Angels add flame-throwing prospect to 40-man roster

On one of the busiest transactional days of the offseason, the Angels got into the mix early Tuesday evening. On an incredibly important day when 40-man rosters have to be finalized by teams and qualifying offers have to be accepted or declined by free agents, the Angels took a step towards filling up their big league roster. While Angels fans may be more excited about potential trade pieces that become available after qualifying offers are deciced on, the 40-man roster selection is equally as crucial of a deadline. And the Angels ensured one prospect's safety, as the club added prospect Walbert Urena to their 40-man roster, protecting him from being selected in the Rule 5 Draft coming up in December.

The Angels go into this offseason with a a lot of holes, and bullpen could be the position group that is forced to be filled by choosing quantity over quality in Anaheim. While that is no diss towards who Urena is as a prospect or pitcher, it simply points to him being a cheap and potentially exciting option to help fill the bullpen at The Big A.

Angels add prospect Walbert Urena to big league roster

After being signed out of the Dominican Republic in 2021, Urena missed some time due to arm issues, but flashed immediately once in the minor leagues. At just 18-years old, Urena posted an impressive 3.86 ERA in the Arizona Complex League. In those 12 appearances (ten starts), he struck out 45 batters and finished the season as one of the most encouraging players on the team. He began creeping up the Angels' prospect rankings, and now sits as their 24th ranked prospect (per MLB.com).

The main concern for Urena has always been his walk numbers. He was a true project as a pitcher, as his fastball has hit as high as 102 MPH but it took some time for him to be able to throw it with any sort of real control. The same can be said for his breaking balls and offspeed pitches, as Urena's walks-per-nine innings was 7.7, 5.5, and 6.3 over the first three years of his minor league career, respectively. He was able to bring that down to 4.7 in 2025, and showed more control down the stretch. His final two starts in Double-A saw Urena not allow a single walk before being called up to Triple-A.

And so, for 2026, the Angels have a young arm ready to compete for a bullpen spot. Despite being brought up as a starting pitcher and there being two spots to fill in the Angels' rotation, Urena likely projects as a reliever to start his MLB career. If he can stick in the bullpen for the 2026 season, maybe the team reevaluates him as a starter next offseason similar to how they treated Reid Detmers this past campaign.