Walton has appeared in six of the last seven MLB seasons, though 49 of his 72 games in the Show came in 2021-22 with the Mariners and Giants. After signing a minors deal with the Mets last offseason, Walton was traded to the Phillies in July, and continued to toil away on the farm until his contact was selected to Philadelphia's active roster in September.
Saucedo, 32, made his big league debut as a member of the Blue Jays back in 2021 but got the majority of his work over the years with the Mariners after Seattle picked him up off waivers prior to the 2023 season. Saucedo proved to be a viable middle relief arm for the Mariners across two seasons, pitching to a 3.54 ERA in 86 1/3 innings of work with a 21.7% strikeout rate against a walk rate of 11.0%.
As the Cardinals continue to pursue trades of their veterans, the Angels have emerged as a potential destination for Nolan Arenado. Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic connected the third baseman to the Halos last week, and colleagues Will Sammon and Katie Woo echoed the sentiment this week. Two potential roadblocks existed for an Arenado deal, one for each side, though the Angels have cleared up their end.
Scott heads to Orange County after four seasons as the lead pitching coach with the Rockies. He'd previously spent two years as Colorado's bullpen coach and had been in the organization dating back to 2009. The 57-year-old's time in professional baseball began with the Angels. He signed as an undrafted free agent with the franchise in 1990 and made 16 relief appearances for the '93 team. That wound up being his only MLB action amidst a decade-long minor league career.
The Halos were known to be seeking at least two starting pitchers this winter, and while Rodriguez technically counts toward that end, he's coming off a season lost to injury and hasn't pitched in a big league game since July 2024. He's said to be healthy now, but even if that's the case, the Angels can't simply pencil him in for 30 starts next year.
In recent news, MLB insider Jon Morosi indicated that the Los Angeles Angels are willing to listen to trade offers for two of their top sluggers. Those two intriguing players happen to be outfielders Taylor Ward and Jo Adell. For an organization that already hadn't had a sniff of the postseason for over a decade, it is quite surprising that they would want to deal two of their best offensive players while leaving their face of the franchise Mike Trout all alone to fight for the team.
The Angels' managerial search has earned plenty of headlines in recent weeks after the team decided neither Ron Washington nor Ray Montgomery would return in 2026. Albert Pujols seemed to be next in line, but the sides couldn't come to terms on a contract. Torii Hunter was seen as the fallback if Pujols didn't work out, but he was also removed from consideration. Suzuki was announced as the new skipper on Tuesday.
Baseball is extremely hard and extraordinarily rich in ways for things to go wrong, and firing a manager when things go wrong is the simplest way for an organization to signal to fans that it is addressing those things. It doesn't work, really, because managers only do so much, and are generally not the reason why bad baseball teams are bad.
Hunter, 50, played 19 seasons in the majors. He made it to the All-Star game five times, won nine Gold Glove awards for his work in the outfield, and enjoyed an impressive five-year run with the Angels from 2008 to 2012 where he slashed .286/.352/.462 in 713 games. Hunter being a candidate for the job is hardly a surprise, given the fact that he was reportedly in the mix for the job following the 2023 season before Washington was hired.
The standings spoke for themselves, but the Angels' management wanted you to know they had comprehended the lesson. "Obviously, we're not doing it the right way," team president John Carpino told reporters five years ago. "We're not winning games. So something is not right in our organization." That was after the 2020 season, and after five consecutive losing seasons. The Angels since have endured another five consecutive losing seasons.
The Angels selected catcher Sebastian Rivero onto the big league roster, notes Jeff Fletcher of The Orange County Register. Rivero is starting tonight and hitting eighth against Twins righty Simeon Woods Richardson. Logan O'Hoppe heads to the seven-day concussion injured list after being hit on a backswing by A's infielder Jacob Wilson yesterday. Rivero was not on the 40-man roster, so the Halos will need to announce another move before game time. More to come.
The Angels announced this afternoon that they've signed right-hander to a major league contract. He'll take the active roster spot of left-hander Tyler Anderson, who is headed to the 15-day injured list with a left oblique strain. A timeline for Anderson's return to action is not yet available, but Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register suggests that the injury is "likely" to end Anderson's 2025 season. More to come.
Los Angeles initially signed Brogdon to a minor league contract over the offseason. He had an ERA approaching 13.00 in Triple-A when the Angels nevertheless called him up in early May. Brogdon held an MLB bullpen spot for the next three months. He allowed 5.30 earned runs per nine over 37 1/3 innings. His strikeout, walk and home run rates were each on the wrong side of league average.