A day before they were required to either tender contracts to salary arbitration-eligible players or cut them loose, the Angels traded future considerations for a career backup infielder and released Jabari Blash, an outfielder on the fringes of their major league roster.
Blash was moved to make room for Tommy La Stella, a 29-year-old who spent the last four seasons with the Chicago Cubs. La Stella is arbitration-eligible for the second time in his career this winter and is projected by MLB Trade Rumors to earn $1.2 million in the process.
General manager Billy Eppler said after the 2018 season he was disappointed with the Angels’ inability to reach base consistently in front of the powerful bats of Mike Trout, Justin Upton and Shohei Ohtani.