3 LA Angels players who should replace Hunter Renfroe if he gets claimed on waivers

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This past offseason, the Los Angeles Angels made what felt like an easy trade at the time, acquiring Hunter Renfroe from the Brewers. Renfroe had been a consistently valuable middle-of-the-order bat, and the Angels assumed he'd be the same big bopper for them.

Renfroe has never quite looked like the Renfroe of old in his Angels tenure. He's slashing .237/.300/.422 with 18 home runs and 52 RBI. The numbers aren't awful, but there's more to this story.

Renfroe has been abysmal with runners in scoring position all year and hasn't come up clutch at all in high-leverage situations. He's not the sole reason the Angels are where they are, but his play has certainly been subpar.

Now, with a little over one month of the season to go, the Angels have officially punted on the 2023 season. Renfroe is one of six players currently on waivers. Despite his down year, I do think a contender will take a chance on Renfroe and claim him off of waivers. If and when this does happen, any one of these three players should replace him on the roster.

1) Jordyn Adams should replace Hunter Renfroe on the LA Angels roster if Renfroe gets claimed on waivers

The Angels currently have both Renfroe and Randal Grichuk on waivers. If both get claimed, that leaves Mickey Moniak as the team's only pure outfielder left thanks to all of Mike Trout, Taylor Ward, and Jo Adell being on the IL currently.

The Angels have other options of players who can and likely will see time in the outfield like Luis Rengifo, Eduardo Escobar, and Trey Cabbage, but they'd probably benefit from bringing up another outfielder. There's only one outfielder currently on the 40-man, and he'd make a lot of sense. That player is Jordyn Adams.

Adams had a rough first go-around with the Angels. He was called up right after the trade deadline and spent the first three weeks of August on the active roster. Unfortunately, he didn't look great at all.

Adams struggled at the plate, recording just two hits in 14 at-bats with six strikeouts. He also didn't look good at all in the outfield, committing two errors in just 10 games. While he didn't look great, we can now say the games really don't matter. This means Adams can play and fail at this level and he shouldn't be crucified for it.

The Angels should give Adams a month of starts in the outfield and see how he does. If he plays well, he could have a spot in some capacity in 2024 potentially. If not, he'll go back down to the minors for 2024. This is a unique opportunity for Adams to prove himself.

2) Jared Walsh should replace Hunter Renfroe on the LA Angels roster if Renfroe gets claimed on waivers

It's been a rough couple of seasons for Jared Walsh. He went from an all-star season in 2021 to a player who really struggled before needing to undergo a major surgery, only to then have other issues that wound up plaguing his 2023 season.

Walsh was bad last season in the majors and was way worse in his limited action this season. He slashed .119/.244/.224 with one home run and five RBI in his 67 MLB at-bats. He was so bad to the point where he was DFA'd and no team wanted any part of him.

Walsh is no longer on the 40-man roster, but assuming these players do get claimed, spots on the 40-man will open up. This could be a good time to give Walsh some reps at the MLB level again and see what he's got. The Angels can plug him into a corner outfield spot and see what he can do offensively.

My hopes aren't very high for Walsh considering the fact that he has just a .692 OPS in AAA Salt Lake, but if Walsh can play well that makes the possibility of him being in their 2024 plans a bit clearer.

3) Michael Stefanic should replace Hunter Renfroe on the LA Angels roster if Renfroe gets claimed on waivers

The fit here is weird, but Michael Stefanic is a player who just needs a chance at some point to see if he can hit at the MLB level. We know he can hit in the minors. He's hitting .357 with a .915 OPS in AAA Salt Lake this season, and has displayed an outstanding hit tool throughout the entirety of his minor league career. It just hasn't translated to the majors yet.

Stefanic has hit under .200 in each of his MLB stints. He played 25 games in 2022 and 11 games this season. Discouraging for sure, but with only 82 sporadic at-bats in his MLB career, it's time to give him a shot.

The fit is weird because Stefanic is an infielder. He's really only a second baseman which makes things complicated. Brandon Drury has experience in the outfield but hasn't had any reps there this season. Luis Rengifo will likely move out there opening up the shortstop spot, but Stefanic isn't really a shortstop. Stefanic also has five appearances in the outfield in the minors, but none this season.

At this point, where Stefanic plays isn't even at the front of my mind. All I care about is seeing his bat in the lineup and seeing if he can hit MLB pitching. These chances to gift a player consistent time don't grow on trees, they should do it with Stefanic.

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