The Los Angeles Angels made a pair of signings this week to add a pair of veterans to their organizational depth in right-hander Jacob Webb and catcher, Chad Wallach, who’s back with the team after spending 12 games with the club this past season.
General manager Perry Minasian has turned a complete flip this offseason by being both fiscally responsible on the high-end market, but he’s also made some additions that have an impact with more than complete ‘boom’ level players. In just his second game with the Angels last season, he was behind the plate for Reid Detmers’ no-hitter, providing a three-run homer in a 12-0 rout that resulted in the team’s 12th no-hitter in franchise history.
Wallach isn’t known for his offense, but in incredibly limited opportunities in his career, has been a defensive-first guy behind the plate and is a solid addition to help young arms. After clearing waivers last season, he elected free agency after being outrighted to Triple-A.
The other signing in Webb is intriguing, mainly because of his success with the Atlanta Braves from 2019-’21, and has posted a 2.47 ERA across 78 career outings. His lengthy injury history made him expendable for the Braves and their reasons for parting ways with the 29-year-old.
Webb isn’t an incredibly flashy addition, but with Minasian banking on some upside, this could be a solid move to provide some quality innings with just a dart-throw-type signing.
Angels tender contracts to seven arbitration players
The Angels added an infielder to the mix by 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.
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.
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