The Angels announced they’ve selected the contract of reliever Jose Marte. Fellow bullpen arm Aaron Slegers was optioned to Triple-A Salt Lake in a corresponding move. Los Angeles already had an opening on the 40-man roster, so no additional transaction was necessary.
Marte is in line to make his big league debut. The right-hander signed with the Giants as an amateur from the Dominican Republic during the 2015-16 offseason. He’s spent the bulk of his career in the San Francisco system, where he’s entered each of the past three seasons in the back half of the Giants’ top 30 prospects list at Baseball America.
Entering 2021, BA ranked Marte #30 among San Francisco minor leaguers, writing that his high-90’s fastball and low-90’s slider could make him an effective bullpen piece. That said, Marte also has some rather notable issues with his control that led San Francisco to leave him exposed in last winter’s Rule 5 draft, where he went unselected.
The Angels acquired Marte just before the trade deadline as part of a three-player return for reliever Tony Watson. He’d have again been Rule 5 eligible this offseason if not selected to the 40-man roster, so there’s little harm for the Angels in getting him a look at the big league level down the stretch. Marte has spent the majority of this season at Double-A, posting a 3.16 ERA over 25 2/3 innings with a massive 36.3% strikeout percentage but an elevated 15% walk rate.
