The Angels announced that they have traded catcher Matt Thaiss to the Cubs for cash considerations. The Halos designated him for assignment last week. The Cubs have designated right-hander Trey Wingenter for assignment to open a roster spot, per Meghan Montemurro of the Chicago Tribune on X.
Thaiss, who will be 30 in May, will leave the Angels for the first time in his professional career. He was a first-round pick of that club in 2016, taking 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 asset. He hit .279/.363/.445 for a 117 wRC+ across multiple minor league levels from 2016 to 2019. However, his major league work hasn’t been nearly as impressive. 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 Shohei Ohtani, Albert Pujols, Anthony Rendon, Jared Walsh and others. That prompted them to move Thaiss back behind the plate in 2021. Most metrics view Thaiss as a subpar defender, which is perhaps not surprising for a guy who spent several years away from that spot.
Though he’s been a passable backup to Logan O’Hoppe in recent years, the Angels decided to move on. After Atlanta let Travis d’Arnaud go, the Halos quickly swooped in and signed him to a two-year deal. That nudged Thaiss down to #3 on the catching chart. Since he’s out of options, they designated him for assignment, which led to Wednesday’s deal.
He’s a sensible landing spot for the Cubs, as they have question marks behind the plate. They released Yan Gomes in June, Tomás Nido in August, and then outrighted Christian Bethancourt in November. Before acquiring Thaiss, Miguel Amaya was the only catcher on their 40-man roster. It was reported 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. He’s out of options and not far removed from being a top prospect, so he probably has a decent grip on a roster spot, but he’s far from established as a big leaguer. He has 170 major league games 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 Thaiss from the left, though Amaya has reverse splits in his short career so far. It’s also possible that the Cubs will sign a more established catcher and try to pass Thaiss through waivers later in the offseason. Danny Jansen, Kyle Higashioka and Carson Kelly are just some of the many backstops available in free agency.
Perhaps Moisés Ballesteros will also be a factor, 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 21, so keeping him on the farm a little longer is also possible.
Time will tell if the Cubs continue addressing their catching mix throughout the winter, but they’ve taken a flier on a sensible stopgap for now. For a small amount of money in baseball terms, they’ve added an experienced catcher with an intriguing past pedigree without doing anything to block the possibility 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 MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projecting him for a $1.4M salary next year. It seems they didn’t plan on doing that, so they sent him into DFA limbo on Wednesday. They will have a few days to see if there’s 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.
