The Angels have now made all of these moves official. Lopez and Kavadas have been selected, with Guillorme and Calhoun designated for assignment.
The Angels have called up first baseman/designated hitter Niko Kavadas to make his major league debut, as first reported by Chuck Freeby. To make room for Kavadas on the roster, the Angels will designate infielder Luis Guillorme for assignment, according to Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register. The Halos are also expected to pick infielder Jack Lopez’s contract and designate Willie Calhoun for assignment. All of these moves will be announced later today.
Kavadas, 25, was acquired from the Red Sox along with three other minor leaguers in a trade that sent reliever Luis Garcia to Boston before the deadline. He has a combined.264/.400/.521 batting line between the two teams’ Triple-A affiliates this year, though he has battled terribly with the Angels’ top affiliate in Salt Lake, batting just.159/.229/.341 in 48 plate appearances.
Kavadas, the Red Sox’s 11th-round pick in 2021, possesses evident plus power. He blasted 26 home runs in 515 plate appearances across three levels in 2022, 22 in 480 plate appearances last year, and 19 in 383 plate appearances this season.
However, that big-time power is accompanied by a classic red flag: strikeouts. Fans have seen plenty of three-true-outcomes sluggers over the years, and Kavadas personifies that strategy to the utmost extent. A remarkable 57% of his professional plate appearances have resulted in a home run, walk or strikeout. This season, he has struck out in 33.9% of his plate appearances, which is an improvement over previous year’s 35.8%. In addition, 16.2% of his plate appearances have resulted in walks.
Kavadas, who stands 6’1″ and weighs 235 pounds, is a below-average runner and has below-average glovework at first base, according to scouting reports. His enormous power serves as his carrying tool, and whether he can establish enough contact to access that power on a regular basis will define the nature of his destiny. Players who whiff this often in the upper minors are unlikely to make enough contact to succeed in the majors, but Baseball America noted in 2023 that Kavadas is a “intelligent hitter” with a chance to close some of the gaps in his swing as he acquires more experience.
Nolan Schanuel, the Angels’ 2023 first-round pick, reached the majors less than two months after being selected and has established himself as the primary first baseman. In many respects, Schanuel, 22, is the polar opposite of Kavadas: a first-base prospect with outstanding bat-to-ball abilities but a more dubious power profile.
After a rocky start to the season, Schanuel is hitting.269/.382/.409 with almost as many walks (14.6%) as strikeouts (15.2%) in his last 250 plate appearances. He’s been struggling recently, but the Angels are likely eager to continue exposing him to major league pitching. The fact that Kavadas’ promotion coincides with Calhoun’s DFA — who has played 60 games as a designated hitter this season — implies that Kavadas and his simultaneously booming and leaky left-handed bat may receive the majority of the Angels’ DH repetitions down the stretch.
Guillorme, 29, has played for the Braves and Angels this season, batting.218/.285/.290 in 138 plate appearances. He’s never been a power hitter, but the versatile Guillorme provides good infield defense at second, shortstop, and third base. He’s a career.254/.336/.327 hitter with 961 plate appearances, the great bulk of which occurred with the Mets from 2018 to 23.
With the trade deadline passed, Guillorme will be placed on outright waivers or released. This season, he’s earning a base salary of $1.1MM, with approximately $266K still to be paid. He’s versatile, experienced, and reasonably priced, so another team might consider making a claim. Guillorme has more than five years of service, which allows him to refuse an outright assignment in favor of free agency while keeping his whole pay. As a result, if he clears waivers, he will undoubtedly become a free agent and attempt to sign with a new team, most likely on a minor league contract. The new team would only owe him the prorated minimum for any time spent on the MLB roster or injured list.
