Jared Walsh’s path back toward the majors has already been strange enough to feel improbable. Now he’s trying to turn a strong run in the Mexican League into one more chance.
The former Angels first baseman was never supposed to be a big-leaguer in the first place. Los Angeles took the University of Georgia alum in the 39th round of the 2015 MLB Draft, a round that no longer exists, and he entered the organization as little more than a flier. The climb was slow at first, but by 2018 he had put together 29 home runs across three levels and started to look like a real prospect.
Then came 2019, when Walsh took off. He hammered 36 home runs in 98 Triple-A games and posted a 1.109 OPS, enough to earn his MLB debut later that year and the Angels Minor-League Hitter of the Year honor from MLB Pipeline.
His major league career never followed a straight line after that. Walsh became an All-Star in 2021, but he hasn’t appeared in the big leagues since 2024, when the Texas Rangers released him. At that point, his career looked close to over.
Instead, he’s back in the middle of another surge. Walsh is the starting first baseman for Charros de Jalisco, managed by former Angels pitcher Benji Gil, who won the 2002 World Series in Anaheim. Through 88 games, Walsh owns a .999 OPS, is batting .333 and is reaching base at a 43% clip.
There’s a reason his production in Mexico hasn’t automatically translated into a big-league opportunity yet. The Mexican League is loaded with former MLB players, but it’s generally viewed as a level below what’s seen in Japan’s NPB or Korea’s KBO.
Still, Walsh may be using it as the next steppingstone. Now 33, he did not play baseball at all last year and sat out the 2025 season before restarting his career. For him, the move back to a North American league made sense: get back on the field, prove he still had something left, and see what happens from there.
The bigger story, though, is simply that he’s still here. Walsh missed time in 2023 because of neurological issues that included vertigo, tremors and a lack of spatial awareness. Those problems derailed what had once looked like a rising career, and after his 2021 All-Star season he went through three straight seasons of negative WAR.
That’s why his latest push stands out. Walsh has already beaten long odds once, and this version of the story suggests he might not be done yet. His All-Star peak may be in the rearview mirror, but another MLB shot could still be out there if this run keeps going.
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That question sits at the heart of how this process plays out under Arte Moreno, whose management style has long shaped the organizations reputation around the league. There is also the matter of where team president Molly Jolly fits into the power structure, because any meaningful change in the Angels front office will depend on more than just the rsum of the next general manager. The search should reveal whether the club is ready for a cleaner, more stable setup, or whether old habits still have the upper hand. [Read more 🡒]