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Jeimer Candelario's time with the Los Angeles Angels was brief and largely unremarkable. During his 17 days on the team's 40-man roster, he appeared in just seven games in 2026, his 11th major league season. In 18 at-bats, he managed only two hits, both doubles, and struck out eight times.
On April 11, the Angels designated Candelario for assignment, and two days later, he was outrighted to Triple-A Salt Lake. He accepted the assignment and remained with the Angels' top minor league affiliate for the rest of the season. In 88 games, despite multiple injured list stints, he posted a .281/.377/.509 slash line with 15 home runs, 19 doubles, and 56 RBIs. However, he also struck out 113 times in only 334 at-bats.
On Wednesday, Candelario elected free agency, entering the 2026-27 minor league free-agent pool and likely concluding his tenure with the Angels organization. He will turn 33 in November, an age when a hitter's bat speed often declines. The 2026 season could have been a comeback year for a player who led the American League in doubles in 2021, but instead, he played in fewer MLB games than any season since his five-game rookie campaign with the Chicago Cubs in 2016.
Candelario did not appear in a postseason game for the Cubs, who ended their 108-year championship drought that year. In fact, with 887 career regular-season games and no postseason at-bats, he is near the active leader (Bryan Reynolds) in that unfortunate category. Over his career, Candelario has a .236/.315/.410 slash line with the Cubs (2016-17, 2023), Detroit Tigers (2017-22), Washington Nationals (2023), Cincinnati Reds (2024-25), and Angels.
The Angels were only responsible for paying Candelario the minimum major league salary during his brief time on their roster, as he still had one guaranteed year left on his three-year, $45 million contract signed with the Reds in December 2023. That might be the last major-league contract Candelario signs, but he isn't going down without a fight. Recent Instagram posts by the Fortuna Academy show him mentoring youngsters and working out in the Dominican Republic.
The Angels had little to lose by taking a flier on the veteran in hopes of a bounceback season, even if it didn't pan out. Their Triple-A roster has been filled with similar players over the past decade. But if the team renews its focus on homegrown player development under new leadership in 2027, there will be fewer at-bats in the majors and Triple-A for players like Candelario next year.
J.P. Hoornstra is an On SI Contributor. A veteran of 20 years of sports coverage for daily newspapers in California, J.P. covered MLB, the Los Angeles Dodgers, and the Los Angeles Angels (occasionally of Anaheim) from 2012-23 for the Southern California News Group. His first book, The 50 Greatest Dodgers Games of All-Time, published in 2015. In 2016, he won an Associated Press Sports Editors award for breaking news coverage. He once recorded a keyboard solo on the same album as two of the original Doors. Follow jphoornstra.