Donovan

Walton

The A’s demoted Meneses and Brian Serven from the position player side. Donovan Walton, who was just claimed off waivers from the Angels, is taking one spot. The other spot has yet to be filled, but it’ll probably be a callup (Darrell Hernaiz?), since it doesn’t sound like any of the team’s injured position players are ready to be activated. Meneses is 3-for-20 with three walks in his nine games with the A’s this year.

Walton had been designated for assignment by the Angels on Wednesday. The versatile 32-year-old infielder hit .319 (29-for-91) with three long balls and 12 RBI in 97 plate appearances during his time with the Halos. He’ll help to bolster the A’s bench.

Walton loses his spot on the Angels active roster with franchise cornerstone Mike Trout back from the injured list. The 32-year-old journeyman did a nice job for Los Angeles, hitting .319 (29-for-91) with three homers and 12 RBI in 97 plate appearances over 32 games this season.

Walton’s solo shot off Ian Seymour came in his 57th plate appearance for the Angels. Playing about half of the time against right-handers, he’s hit .296/.333/.426 since being called up on May 22. He now has five homers in 272 career plate appearance since debuting with the Mariners in 2019.

With Yoán Moncada landing on the injured list, Walton will get his first opportunity with the Angels this season. The 31-year-old infielder was hitting .282/.429/.481 with seven homers, 33 RBI and three stolen bases in 168 plate appearances at Triple-A Salt Lake. He’ll start at third base and bat ninth for the Angels on Friday night.

Walton got into a pair of games for the Phillies this past season, going 1-for-8 with one RBI across nine plate appearances. He spent most of the year at the Triple-A level, hitting .270/.356/.396 with 13 homers and four steals in 123 games. The well-traveled 31-year-old infielder has gotten into 72 games at the highest level between the Mariners, Giants and Phillies since 2019. He’ll bolster Los Angeles’ infield depth heading into spring training.

Walton was up with the Phillies for a handful of contests in late September while Trea Turner was sidelined with a hamstring ailment. The 31-year-old journeyman utility infielder has spent the majority of the past few years at the Triple-A level and will likely have to settle for a minor league contract this offseason.

Walton had been designated for assignment earlier in the week, but he passed through waivers unclaimed and will continue to function as extra infield depth in the upper minors for the Phillies.

Walton became expandable after Edmundo Sosa was activated off the injured list. The 31-year-old infielder will likely remain in the Philadelphia organization with just five days left in the regular season.

Walton fortifies Philadelphia’s bench mix after both Trea Turner (hamstring) and Alec Bohm (shoulder) hit the injured list prior to Monday’s game against the Mets.