Tyler

Payne

Payne latched on with the Angels back in mid-June as extra organizational catching depth and wound up compiling an impressive .842 OPS across 44 games for Double-A Rocket City. The 30-year-old backstop got into a pair of contests for the Cubs back in 2021. He gives Los Angeles some emergency depth heading into the 2024 season.

Payne, 29, made his major league debut late in the regular season before being designated for assignment about a month ago. He’s organizational depth and will give the Cubs another catcher going into camp.

Payne made his lone big-league appearance in the Cubs’ regular season finale on October 3 after spending the entire 2021 campaign at Triple-A Iowa. The 28-year-old backstop will continue to serve as organizational catching depth.

Payne was called up just before the season came to a close, but now he’s off the 40-man roster once again. The 28-year-old hit .231/.291/.363 with four home runs over 59 games in Double-A this year.

Payne will take the roster spot of Willson Contreras, who was placed on the 10-day injured list with hip tightness Sunday. The 28-year-old will act as a backup to Erick Castillo.