Los Angeles Angels make series of roster moves Tuesday

While the attention of the baseball world focused on the Boston Red Sox’ press conference at Fenway Park Tuesday, the Los Angeles Angels made a series of low-level roster moves that led to two players being outrighted and one electing to pursue free agency rather than accept an assignment.

According to the team’s director of communications Eric Kay, the club outrighted catcher Jackson Williams and outfielder Alfredo Marte to Triple-A after both players cleared waivers. However, left-handed pitcher Michael Roth, cleared waivers but elected free agency rather than head to the minors.

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Williams, a former first-round pick of the San Francisco Giants back in 2007, has never gained traction at the big league level, spending his entire career with various Minor League affiliates of San Francisco and, last season, the Colorado Rockies – before he finally saw action in Major League Baseball. In 72 games with the club’s Triple-A affiliate last season, Williams batted .256/.353/.368 – his best full-season numbers since being drafted. With Colorado, he appeared in a handful of games, hitting his first career home run in the process.

In five seasons at the Triple-A level, Williams posted his best offensive numbers (when compared to his time at other levels of the Minors), batting .235/.307/.361 across 341 games, although what role he will play with the Angels, who already have Chris Ianneta behind the dish in 2015, remains to be seen. Some type of a back-up role doesn’t seem out of the question, although the safe bet seems to be with Williams starting the year with Triple-A once again.

Marte, an outfielder, spent 2014 with the Arizona Diamondbacks, struggling a great deal at the big league level. In 44 games, the 25-year-old batted .170/.221/.292 while manning the corner outfield spots for the National League West club. However, at the Triple-A level, he tore the cover off the ball, batting .319/.407/.519 with 11 home runs and 45 RBIs in just 78 games.

In his Minor League career, Marte is a .279 hitter and has seen time at all three defensive spots in the outfield in the Arizona system.

Roth, the southpaw who elected free agency, is a ninth-round pick of the Angels from back in 2012. This season, the left-hander tallied just over a dozen innings of work with the big league club, pitching to an 8.76 ERA in his second crack at the big league level. In 2013, he tossed 20 innings for Los Angeles, posting a 7.20 earned run average and 1.500 WHIP across 15 games.

The trio was designated for assignment prior to Los Angeles setting its roster for the Rule 5 Draft.