The Angels and outfielder Cade Marlowe are in agreement on a minor league contract, per Ari Alexander of 7News. He just recently opted out of a minor league deal with the A’s, and his new contract with the Halos has some future opt-out opportunities as well.
Marlowe, formerly a prospect in Seattle’s system, has played in parts of two big league seasons. From 2023-24, he hit .240/.330/.406 in 109 plate appearances with the Mariners. That was above-average output (112 wRC+), but that small-sample production was buoyed by a .339 average on balls in play and came in spite of a weighty 31.2% strikeout rate.
Though he lacks much in the way of a major league track record, the 29-year-old Marlowe is an accomplished Triple-A hitter who enjoyed a nice run in the Athletics’ system prior to taking that opt-out a few days ago. He stepped to the plate 361 times with the A’s top affiliate this year and turned in a hearty .317/.394/.521 slash with seven homers, 24 steals (in 26 attempts), a 10.8% walk rate and a 19.9% strikeout rate.
The Pacific Coast League — and the Athletics’ park in Summerlin, in particular — is a hitters’ paradise, but even by measure of wRC+ (which weights for run-scoring environment), Marlowe was 19% better than average at the plate. In parts of six Triple-A seasons, Marlowe sports a .275/.363/.458 batting line. He’s typically been too strikeout prone, but he’s made real gains in that regard this season.
The Angels should present a better path to the majors for Marlowe than the A’s did. With his former club, Marlowe was behind Tyler Soderstrom, Carlos Cortes, Henry Bolte, Lawrence Butler and others on the depth chart. Anaheim of course has Mike Trout entrenched in the outfield, but the rest of the group is far less certain. Jo Adell has hit lefties well this season but struggled immensely versus righties. He’s also a deadline trade candidate. Josh Lowe has had a dismal first season in the organization. Waiver pickup Wade Meckler and minor league signee Jose Siri have both hit well in small samples (under 150 plate appearances each), but neither has a real major league track record of which to speak.
