Braves-obsessed Perry Minasian could easily add former first rounder to Angels 40-man

Angels fans are well-aware of Perry Minasian's affinity for the Atlanta Braves' culture, players, and management-style. The list of players who have passed back-and-forth between the Angels and Braves since Minasian took over as the Angels' GM is comically long. Well, guess what? A former Braves first round pick from 2019 was just designated for assignment! Perry is likely licking his chops just thinking about getting more former Braves into the building.

This is all pure speculation. However, just given how Minasian operates and the current state of the 40-man roster, the recently waived Braden Shewmake could easily be coming to the Angels. What happened was the White Sox acquired Tyler Gilbert for their major league team, and designated Shewmake for assignment to clear room. Minasian was the vice president of baseball operations for the Braves when they selected Braden Shewmake 21st overall in the 2019 MLB Draft. Minasian has seemingly not changed his evaluation process one bit since joining the Angels, which likely means he still sees something promising in the now 27-year-old infielder from Texas A&M.

Given his history, Perry Minasian is likely considering adding Braden Shewmake to the Angels' 40-man roster

Shewmake was a part of a trade package in 2023 that sent Aaron Bummer to Atlanta and Shewmake, Michael Soroka, Jared Shuster, Nicky Lopez, and Riley Gowens to Chicago. Just like every other player who joined the 2024 Chicago White Sox, Shewmake was incredibly ineffective at the big league level. He played 29 games for the ChiSox last season, and accumulated a -0.6 bWAR. He still has solid arm strength, good sprint speed, and is 6'3, 200 pounds. If Minasian loved his upside while with the Braves, he probably still does now.

The Angels are currently sporting a few players who could be subject to a DFA. Given Minasian's deep and abiding love for Braves players, he likely views Shewmake as more worthy of a 40-man spot than a Kyren Paris or Gustavo Campero. Even though Shewmake's numbers are horrible, it's not like Paris or Campero have torn it up for the Angels in their brief MLB stints. Shewmake plays the same position as Paris, has more cache as a prospect, and is a left-handed hitter. He could easily be viewed as a change-of-scenery candidate and would work with several former Braves staffers -- like Ron Washington, Sal Fasano, and a front office member or two -- to potentially maximize his future value.

This could all be conjecture, but who would put anything past Perry at this point? The guy LOVES his former Braves.

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