Angels promote top prospect to take over at shortstop

The Angels made a significant transaction Saturday, calling up top prospect Zach Neto, their first-round pick from last year’s draft, and optioning David Fletcher, a six-year veteran in the midst of a five-year, $26M contract, to Triple-A. To make room on the 40-man roster, Chris Rodriguez has been transferred to the 60-day IL.

Neto will make his debut less than a year after the Angels took him 13th overall in the draft. The 22-year-old has torn up minor league pitching in that time, slashing .444/.559/.815 with three home runs in 34 plate appearances at Double-A to start this year, after slashing .320/.389/.492 over 136 plate appearances at the level last year.

All told, it took Neto just 44 minor league games to do enough for the Angels to call him up, and he’s now expected to take over as their everyday shortstop, per Jeff Passan of ESPN. The Athletic’s Keith Law ranked Neto as the Angels’ top prospect, and had him 59th overall in the sport. Law describes Neto as a “definite shortstop who projects to be a plus defender” and combined with his bat, expects him to be a “strong regular.”

The other side of this transaction is the demotion of Fletcher. The 28-year-old signed a five-year extension just prior to the 2021 season, but he has seen his numbers deteriorate since. The Angels gave him that contract after he hit .298/.356/.395 over 883 plate appearances between 2019-20. Since then, though, his line has been just .258/.292/.323 with four home runs, good for a wRC+ of just 69.

Fletcher’s a quality defender at second and third, posting a combined 31 outs above average at the two positions throughout his career, while he’s more of a solid defender at short coming in with two OAA over his career there. He’s also sporadically played in the outfield.

Fletcher’s owed $6M in 2023, and then a further $12.5M over the next two seasons plus $3M in buyouts on a pair of club options for 2026-27. It’s not an overly burdensome amount of money, but it’s a lot to be paying a minor league infielder. It’s possible the Angels see if Fletcher can rediscover his bat at Triple-A and then look to recall him to serve as a utilityman on the big league club going forward.

Of course, Neto’s never played above Double-A, so if he struggles after a stint in the big leagues, the team could opt to give him a bit more time at Triple-A to develop and turn back to Fletcher. For now, though, Neto will be the Angels’ starting shortstop, and if his hitting in the minor leagues can translate to the Show, he could have that position for many years to come.