LA Angels clean up 40-man in first massive roster shuffle of offseason

The Angels are inching their way towards a less cluttered, sensical 40-man roster.

In the first bit of Angels roster news in about a month, the team announced that six players were outrighted to AAA Salt Lake. The players in question: Andrew Wantz, José Marte, Carson Fulmer, Charles Leblanc, Jack López, and Michael Stefanic. They were seemingly designated for assignment and just cleared waivers, making it possible for their outright assignment to the minors. However, they have the option to elect free agency instead of an outright assignment to AAA.

It remains possible that they could be invited to Big League Spring Training if they opt to stay with the organization, although making the Opening Day roster is a murky proposition. Clearly, the Angels have myriad injury-prone players, which gives these players a better chance to make it back to the big leagues with the Angels than elsewhere. However, the Angels still have the Rule-5 Draft, free agency, and a lot of trade opportunities that could further block these players' ability to make it back to the show.

Wantz, Marte, Fulmer, Leblanc, López, and Stefanic all have interesting histories with the Angels. Wantz was the most consistent performer of the bunch, having thrown 118.1 innings with the Halos the past four seasons. He is a leader in the clubhouse and has solid stuff on the mound. Wantz had solid seasons in 2022 and 2023, sporting a high ride four seam, a sinker with massive arm-side run, a biting cutter, and big sweeper. Wantz might not pitch in 2025, making him an easy candidate to remove from the 40-man roster despite what he's flashed in the past.

The Angels had high hopes for Marte after acquiring him in a trade for Tony Watson back in 2021. At that time, Marte threw 100+mph bowling ball sinkers, plus tumbling changeups, and developed a solid slider/sweeper combination after some work with the Angels' pitching coaches and coordinators. Marte just could not make his plus stuff click due to injuries, poor pitch sequencing, lack of command, and a downtick in velocity. Maybe he could be unlocked elsewhere if he does depart.

Stefanic is an OBP and batting average king in the minors, but he just could not get it going against upper-echelon pitching while with the Angels. His defense has gotten better, as his arm strength and range were major questions early in his career. He is a sure-handed defender but struggles to make difficult plays. He filtered in at second and third base over the last three seasons. He would be a great match with the Oakland/Sacramento/Las Vegas A's, because if he can get acclimated to big league pitching then he could reach base at a high clip from the bottom of a lineup.

Fulmer was a great story and reclamation project for the Angels. Fulmer threw the fifth-most innings for the Angels in 2024 while being deployed in a hybrid starter-reliever role. A once high-touted prospect out of Vanderbilt University, Fulmer's career took turns for the worst due to injury and ineffectiveness. Fulmer was due around $1 million in arbitration, and the Angels will likely want to clear his salary figure.

López and Leblanc were non-prospects with low ceilings, but helped fill-in for the Angels once basically the entire roster went down with injury. López is a great mentor for young minor leaguers and could easily be brought back to fill that veteran leadership role in AAA. Leblanc was a former fourth round pick who the Angels signed to a minor league deal before the 2024 season. He posted great offensive numbers in hitter-friendly Salt Lake, slotted into three different infield positions, and hit a couple home runs in 11 games for the Angels.