Angels Designate Jeimer Candelario For Assignment

The Angels announced that infielder Jeimer Candelario has been designated for assignment.  The move creates roster space for fellow infielder Vaughn Grissom, who has been reinstated from the 10-day injured list.

Candelario signed a minor league contract with Los Angeles during the offseason, and earned himself a spot on the Opening Day roster due to a few factors.  The veteran’s big Spring Training numbers helped him stand out from some other infield candidates like Christian Moore and Kyren Paris, and Grissom was also lost to a wrist sprain.  Unfortunately, Candelario couldn’t keep his Cactus League performance going into the regular season, as he hit only .111/.200/.222 over 20 plate appearances.

The cold start continues the downward slide that began after Candelario signed a three-year, $45MM free agent deal with the Reds prior to the 2024 season.  Candelario hit only .225/.279/.429 over 463 PA in the first season of his contract, and Cincinnati released him last June after he batted .113/.198/.213 in his first 91 PA of the 2025 campaign.  Injuries such as knee tendinitis and a lumbar spine strain certainly contributed to that falloff over the last two seasons, but Candelario was thought to be healthy heading into 2026.

The Yankees signed Candelario after his release from the Reds but didn’t use him at the MLB level, and his struggles didn’t stop the Angels from taking a flier on the 32-year-old this past winter.  Another team may feel Candelario still has something in the tank, and he would cost only a prorated Major League minimum salary for any time spent on a team’s active roster, as the Reds are still responsible for the $15MM still owed on his contract.

Even if another club has interest in Candelario, however, they might not be willing to devote a 40-man roster spot to him, so it seems likely that the infielder will clear waivers.  He has enough MLB service time to reject an outright assignment and then elect free agency, so Candelario can test the market again for another minor league contract.

Grissom is now set to make his Angels debut, and get his first big league action of any kind since the 2024 season.  Grissom has yet to live up to the promise of his impressive 2022 rookie season with the Braves, as he struggled in 2023 and then was a bust with the Red Sox after being dealt for Chris Sale during the 2023-24 offseason.  While Sale resurrected his career in Atlanta, Grissom didn’t hit in Boston, battled injuries, and soon found himself supplanted by several other up-and-coming infield prospects.