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3 ways for the Angels to handle the catcher position with Logan O'Hoppe out

By Zachary Rotman |
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The worst fears of Los Angeles Angels fans were realized with the latest Logan O'Hoppe injury update. The Angels' rookie catcher is expected to miss 4-6 months with a torn labrum in his left shoulder. He's expected to undergo surgery this week, and hopefully make a smooth recovery.

Losing O'Hoppe is a massive blow to the Angels. He only played in 16 games, but we saw the potential he had both offensively and defensively. O'Hoppe had a .886 OPS with four home runs and 13 RBI. He was one of the bright spots in what's been an inconsistent offense thus far.

It will be virtually impossible for the Angels to replace O'Hoppe. They can try, but catchers who can both hit and defend are extremely hard to come by. There's a chance he comes back for the end of the season, but I wouldn't bank on that. The Angels have three options of ways they can address the catcher position.

1) The LA Angels can stick with what they have at the MLB level

Right now, the Angels have Chad Wallach and Matt Thaiss on their roster as the catchers. Max Stassi is currently on the Injured List and does not have a timetable to return. I wouldn't recommend it, but the Angels can stick with what they have at the MLB level.

With Wallach, they have a proven defender behind the plate. The issue is, he's a .199 career hitter with five home runs in 91 games.

Thaiss hasn't hit much at all either, and is not as good of an option as Wallach in my opinion because of the gap defensively. The former first round pick is a .200 career hitter in 100 games. I believe Thaiss is more of a corner infielder the Angels are using at catcher because of how thin the depth in this organization is at that spot.

If they stick with Wallach and Thaiss, they could be passable defensively but they'll probable have the worst offensive tandems behind the plate. If this Angels lineup was reaching expectations they'd be able to live with poor offense with good defense behind the plate, but it hasn't done that.

Even when Stassi comes back, I don't see this group being anywhere near average. Stassi is coming off of an abysmal 2022 season, and I really don't have much faith in him getting back to his 2020-2021 form.

It's an underwhelming option, and it shouldn't happen, but I can't rule out Perry Minasian doing nothing.

2) The LA Angels can make a trade for a catcher

The internal options are not great to say the least. Wallach and Thaiss do not give me or most Angels fans much confidence. With virtually no depth in AAA, looking for a trade feels like the most likely route for the Angels to take.

The issue is, it's only April and teams aren't exactly selling yet. This means the Angels would have to overpay to land a catcher they'd only need for this season. O'Hoppe might be done for most if not all of 2023, but he's still the guy for the future.

The trade options aren't exactly great, either. When looking at free agents after this season we see players like Yasmani Grandal, Omar Narvaez, and Mike Zunino. The Angels can also look into players under contract like Carson Kelly and Elias Diaz who could be quality backups to O'Hoppe when he comes back.

Someone like Salvador Perez who's on an awful Royals team will likely be available, but he's under contract through the 2025 season at a $20.5 million AAV. This makes him someone the Angels will not target.

The Angels don't really have much to trade as their farm system isn't exactly littered with talent, and trading won't even be a realistic option until a couple of months from now.

For now, we just have to hope the Angels can tread water and we'll see names that become available closer to the deadline. Hopefully, Thaiss and Wallach shatter expectations and the Angels won't even need to make a trade. Unfortunately, this is unlikely.

3) The LA Angels can promote Edgar Quero

Edgar Quero is the big wildcard here. Other than O'Hoppe and Zach Neto, Quero is the best prospect in the Angels system. He's a switch hitting catcher who can really hit and run. He'll be an exciting piece hopefully for years to come.

He won the MVP award in his league last season after putting up a .965 OPS in 111 games at Single-A Inland Empire. As fun as it'd be for Quero to be promoted, I don't see this happening anytime soon.

Quero is currently in AA Rocket City and has been unbelievable offensively. He's slashed .385/.529/.539 in 11 games there. He's drawn 11 walks to just nine strikeouts while also driving in ten runs in those 11 games. As impressive as that is, it's been just 11 games.

Zach Neto was promoted after 37 games and 149 official at-bats in AA. Quero has played 11 games and has 39 official at-bats at that level. Neto is two years older, and as hard as shortstop is to play, catcher is far more demanding. It'd be asking for so much to have Quero come up and be MLB ready on a team trying to win.

He very well could be an upgrade over what the Angels have behind the plate offensively right now, but his defense has been questionable at the AA level. It'd be even worse in the majors.

In this story by Sam Blum of The Athletic (subscription required), Blum asked Perry Minasian if Quero was an option. He had this to say in response.

“I would consider everybody, yeah,” Minasian said. “If they’re in the organization, we’ll take a look and we’ll consider what our best options are.”
Perry Minasian via Blum - The Athletic

Blum notes Minasian also didn't rule out bringing in an external option. If Quero is deemed ready, he'll be here. Minasian has proven he's not afraid to bring guys up when they're ready. He did it with Chase Silseth last year, and did it with Neto this season. Both had very little experience. It's possible Quero comes up this season, but it won't be until later on.

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