Angels Rumors: Halos 'Involved' in Free Agent Catching Market, Says Insider
The Angels don't have the best options at the catcher position heading into next season. As of right now, they have Max Stassi — who's coming off a down year — Matt Thaiss and Logan O'Hoppe. The 23-year-old is expected to be the catcher of the future, but he may not be ready to take on a full workload, yet.
So, it's no surprise the Angels made a run at three-time All-Star catcher Willson Contreras, although it was to no avail. Still, however, MLB Network's Jon Morosi said he expects them to be active in the market for a catcher.
Morosi said the Angels are among "a few teams I’ve been told are still involved in the catching market," and said they are entering Spring Training "perhaps needing one more catcher."
So who could they target?
Morosi mentioned the Angels when the MLB Network was doing a segment on free agent catcher Gary Sanchez. The former two-time All-Star is coming off a bit of a down year, but would be a huge upgrade for the Angels, and likely wouldn't cost enough to put them over the luxury tax threshold. Last year, Sanchez hit 16 home runs and drove in 61 runs, but in his two All-Star seasons, he hit 33 and 34 home runs, respectively.
If not Sanchez — the best catcher currently on the free agent market — the Angels could target other less expensive options.
Jorge Alfaro could be an option. The 29-year-old hit seven home runs and 40 RBIs in 274 plate appearances last season, with an OPS+ of 94. Roberto Perez could also be an option. He's not as solid offensively, but is much better defensively.
The 34-year-old's best season came in 2019, when he played 118 games at the catcher position, and had 30 defensive runs saved above average. He won back-to-back Gold Glove Awards in 2019 and 2020.
All three of these guys would make a lot of sense for the Angels to upgrade their roster ahead of next season, so it'll be interesting to see how aggressive they are over the next few weeks.
