Alex Faedo signs minor league deal with Angels after missing all of 2025

Alex Faedo, the former first-round pick who spent the entire 2025 season on Tampa Bay's injured list with a shoulder issue, has reportedly signed a minor league contract with the Los Angeles Angels, per MLB Trade Rumors.

What happened

Per MLB Trade Rumors, the Angels signed Faedo last week and assigned him to their Arizona Complex affiliate. The reported plan is for Faedo to build into game shape before advancing to a higher-level affiliate — with Triple-A Salt Lake identified as the likely destination once he is ready.

The path to this point was a winding one. Faedo was a first-round selection by the Detroit Tigers in 2017 out of Florida, and he eventually appeared in parts of three MLB seasons, accumulating a 4.51 ERA across 175 2/3 innings. A move to the bullpen in 2024 appeared to suit him — he allowed 3.61 earned runs per nine that year and missed more bats in the relief role — but the Tigers designated him for assignment over the 2024-25 offseason.

The Tampa Bay Rays acquired Faedo in what MLB Trade Rumors described as a minor trade, but the organization received nothing in return from the arrangement. Faedo went on the injured list with a shoulder issue and remained there for the entirety of the 2025 season. When the offseason arrived and the injured list dissolved, the Rays placed him on waivers. He went unclaimed, and Faedo elected minor league free agency — which is how he arrived at the Angels' doorstep.

Why it matters

A minor league deal is exactly what it sounds like: Faedo is not on the Angels' 40-man roster, and there is no obligation on either side beyond whatever opt-out provisions may be built into the contract. The Angels are offering a right-handed reliever who stands six-foot-six with genuine MLB experience a runway to demonstrate that his shoulder is sound and his stuff is back. The club assumes minimal risk. Faedo gets a chance to pitch his way back into a big-league conversation.

The operational logic is straightforward. Faedo showed something real in 2024 — a 3.61 ERA out of the bullpen is not a number a team files away and forgets, and the improved bat-missing that came with the relief transition gave evaluators a reason to stay interested even after the designation for assignment. A full season lost to a shoulder issue introduces genuine uncertainty about where his stuff is right now, which is precisely why the Arizona Complex assignment exists. That level is where a pitcher returning from a significant injury can throw live innings in a low-stakes environment before anyone asks him to face Triple-A lineups.

The large frame and the bullpen track record give this arrangement a plausible upside. The Angels are not speculating on projection here — they are speculating on recovery. Those are meaningfully different bets, and the Arizona Complex is the right place to begin gathering evidence on which way it breaks.

What we don't know yet

The nature of the shoulder issue has not been detailed beyond the phrase "shoulder issue," and there is no reported timetable for when Faedo might advance to Salt Lake. MLB Trade Rumors describes Triple-A as the "likely" destination once he has built into game shape — but that framing preserves the uncertainty appropriately, as it should. Whether his 2024 bullpen gains held up through a year of inactivity is an open question that only live innings will answer.

It is also worth noting that a minor league deal does not guarantee a 40-man roster spot or a big-league call-up. Under general league mechanics, a player on a minor league contract must first be added to the 40-man roster before a club can bring him to the active roster at the major league level. That decision would come only if Faedo pitches his way into that conversation. None of that has been reported as imminent, and the Arizona Complex assignment suggests the Angels are being deliberate rather than hasty about the process.

Whether Faedo's contract includes an opt-out provision — a standard feature of many minor league arrangements that allows a player to pursue other opportunities if a call-up does not materialize by a certain date — has not been reported. It is a reasonable thing to watch for as the summer progresses.

Is Faedo expected to pitch for the Angels this season?

Per MLB Trade Rumors, the expectation is that Faedo will work through the minor league system, with Triple-A Salt Lake as the likely next stop after the Arizona Complex. The report does not specify a timeline for a potential big-league appearance, and given that he is starting at the complex level, any path to the Angels' active roster would require both a healthy progression and a roster opening. Neither of those conditions has been reported as in place.

What to watch

The most immediate thing to monitor is whether Faedo advances from the Arizona Complex to Salt Lake on any kind of reasonable schedule. A prompt promotion would suggest the shoulder is responding well and that his stuff is in workable shape. A prolonged stay at the complex level would raise more questions about where the recovery actually stands — the Arizona Complex is a starting point, not a destination, for a pitcher with big-league innings on his ledger.

Beyond the health markers, the secondary question is whether the 2024 version of Faedo — the one who posted a 3.61 ERA and generated more swings and misses after the bullpen transition — is still in there. That track record was recent and it was real, and it was interrupted by injury rather than performance. If the shoulder cooperates, there is a pitcher worth evaluating. If it does not, the Angels are out very little, and Faedo will have to find another runway somewhere else.

For now, he is in Arizona, throwing in the desert, trying to remind the sport that the 2024 version of him was worth paying attention to. The Angels are watching, per MLB Trade Rumors, and the arrangement gives both sides a low-cost way to find out what remains.