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Angels Outright Willie Calhoun

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Today: The Angels have sent Calhoun outright to Triple-A Salt Lake, the team announced. Calhoun has the right to reject an outright assignment in favor of free agency, but it is unclear whether or not he plans to do so.

August 15: The Angels are going to designate first baseman/outfielder Willie Calhoun for assignment, according to Alden González of ESPN on X. Infielder/outfielder Jack López is being called up, per Jorge Castillo of ESPN on X.

Calhoun, 29, signed a minor league deal with the Angels in the offseason and was selected to the big league roster on the first day of May. Since then, he has stepped to the plate 254 times in 68 games. His 9.1% walk rate in that time is solid and he’s done a great job of avoiding strikeouts, just a 12.2% rate, but hasn’t done much damage. He has five home runs and his .245/.315/.380 batting line translates to a 94 wRC+. His .263 batting average on balls in play is below league average, but he’s one of the slowest runners in the league and he has subpar metrics in terms of exit velocity, barrel rate and hard hit rate.

That has generally been the recipe with Calhoun. Although he was once one of the top prospects in the league and had a 21-home run season in 2019, that was the juiced-ball season and he’s been far less impactful since then. He has 857 plate appearances from 2020 to the present with an 8.4% walk rate and 12.8% strikeout rate but just 18 home runs, a .231/.299/.360 batting line and 82 wRC+.

Calhoun isn’t a burner on the basepaths, as mentioned, and isn’t considered a strong defender. It was once thought that he could make up for those shortcomings with his hit tool but he hasn’t provided enough thump for that to be the case thus far. He exhausted his final option in 2022, which has led to him bouncing around the league in recent years, spending time with the Rangers, Giants, Yankees and Angels. With the trade deadline now passed, the Halos will have no choice but to put Calhoun on waivers in the coming days.

López, 31, signed a minor league deal with the Halos in the offseason. He has played 104 Triple-A games this year, hitting 12 home runs and slashing .274/.333/.421 for a wRC+ of 86 in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League.

There’s not much in his track record to suggest he’ll provide much more than that. He first reached Triple-A in 2017 and has played 687 minor league games from that year to the present. In that time, he has a .256/.306/.386 batting line and 77 wRC+. His major league experience consists of seven games with the 2021 Red Sox and he hit .154/.214/.308 in those.

However, he has regularly provided double-digit steals during his minor league career, including 15 so far this year. He’s also capable of playing all three outfield positions and the three infield spots to the left of first base. Calhoun has been the club’s designated hitter for much of the year but now they can rotate various players through that spot. With López giving them extra depth all over the diamond, they will have some cover for whoever is the DH on a given day.

Angels Select Niko Kavadas, Designate Luis Guillorme

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4:05pm: The Angels have now made all of these moves official. Lopez and Kavadas have been selected, with Guillorme and Calhoun designated for assignment.

12:59pm: The Angels are calling up first baseman/designated hitter Niko Kavadas to make his major league debut, as first reported by Chuck Freeby. In order to make space for Kavadas on the roster, the Angels will designate infielder Luis Guillorme for assignment, Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register adds. The Halos are also reportedly set to select the contract of infielder Jack Lopez and designate Willie Calhoun for assignment. All of those moves will be announced later today.

Kavadas, 25, was acquired from the Red Sox alongside three other minor leaguers in the trade sending reliever Luis Garcia to Boston prior to the deadline. He’s posted a combined .264/.400/.521 slash between the two organizations’ Triple-A affiliates this year, though it’s worth noting he’s struggled mightily with the Angels’ top affiliate in Salt Lake, batting just .159/.229/.341 in 48 plate appearances.

An 11th-round pick by the Red Sox in 2021, Kavadas has clear plus power. He hit 26 homers in 515 plate appearances across three levels in 2022, belted 22 homers in just 480 plate appearances last year, and already has 19 long balls in 383 plate appearances this season.

That big-time power comes with a familiar red flag, however, in the form of strikeouts. Fans have seen plenty of three-true-outcomes sluggers over the years, and Kavadas embodies that approach to its fullest extent. A whopping 57% of his professional plate appearances have ended in either a homer, walk or strikeout. This season, he’s punched out in 33.9% of his plate appearances — and that’s actually an improvement over last year’s 35.8% mark. He’s also drawn a walk in a gaudy 16.2% of his trips to the plate.

The 6’1″, 235-pound Kavadas is a well below-average runner, and scouting reports peg his glovework at first base to be below-average as well. His huge power is his carrying tool, and whether he’s able to make enough contact to get to that power with regularity will determine the type of future he has. Players who whiff this much in the upper minors don’t tend to make enough contact to succeed in the big leagues, although Baseball America wrote in 2023 that Kavadas is an “intelligent hitter” with at least a chance to close some of the holes in his swing as he gains more experience.

Nolan Schanuel, the Angels’ 2023 first-rounder, skyrocketed to the majors less than two months after being drafted and has settled in as the primary first baseman. The 22-year-old Schanuel is in many ways the opposite of Kavadas: a first-base prospect with elite bat-to-ball skills but more a more suspect power profile.

After a slow start to the season, Schanuel is hitting .269/.382/.409 with nearly as many walks (14.6%) as strikeouts (15.2%) through his past 250 trips to the plate. He’s slumped lately, but the Angels presumably want to keep getting him exposure to big league pitching. That the promotion of Kavadas coincides with the DFA of Calhoun — who’s seen 60 games at designated hitter this year — suggests that Kavadas and his simultaneously thunderous and porous left-handed bat could get the bulk of the Angels’ DH reps down the stretch.

As for the 29-year-old Guillorme, he’s split the season between the Braves and Angels, batting a combined .218/.285/.290 in 138 plate appearances. He’s never been a big threat at the plate, but the versatile Guillorme offers strong infield defense across second base, shortstop and third base. He’s a career .254/.336/.327 hitter in 961 plate appearances — the vast majority of which came with the Mets from 2018-23.

With the trade deadline behind us, Guillorme will be placed on outright waivers or released. He’s earning just a $1.1MM base salary this season and has about $266K of that yet to be paid out. He’s versatile, experienced and affordable enough that another club might consider placing a claim. Guillorme has more than five years of service, meaning he can reject an outright assignment in favor of free agency and retain his entire salary. As such, if he clears waivers he’ll surely become a free agent and look to latch on with a new club — likely on a minor league deal. The new team would only owe him the prorated minimum for any time spent on the MLB roster/injured list.

Angels Release Amir Garrett, Adam Kolarek

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The Angels have released a pair of lefties that were each in the system in a non-roster capacity. Amir Garrett and Adam Kolarek have both been let go, per each player’s transactions tracker at MLB.com.

Garrett, 32, signed a minor league deal with the Giants this winter. That club decided he wasn’t going to make the Opening Day roster and released him, which freed him up to sign a minor league deal with the Angels. He was selected to the big league roster at the end of April and was in the majors for about two weeks. He tossed 5 1/3 innings in that time, racking up an impressive 11 strikeouts but also giving out five walks, leading to a 5.06 earned run average.

He was designated for assignment in the middle of May but returned to the Halos on a new minor league deal. He has tossed 33 2/3 innings at the Triple-A level this year with a 5.08 ERA, 28.5% strikeout rate and 10.6% walk rate. He’s been in good form lately, with a 1.59 ERA over his eight most recent appearances. In 11 1/3 innings in that stretch, he has 20 strikeouts and just four walks, all of that taking place in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League.

Despite that strong run in recent weeks, the lefty has little utility for the Angels at this point. They are out of contention and will likely be using what’s left of the season to evaluate guys who could help in the future. That includes plenty of internal arms and they also claimed a couple of arms yesterday in Nick Robertson and Brock Burke, who are both optionable and controllable. Garrett, on the other hand, is a veteran with over six years of service time.

Perhaps those waiver claims nudged Garrett out, giving him a chance to a find a new club in the coming weeks. He has some success on his track record, mostly combining lots of strikeouts with lots of walks. In 330 2/3 big league innings to this point in his career, he has a 4.95 ERA, 26.7% strikeout rate and 13.3% walk rate.

With the trade deadline now in the past, teams are fairly limited in terms of their avenues for adding talent. Garrett can be wild but he has been an effective setup guy in the past, racking up over 20 holds with the Reds in both 2018 and 2019. His numbers this year are decent and could lead to him getting a shot somewhere else in the coming weeks. If he signs before the end of August, he’ll be postseason eligible with a new club.

Kolarek, 35, is also a veteran with a notable track record, but he’s had less success this year. The Angels signed him in the offseason to a deal worth $900K and then ran him through waivers. Since Kolarek has more than three years of service time but less than five, he could have returned to free agency but would have left that money on the table by doing so.

He accepted his assignment and has tossed 31 innings at the Triple-A level this year but with a 6.97 ERA. There’s surely some bad luck in there, as his .415 batting average on balls in play and 58.5% strand rate are both on the unfortunate side, but his rate stats aren’t amazing either. His 22% strikeout rate and 48.9% ground ball rate are close to average but his 12% walk rate is a few ticks worse than par.

His major league track record consists of 149 1/3 innings with a 3.62 ERA. His 15.9% strikeout rate in that time is low but he has only walked 6.8% of batters faced and has gotten grounders at a huge 63.9% clip. His Triple-A numbers this year haven’t taken the same shape but some club could perhaps take a shot on him, especially since the Angels are on the hook for what’s left of that salary. Any other club would only have to pay him the prorated league minimum for any time spent on the roster, which would be subtracted from what the Halos pay.

Angels, Corey Knebel Agree To Minor League Deal

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The Angels are signing reliever Corey Knebel to a minor league contract, as first reflected on the MLB.com transaction log. He’ll report to Triple-A Salt Lake. Knebel was granted his release from a non-roster deal with the White Sox earlier this month.

Now 32, Knebel is trying to get back to the majors for the first time since 2022. He has generally been a productive pitcher when healthy — highlighted by an All-Star season as Milwaukee’s closer back in ’17 — but has had various arm issues. He underwent a Tommy John procedure in 2019 and subsequently missed time with lat and shoulder concerns. Knebel didn’t pitch last season as he rehabbed a capsule strain that he suffered with the Phillies two years ago.

Most of his time with Chicago was also spent on the minor league IL. Knebel made six rehab appearances split between the complex and High-A. He only pitched six times for Triple-A Charlotte, though he impressed with 5 1/3 scoreless frames while striking out eight. While it wasn’t enough to convince the Sox to give him a look, that production evidently intrigued the Los Angeles front office.

It’s a fairly inconsequential move for the Halos, who aren’t anywhere near the playoff mix. Knebel will return to free agency this offseason regardless of whether he makes the MLB team. The final six weeks could serve as an audition as he tries to secure a big league opportunity going into 2025.

Angels Claim Nick Robertson, Brock Burke

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The Angels announced that they have claimed right-hander Nick Robertson off waivers from the Cardinals and left-hander Brock Burke off waivers from the Rangers. Both pitchers had been designated for assignment in recent days. The Halos had two vacancies on their 40-man roster and don’t need to make a corresponding move.

Each pitcher has shown some promise in past seasons but was struggling of late. They both got nudged off their respective roster spots but it makes sense for the Angels to take fliers on them. The Halos are out of contention and can use the remainder of the season to audition players for future roles, and had the open roster spots anyway.

Robertson, 26, pitched for the Dodgers and Red Sox in 2023. He tossed 22 1/3 innings in the majors with an unimpressive 6.04 earned run average but better underlying numbers. He struck out 24.5% of batters faced, gave out walks at an 8.5% clip and got grounders on 47.1% of balls in play. His .397 batting average on balls in play and 57.5% strand rate were both on the unlucky side, which is why he had a 3.88 FIP and 3.76 SIERA. He also had a strong 2.54 ERA in Triple-A last year with a huge 37.5% strikeout rate.

The Cards acquired him as one of the two pieces they got back from Boston in the Tyler O’Neill trade. He missed about a month of this season due to right elbow inflammation and has also been on optional assignment, only throwing 12 1/3 innings for the Cards. In that time, he had a 4.38 ERA, 26.9% strikeout rate and 3.8% walk rate. Oddly, he performed far worse in his 21 2/3 innings at the Triple-A level. He had a 7.48 ERA there, along with a 20.6% strikeout rate and 15.7% walk rate.

It’s not been an outstanding season so St. Louis decided to move on, but the Angels can see if he can find his way in a new environment. Robertson can be optioned for the rest of this year and will still have one option after that. He also currently has less than a year of service time, meaning he still has a ways to go before qualifying for arbitration or free agency.

Burke, 28, had a tremendous 2022 season. He tossed 82 1/3 innings for the Rangers that year with a 1.97 ERA, 27.4% strikeout rate and 7.3% walk rate. But his numbers backed up a bit last year, as he logged 59 2/3 frames with a 4.37 ERA and diminished 20.8% strikeout rate, though he did lower the walks to a rate of 3.6%.

This year, things have been even worse, which was partially self-induced on Burke’s part. He punched a wall in frustration after a poor outing and suffered a fracture in his right hand. Though it wasn’t his throwing hand, it still kept him on the IL for two months. Around that IL placement, he posted a 9.22 ERA in 13 2/3 innings and also spent about a month on optional assignment.

The results have obviously been trending in a bad direction and the wall-punching reflects poorly on him, but he can still be optioned for the rest of this year if the Angels so choose. He’ll be out of options next year but can be retained via arbitration through 2026.

Angels Release Zach Plesac

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The Angels are releasing right-hander Zach Plesac, reports Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register (X link). The veteran starter had been on optional assignment with Triple-A Salt Lake. The move drops the Halos’ 40-man roster count to 38. Los Angeles could also move Mike Trout and Luis Rengifo to the 60-day IL at any point since both players are done for the season.

Plesac signed a $1MM free agent deal with Los Angeles over the winter. They ran him through waivers early in the season before reselecting his contract in mid-June. Plesac only started three games at the major league level, surrendering 11 runs in 12 innings. He’d otherwise been pitching in Salt Lake, where he owns a 5.69 ERA across 18 appearances. Plesac showed good control in the minors but only fanned 15% of opposing hitters. He last pitched for the Bees on August 3, though the team did not place him on the injured list at any point.

Assuming he’s healthy, Plesac could look for a minor league opportunity elsewhere. He’ll likely clear release waivers and become a free agent. Plesac hasn’t gotten much of an MLB look in either of the past two years, combining for eight starts between the Guardians and Halos since the beginning of the ’23 campaign. He’s still attacking the strike zone in the minors and was a serviceable back-end starter for Cleveland from 2021-22. Plesac’s dominant showing in 2020 looks like a quirk of the shortened season and in-division schedule, but his 4.49 ERA across 50 outings over the next two years is viable #5 starter production.

Cubs Pursued Logan O’Hoppe At Trade Deadline

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The Cubs need help behind the dish. That statement will not come as a surprise to anyone who has watched baseball on the North Side of Chicago this season. Cubs catchers are batting .199/.246/.305 with a 54 wRC+ in 2024. Those are grim numbers, even considering the lower offensive standards at the position. To add insult to injury, Cubs catchers don’t grade out well on defense either, with -4 Defensive Runs Saved (21st in MLB) and a -6 Fielding Run Value (23rd). Overall, Miguel Amaya, Christian Bethancourt, Tomás Nido, and Yan Gomes have combined for -0.9 FanGraphs WAR, last in the National League and 29th in MLB. Only the White Sox have gotten less production from behind the plate.

With all that in mind, it makes sense that the team made a serious effort to add a new backstop before the July 30 trade deadline. According to Sahadev Sharma of The Athletic, Cubs president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer “aggressively pursued” catching this summer. Logan O’Hoppe of the Angels was one player he had his eye on. However, Sharma notes that the Angels “repeatedly and firmly rebuffed” Hoyer’s attempts to trade for their 24-year-old catcher. 

This lines up with everything we already knew about Chicago’s plan ahead of the deadline. The Cubs were linked to Danny Jansen, arguably the best catcher on the trade block, in mid-July. However, Hoyer later stated that he wasn’t going to make moves that would only improve the roster in 2024, but rather those that would help the team “for 2025 and beyond.” Jansen is set to reach free agency this winter, as is Carson Kelly, the only other notable catcher traded at this year’s deadline. In other words, neither matched up with what the Cubs were seeking. O’Hoppe, on the other hand, will not be eligible for arbitration until the 2026 season, and he will not reach free agency until the offseason after the 2028 campaign. Much like Isaac Paredes, O’Hoppe could have helped the Cubs compete in 2024 and for several years to come.

Yet, for the same reasons, it’s not hard to understand why the Angels had no interest in giving him up. O’Hoppe broke out at the plate during an injury-shortened 2023 campaign. In 51 games, he hit 14 home runs and put up a 113 wRC+. His .264 isolated power ranked second among primary catchers (min. 150 PA), while his .500 slugging percentage ranked fourth. The young catcher has continued to hit in 2024, slashing .260/.320/.435 with a 111 wRC+ across 101 games. He has also taken a big step forward on defense. His defensive metrics remain below average in just about every category, including pitch framing, blocking, and pop time, but he is not nearly as much of a liability as he was last season. In 2023, he produced -9 DRS and a -7 FRV in just 49 games at catcher. This year, in almost twice as many appearances, he has a much more palatable -3 DRS and -3 FRV. All told, O’Hoppe has produced 1.8 fWAR, which ranks 10th among primary catchers. Still just 24 and playing in his first full MLB season, he has plenty of time to continue to improve.

Los Angeles was quiet at the trade deadline, and reports suggested GM Perry Minasian was unlikely to trade any players who were not on expiring contracts. That turned out to be true, as relievers Carlos Estévez and Luis García were the only players the team ended up selling. One could argue the Angels should have been aggressive in shopping players with multiple years of team control, such as Tyler Anderson, Taylor Ward, and Griffin Canning. However, they had very little incentive to trade O’Hoppe, especially if they are hoping to contend again in the near future.

Thus, the Cubs struck out on O’Hoppe and ultimately decided to stick with what they had: Amaya, Bethancourt, and, once he returns from the IL, Nido. That means Amaya is the primary catcher, although Sharma notes that the team sees him as a backup for 2025 and beyond. Meanwhile, Bethancourt has been hot since he joined the team as a replacement for the injured Nido in late July. Once Nido is ready to return, Chicago will need to make a decision if he or Bethancourt will be the second-string catcher for the rest of the 2024 campaign. As for next year, Hoyer must address the catching position over the offseason. Free agent options will include Jansen, Kelly, Elias Díaz, and Jacob Stallings (if his mutual option with the Rockies is not exercised). The best internal option for the Cubs is top catching prospect Moises Ballesteros, but he is only 20 years old, and Sharma points out that the team isn’t sold on his defense. Finally, Hoyer will surely remain active in trade talks, but it’s hard to say if any big-name backstops will be on the block this winter.

MLBTR Podcast: Fallout From The Trade Deadline And Mike Trout Injured Again

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The latest episode of the MLB Trade Rumors Podcast is now live on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and wherever you get your podcasts! Make sure you subscribe as well! You can also use the player at this link to listen, if you don’t use Spotify or Apple for podcasts.

This week, host Darragh McDonald is joined by Steve Adams of MLB Trade Rumors to discuss…

Check out our past episodes!

The podcast intro and outro song “So Long” is provided courtesy of the band Showoff.  Check out their Facebook page here!

Luis Rengifo, Chase Silseth Undergo Season-Ending Surgeries

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Infielder/outfielder Luis Rengifo and right-hander Chase Silseth of the Angels are both done for the year, reports Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register on X. Rengifo had season-ending wrist surgery while Silseth had season-ending elbow surgery. It’s unclear exactly what kind of surgery Silseth had but Fletcher says it was not Tommy John surgery. Both players are expected to be ready for Spring Training next year.

Rengifo was a popular name in trade rumors this summer due to his strong performance and narrowing window of club control on a struggling team. Since the start of 2022, Rengifo has hit .273/.323/.431 for a wRC+ of 110. He’s also stolen 36 bases and bounced around the diamond to all three outfield spots and the three infield positions to the left of first base. He’s making $4.4MM this year and is controllable via arbitration for 2025 before he’s slated for free agency.

The Angels are out of contention this year and made some sell-side moves prior to the trade deadline, but limited themselves to just moving impending free agent relievers Carlos Estévez and Luis García. Despite Rengifo’s name popping up from time to time, he wasn’t traded, but perhaps the wrist issue played a role there. He landed on the IL July 4 due to right wrist inflammation and was reinstated July 23, but landed right back on the IL on August 3. Maybe the uncertainty around the ailment tamped down the offers and led the Angels to hold on.

Regardless of what happened with the trade talks, the result now is that Rengifo is out for the year. That won’t have a huge impact on the Halos in the short term since they will mostly be playing out the string for the rest of the schedule. It will lower Rengifo’s ability to raise his 2025 salary compared to what would have been possible if he stayed healthy. His name is likely to be in some trade rumors again this winter but the Angels might hold onto him into the 2025 campaign so that he can demonstrate his health for prospective trade partners. He’ll be transferred to the 60-day IL as soon as the Angels have a need for his roster spot.

Silseth tossed 52 1/3 innings for the Halos last year with a 3.96 earned run average. That put him in line for a rotation job in 2024 but his season has been derailed multiple times. He made two big league starts to begin the year but then landed on the IL with right elbow inflammation. No ligament damage was found but Silseth was nonetheless transferred to the 60-day IL at the end of April. He began a rehab assignment at the end of May and was reinstated from the IL on June 25 and optioned to Triple-A Salt Lake. He then made four more Triple-A appearances between late June and late July but now it seems he’ll require some of sort of surgical procedure to get over his ailment.

The righty came into this year with 153 days of service time. He crossed the one-year mark while on the injured list but is no longer adding to that total since being optioned in June. The Halos could call him up and add him to the 60-day injured list, which would start his service time clock again, but they won’t need a roster spot right away. Their 40-man roster count is currently at 39 and, as mentioned, they can move Rengifo to the 60-day IL to open up a spot at any point. The same is true of Mike Trout, who is also done for the year but has not yet been moved to the 60-day IL.

Since Silseth is expected back by the spring, he clearly hasn’t undergone a major ligament procedure and could be a part of the club’s rotation mix for 2025. As of right now, the group projects to include Tyler Anderson, Griffin Canning, José Soriano, Davis Daniel, Carson Fulmer, Reid Detmers, Kenny Rosenberg and Silseth.

Angels Re-Sign Adam Cimber To Minor League Deal

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Less than two weeks after the Angels released Adam Cimber, the two sides have reunited on a minor league contract, according to the righty’s MLB.com profile page.  Los Angeles signed Cimber to a one-year, $1.65MM free agent deal last winter, but was designated for assignment and then released in July while he was still on the 15-day injured list recovering from right shoulder inflammation.

It seems as though there might’ve been a handshake agreement on that initial DFA and release, as it freed up a 40-man roster spot for the Angels and came at no financial cost to Cimber since the team was still on the hook for the remainder of his 2024 salary.  Cimber has enough MLB service time to reject an outright assignment in favor of free agency, so after some time to explore his options on the open market, he has now circled back to Anaheim.  On this new minor league deal, Cimber could continue to rehab or just return right to game action at Triple-A Salt Lake in something of an unofficial minor league rehab assignment.

Shoulder injuries have both limited Cimber’s participation in the last two MLB seasons, and impacted his performance to the tune of a 7.20 ERA over 45 innings in 50 appearances since Opening Day 2023.  Cimber’s 149 appearances led all big league pitchers over the 2021-22 seasons, so it could be that this heavy workload finally caught up to the veteran right-hander.  The Blue Jays non-tendered Cimber last offseason and the Angels inked him to that $1.65MM deal that has yet to yield many dividends.

These two rough seasons have come on the heels of five solid years of performance in 2018-22, as Cimber had a 3.20 ERA in 278 2/3 innings with San Diego, Cleveland, Miami, and Toronto.  If he can get healthy, return to the majors, and get back to anything like his old form, Cimber might have an outside shot at another low-cost guaranteed big league deal this winter.

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