Angels DFA offseason signee after recent roster moves

The Los Angeles Angels made two roster moves yesterday, one of them was expected while the other was not. Logan O'Hoppe went on the IL which caused the Angels to promote Chad Wallach. What do you know, Wallach picked up where O'Hoppe left off by smoking a two-run homer to help the Angels win 2-0 against the Royals.

The other move the Angels made was less expected, as the team sent Jimmy Herget down and called up Austin Warren. Herget was struggling and Warren has looked great since Spring Training, but this was still a surprise to me considering Herget was the best reliever the Angels had last season.

As a consequence of these two roster moves, the Angels had 41 players on their 40-man roster. This means they had to DFA someone.

LA Angels opt to DFA recent offseason signee Justin Garza to accomidate recent roster moves

This past offseason, the Angels gave Justin Garza a split contract. This means he'd technically be on a minor league deal, but would make more when he pitched in the bigs. He occupied a spot on the Angels 40-man roster.

This was an intriguing move at the time as Garza made 21 appearances with the Guardians in 2021 but struggled in the minors in 2022 and never saw time with the big club.

Garza is a right-hander with good stuff but lacks command. In Salt Lake this season he's allowed four runs in 8.1 innings pitched across six appearances. He has four walks and five strikeouts in those appearances.

It's disappointing that the Angels had to DFA a guy Perry Minasian was willing to give a spot on the 40-man roster as recent as this offseason, but that's how this game goes sometimes. The Angels have other relievers on the 40-man who are in the minors currently like Zack Weiss, Jose Soriano, and Kolton Ingram, so losing Garza won't be a huge deal if another team does end up claiming him.