Cactus League play is now two weeks old and the routine of baseball feels normal again. As of now there are plenty of at bats to go around and rosters are fluid. But some rosters shakeups are looming.
Nearly two dozen players in Major League camps are out of options meaning they can not be sent back down to the minors without being exposed to the waiver wire. Six of those players are in Angels camp.
There are some pretty notable names across baseball that are out of options and facing a do or die spring. Undoubtedly some will be traded and some placed on waivers.
Big news out of San Francisco last weekend was the signing of Matt Chapman. The Giants already had a decent third baseman in JD Davis. Will they trade him? Where?
An above average bat capable of playing first and third would fit in perfectly in Anaheim. He’s even on a one year deal. The annual Anthony Rendon not playing baseball tradition has already started.
This injury doesn’t appear to be major. Rendon should get into enough Cactus League games to be in shape for his usual 42% on Angels games this season.
You know how the Angels call a college draftee up super early every season? Cole Fontenelle is getting looks in Tempe and just might be the 2024 player to pretty much skip the minors. Here’s a cool clip from the first time I remember seeing him.
One guy who is definitely in shape is Mike Trout. He looks slimmer and he stole a base against the Dodgers this week.
Getting a season of vintage Mike Trout would be awesome. He was an all around beast for so long and I think people are starting to forget just how incredible of a ball player he was, and hopefully can be again. He’s working on something in his swing, but it looked just fine against Oakland.
There are still plenty of free agents on the market. The Chapman signing means the Boras Four is down to two. Boras says that teams are starting to panic, but it could be the other way around.
Two intriguing arms not tied to Boras or draft compensation are Mike Clevinger and local boy Michael Lorenzen. I’m open to adding one or the other and pushing Silseth to depth. One holdup might be giving Lorenzen a second year. No work on Clevinger’s market.
Last week I linked a really cool piece by Matt Welch and the link was bonkers. It is too good of a piece to miss. So here it is again.
Enjoy your weekend and get out in the sun. We have our first game of Spring Ball tomorrow followed by the all important team pizza party. It really doesn’t get any better than that.
