like he was smarter than the person HE hired, sat with and stratiigize a full season with, and won you a second world series that, for the most part, has quietly shut down most of the vitriol and then you just give him a one year walk or take it type deal. Bagwell and Biggio both said how Baseball is a game based on failure. If you truly believe that, and I myself do, then either do a minor “retooling of the roster” is in order. We lost Basically 4 players in the last 4 draft classes so now we need to trade a few, resign a few to longer deals, and run out a better team than what’s taking the field now.
The injuries to the pitching staff are a big issue. As we’ve seen the guys who were called up to patch things up just aren’t ready/good enough. Driving in runs seems impossible this season. They lead the majors in hits coming into today but can’t seem to get anyone to cross the plate. Chandler Rome for The Athletic wrote a good piece about the issues plaguing the roster.
He was the Astros beat writer for a few years at the local paper. It took me a little while to truly understand his style of reporting. Now though, I really enjoy his way of presenting the facts, giving his opinion, and allowing the article to speak for him. As I watched the last little bit of to nights game,(still planning the youngest wedding or it would of been playing) as I watched Altuve bang in that Homer I just don’t see the hunger or the drive we have become so accustomed to. Still think the issues root cause is the loss of draft picks. I completely understand the why and now we are seeing the effects of those lost picks. Let’s be honest as fans and tell me like it is. When Crane bought the team he gave his word that his INTENTIONS were to bring a winning baseball club to the fourth largest city. His accomplishment of that was more true in 22 than 19. After all the AL pennent races(7),WS trips either as a winner or just the best the AL had that year. Bergman is gonna walk I think but I may.be wrong. His father is like the Jim Alder of New Mexico and sponsored the team for decades now so I hope I’m wrong. Tucker is not a for sure lock to stay, same for Valdez. We don’t currently have a sure fire replacement for either. Loperfido looked great in spring Training. They put him in AAA to take reps at first base so if Jose or Jon don’t start soon he may take the spot. We all saw how Crane handled Singleton and his demons the first time. Dude got 10 million before he ever even showed up for spring Training but k ew where the weed was. He didn’t mind losing the investment is my point so I don’t think the current leash is very long at first. Your first baseman is SUPPOSED to mash! Just remember we did turn a young third baseman with no experience Into a HOFer so we shall see!
Yeah I read Rome when he was with the Chronicle. He’s not for everyone, but agreed it grows on you. I don’t know if Loperfido will be the answer but at this point something has to be done. I fear that they are going to wait too long to pull the plug on the Abreu/Singleton duo. Time to admit the mistake it was giving Abreu that deal. I didn’t like it to start with but even I didn’t think it would be this bad!
Bregman is as good as gone, just like Springer and Correa before him. I fear the same with Tucker but holding out hope they get something done with him.
How bad is the Angel offense that Minasian assembled? Schanuel, Hicks, Drury, and Moniak have a lower WAR than Walsh. And Neto and Sano have more strikeouts.
Dude, we are the Angels. This is how we roll.
Perry has been a bad GM. But it does appear that he was restricted on spending this offseason.
This guy had one amazing year and hasn’t done anything since. Strange, very strange.
Thoracic outlet syndrome, addressed through surgery. No players come back a shell of their former selves.
@mutebutton Strasburg pitched 19 innings in three years and retired. It’s not a joke
Wow. That does explain it. Thank you