Angels Claim Thomas Field On Waivers

The Angels competition for the backup infielder spot just increased by one. The Angels claimed infielder Thomas Field on waivers from the Minnesota Twins. The Twins had claimed him earlier in the off-season off waivers from the Colorado Rockies.

Sep 26, 2011; San Francisco, CA, USA; Colorado Rockies shortstop

(6) stands in the infield against the San Francisco Giants during the first inning at AT

Field can play second and short, and will compete with Angel Sanchez and Andrew Romine for the utility spot infield spot on the bench. Field was the 27^th ranked player in the Rockies organization last season. Field hit .271 in 48 at bats with the Rockies in the majors in 2011 and had three plate appearances for them last season in two games.

Field has a little bit of pop in his bat.In 2011 in AA for the Rockies, he hit 17 home runs with 61 RBI and a .271/.357/.439 slash line. Last year, his numbers fell off a little bit in AAA. He only hit .246 with eight home runs and 49 RBI in 494 plate appearances. His OBP dropped down to .315.

I can see that if the Angels need a 40 man roster spot, Field may be a candidate to be waived. However, I think he will get a shot during spring training, barring a signing we don’t know about, or a trade that no one sees coming.

The Angels need some depth in the middle infield spots and that’s exactly what the claim was, a depth move. We’ll see what additional moves they make as the off-season moves on, but don’t expect a lot from him.