Former Angels All-Star Signs With Division Rival
Former Angels All-Star Jared Walsh has signed a minor league deal with the Texas Rangers, the team announced on Thursday. The Angels' American League West rivals also signed former Halos infielder Matt Duffy to a minor league deal, making the announcement in the same post.
Walsh, 30, has spent his entire five-year career with the Halos.
After appearing in a total of 63 games in 2019 and 2020, he burst onto the scene in 2021, slashing .277/.340/.509 with 29 home runs and 98 runs batted in. He made the All-Star team and was looking like a future pillar of the Halos' organization alongside Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani.
However, Walsh began dealing with multiple serious injuries which ultimately derailed his Angels' career.
Walsh underwent Thoracic Outlet Surgery in 2022 after hitting .215 with an OPS of .642 in 118 games. He then dealt with head issues in 2023, only appearing in 39 games, hitting .125 with an OPS of .494.
Walsh was ultimately designated for assignment by the Halos in late July, but did get called back up in late September for a two-week stretch.
Now, he's signing a minor league deal with the Rangers, hoping to get his once promising career back on track.
As for Duffy, he spent the 2023 season with the Kansas City Royals, hitting .251 with an OPS of .631 in 78 games.
In 2022, he was with the Halos, and hit .250 with a .619 OPS in 77 games.
The eight-year veteran has a career .703 OPS, and will hope to earn a spot on Texas' big-league roster at some point next season.
