Angels Decline Club Options On Eduardo Escobar & Aaron Loup

With the conclusion of the 119th Fall Classic, the Los Angeles Angels can officially start their offseason clock in deciding the early moves with their 2024 roster.

Per Major League Baseball rules, teams have five days from the end of the World Series to exercise contract options, the same goes for qualifying offers, as well. The Angels had two options to consider, that of left-hander Aaron Loup, who enters the final year of his deal, and Eduardo Escobar, whom they acquired this past year from the New York Mets.

They are just two of the nine potential players under contract with the Angels for next year, but general manager Perry Minasian has decided against keeping their contracts on the books for next season.

Escobar was brought in after dealing Coleman Crow and Landon Marceaux, while the Mets also paid down a significant portion of the veteran infielder’s contract to up the prospect return in their favor. Escobar underwhelmed in his time with the Angels, posting a -1.1 fWAR and a 51 wRC+ in 60 games played.

Loup struggled mightily in 2023, carrying a 6.10 ERA, 4.36 FIP, 1.75 WHIP across 48.2 innings in MLB. In his age-35 season, the reliever was unable to limit hard contact, and saw his barrel rate spike up from his prior years.

He began to fall out of favor within the Angels’ bullpen equation, and because of his volatility, became an untrustworthy option given his soft-tossing arsenal.

Diamondbacks claim Chris Rodriguez off waivers from Angels

After being drafted by the club in 2016, Chris Rodriguez was heralded as one of the top arms in the Angels system.

Missing all of 2018, he had previously put himself on the radar among prospect rankings after a few years. However, he dealt with a number of injuries prior to his first taste of MLB.

Rodriguez has been unable to make it back to MLB since missing all of 2018 and the majority of 2019, suffering multiple setbacks, leading to them placing him on waivers.