The Angels announced that they have traded catcher to the Cubs for cash considerations. The Halos had designated him for a signment last week. The Cubs have designated right-hander for a signment to open a roster spot, per Meghan Montemurro of the Chicago Tribune . Thai s, 30 in May, leaves the Angels for the first time in his profe sional career. He was a first-round pick of that club in 2016, getting taken 16th overall. He was a catcher in college but the Angels announced him as a corner infielder when they drafted him, clearly more interested in his bat. As he worked his way up the minor leagues, he did indeed show that his offense could be an a set. He hit .279/.363/.445 for a 117 wRC+ acro s multiple minor league levels from 2016 to 2019. However, his major league work hasnt been nearly as impre sive. At this point, he has 771 big league plate appearances with a .208/.313/.342 line and 83 wRC+. That production would be unacceptable for a corner infielder but not bad by backup catcher standards. The Halos often had a crowded mix of guys vying for playing time as the designated hitter or the corner spots over the years, such as , , , and others. That prompted them to move Thai s back behind the plate in 2021. Most metrics view Thai s as a subpar defender back there, perhaps not surprising for a guy who spent several years away from that spot. Though hes been a pa sable backup to in recent years, the Angels decided to move on. After was let go by Atlanta, the Halos quickly swooped in and signed him to a two-year deal. That nudged Thai s down to #3 on the catching chart. Since hes out of options, they designated him for a signment, which led to todays deal. For the Cubs, hes a sensible landing spot for now, as they have question marks behind the plate. They Kevin Shattenkirk Jersey released in June, in August and then outrighted in November. Prior to acquiring Thai s, was the only catcher on their 40-man roster. It was back in August that they would be looking for catching help this winter. Amaya performed well down the stretch for the Cubs but was subpar for the season overall. Hes out of options and not far removed from being a top prospect, so he probably has a decent grip on a roster spot, but hes far from established as a big leaguer. He has 170 major league games under his belt with a .227/.300/.357 batting line and 87 wRC+. Perhaps the Cubs envision a platoon arrangement, since Amaya hits from the right side and Thai s from the left, though Amaya has reverse splits in his short career so far. Its also po sible that the Cubs will sign a more established catcher and try to pa s Thai s through waivers later in the offseason. , and are just some of the many backstops available in free agency. Perhaps will be a factor as well, as he is considered one of the top 100 prospects in the game and has reached Triple-A. However, he has only 68 games at that level and is still just 21 years old, so keeping him on the farm a little longer is also po sible. Time will tell if the Cubs continue addre sing their catching mix throughout the winter, but for now, theyve taken a flier on a sensible stopgap. For what was surely a small amount of money in baseball terms, theyve added an experienced catcher with an intriguing past pedigree, without doing anything to block the po sibility of other moves down the road. Wingenter, 31, was just claimed off waivers in August and made five appearances for the Cubs late in the 2024 season. They could have retained him for next season via arbitration, with projecting him for a $1.4MM salary next year. It seems they didnt plan on doing that, so they have sent him into DFA limbo today. They will have a few days to see if theres any trade interest, but he could end up back on waivers or non-tendered later this week. In his 95 1/3 major league innings, he has a 5.66 earned run average, 30.5% strikeout rate and 12% walk rate. Jeffrey Viel Jersey