Angels News: Insider Reveals Sneaky Reason Halos Waited to Bring Back David Fletcher
Despite being one of the Angels' best contact bats and fielders for the past few seasons, a Halos infielder suspiciously remained in the minors for a prolonged amount of time.
Concerning the whereabouts of David Fletcher, a recent call-up this late in the season finally has an answer, one that many players despise for a number of reasons. Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County register explains:
That contract is precisely the reason the Angels have been able to keep Fletcher, even when they deemed his performance wasn’t worthy of staying in the majors. No team claimed him on waivers, because of the contract, and Fletcher also couldn’t reject a minor league assignment because he would have forfeited the rest of the contract. Once Fletcher reaches five years of service time, he would be able to reject a minor league assignment and become a free agent, while keeping the contract. Because there are less than three weeks left in the season, Fletcher will still be under five years of service time at the end of the season.
Heroes from years past in their own right, Fletcher along with 2021 All-Star first baseman Jared Walsh both came up to the major league roster with just weeks to play.
Due to service time manipulation that many young players are quite used to at this point, Fletcher's call up was especially suspicious. But with more details, the Angels made the move for their own benefit.
Without the services of Fletcher alongside many of his teammates including Mike Trout and Anthony Rendon due to injury, the Halos' season has completely derailed.
Even after an all-in push to appease Shohei Ohtani on his quest to play just one playoff game for the Angels, the pursuit unfortunately failed as he too has gotten injured.
Though it's nice to see Fletcher back out on the field, the Angels are facing plenty more decisions up ahead in the near future.
