The 6 most likely Angels DFA candidates as the team continues to reshuffle roster

The Angels are completely remodeling their 40-man roster, much to the dismay of many former reclamation projects and high draft picks. Whether it cutting ties with Eric Wagaman, Matt Thaiss, Jordyn Adams, Carson Fulmer, Charles Leblanc, Davis Daniel, or Kenny Rosenberg...the Angels are proving that they have no issue with casting off members of the 2024 squad.

Many insiders believe the Angels are far from done, despite the relatively idle streak of late, so the Angels will definitely continue their bombardment of DFAs. Who on the 40-man roster would need to be moved to accomodate additional signings?

Kyren Paris

Paris seems like the next to go. Despite former prestige as a prospect, Paris' performance has waned in recent seasons. He has mightily struggled at the plate at the big league level, and last season in the minors showed that he might have lost his spark. Across AA Rocket City and AAA Salt Lake last season, Paris slashed .167/.254/.278/.532. He's still only 23-years-old but, given the Angels' lack of mystique surrounding their MiLB pipeline and Paris' precipitous drop in reputation, Paris could be DFA'd at any time now.

Gustavo Campero

What do the Angels value most? Makeup. They value a player's makeup almost more so than talent. Campero embodies that to the T.

"Campy" has a legendary story -- working his way from a Development List catcher in the lower levels of the minors, to making his MLB debut in 2024 in a position he had just picked up. With Campero, a player who has very little chance of contributing in a major way next season, it feels like the Angels will exhaust every option before they take Campero off the 40-man roster's payroll. He would undoubtedly clear waivers given his lack of standing in the league, but the Angels are clearly letting Campy cash some nice paychecks before considering a DFA.

Hans Crouse

As the roster currently stands, Crouse would make the Angels' Opening Day bullpen. Perry Minasian will probably view that spot in the 'pen as an area to address and augment. Crouse has an MiLB option left, so ideally he clears waivers. Maybe with an invitation to major league camp, the 26-year-old would accept an outright assignment to AAA.

Crouse is a nifty pitcher and showed some flashes, but the tweener pitchers (between MLB + AAA) usually get cast off sooner rather than later. Crouse does not have the best velocity and walked the world last season with the Angels. He is by no means a finished product and has his faults, thereby making him a logical DFA candidate this offseason.

Chuckie Robinson

Although the Angels might not want to risk Robinson's roster status, it's hard to believe another team values Robinson the way the Angels do. Robinson adds virtually nothing from an offensive perspective and he cannot run...but boy can he manage a pitching staff!

The only case for the Angels DFAing Robinson is a scenario where Campero actually prepares as a catcher again and can outperform Robinson. Either way, the Angels like to stack catchers to make it easier on the organization during Spring Training. During ST, the sheer volume of bullpens thrown is astronomically high. More so at the minor league level, but multitudes of bullpens are getting thrown day-after-day and week-after-week from February until the beginning of the season. Either way, the Angels will be riding Logan O'Hoppe and Travis d'Arnaud next season so Robinson was brought in for vibes and as insurance.

Jack Dashwood & Kelvin Caceres

Now we find ourselves at the final two players who likely would pass waivers. While the team might not want to cut bait with these two promising young pitchers, they might need to play the numbers game and admit that they would likely pass through waivers. Caceres missed the entirety of the 2024 season and Dashwood has an injury history of his own. Those factors alone would make it unlikely that they are claimed. Both are unlikely to factor into the team's plans in 2025.

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