The Los Angeles Angels tendered contracts for the 2023 season to seven arbitration-eligible players prior to the Friday deadline.
The Angels made a minor move on Friday, acquiring infielder, Gio Urshela from the Minnesota Twins in exchange for a minor leaguer, Alejandro Hidalgo. Urshela was included in the list of players tendered a contract, in addition to right fielder Taylor Ward, first baseman Jared Walsh, infielder Luis Rengifo, and starting pitchers Patrick Sandoval, Griffin Canning, and Jaime Barría.
Walsh, Ward, Rengifo, Barría, and Patrick Sandoval were all key contributors to the Angels during the 2022 season. Despite some bumpy spots in his production, Walsh remains a candidate to have a strong impact on the Angels roster once he figures out what troubled him for a good bit of the season.
Barría was a welcomed surprise for the Angels, posting a 2.61 ERA across 79 innings in spot duty or as a long reliever. Manager Phil Nevin ditched the interim tag for the full-time position and will have Barría at his disposal wherever they need to utilize him.
Walsh earned $730,000 during the 2022 season, and after breaking out from 2020-to-’21, the Angels will bank on a return to form following a down year in which he underwent a very tricky thoracic outlet surgery. His contract is too cheap to pass on for general manager Perry Minasian to bring back.
The Angels will need to round out their roster with Shohei Ohtani, Mike Trout, and Anthony Rendon scheduled to be healthy for the first time in years, so with a number of veteran players on the market, Minasian should have his work cut out for himself.
Angels among teams interested in free agent Kodai Senga
The Angels made a splash in free agency by adding Tyler Anderson to their starting rotation, and reports say they’ve shown interest in Kodai Senga of the SoftBank Hawks in the NPB.
The 29-year-old will turn 30 in January, showcased his talent during the 2017 World Baseball Classic, posting an ERA of 0.82 with 16 strikeouts in 11 innings, and since that time has served as one of the aces for the Hawks. After refusing to post Senga in the past few years, he’s finally available for Major League Baseball teams to sign him as a new international free agent.
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