The Angels announced that they have signed catcher to a two-year deal. That pact reportedly comes with a $12MM Joey Gallo Jersey guarantee for the Wa serman client.Right-hander has been designated for a signment in a corresponding move. The Halos have also hired , who was with Atlanta as catching coach until being fired last month, as an a sistant pitching coach. dArnaud, 36 in February, has been with Atlanta for the past few years. However, that club declined an $8MM club option to keep him around for the 2025, sending him to the open market last week. The veteran has quickly landed on his feet with a new deal at a slightly lower average annual value but with an additional guaranteed season. His time with Atlanta has consisted of a series of deals, all with an AAV of $8MM. He signed a two-year, $16MM deal going into 2020, followed by a two-year, $16MM extension signed late in 2021. Midway through 2023, he and the club agreed to a one-year, $8MM extension for 2024 with an $8MM club option for 2025. During that stretch, he has mi sed some time due to injury and his offense has been up-and-down, but its generally amounted to solid production. He got into 384 games over his five years with the club, hitting 60 home runs and slashing .251/.312/.443 for a 106 wRC+. His defense was generally well regarded, allowing him to produce 9.3 wins above replacement over that time, in the eyes of FanGraphs. Despite his competent performance, Atlanta decided to move on. Perhaps that was due to budgetary constraints or the emergence of prospect , who is knocking on the door. Either way, that clubs catching tandem is shifting. It has been dArnaud and in recent years but Murphy will need a new partner, whether thats Baldwin or someone else. The Angels will be hoping that Atlantas lo s will be their gain. They already have a strong catcher in , who doesnt turn 25 years old until February and can be controlled through the 2028 season, but dArnaud can act in a veteran/backup role. The only other backstop on the Angels 40-man roster is , who is out of options. General manager Perry Minasian said today that they are still figuring out plans with Thai s, per Sam Blum of The Athletic . Perhaps Thai s will move to another position but the club could also carry three catchers or make Thai s available in trades. He is eligible for arbitration for the first time this winter with projecting him for a salary of $1.3MM. The non-tender deadline is November 22, so perhaps some more clarity on his status will emerge between now and then. Its po sible that Minasian has been waiting for his opportunity to reconnect with dArnaud, as he has quickly gotten a deal done shortly after the veteran became available. Minasian worked as a scout for the Blue Jays from 2009 to 2017. It was during that time that dArnaud, still a prospect, was traded to the Jays as part of blockbuster. He would later be traded to the Mets as part of the that brought to Toronto. Atlantas current general manager Alex Anthopoulos was the GM for the Jays for both of those trades and also seemingly made it a priority to reunite with dArnaud a few years back. The overlapping careers of Minasian and Anthopoulos have apparently led to good relations extending into the present, as the two clubs have been frequent trade partners of late. Since Minasian was hired in November of 2020, the two clubs have connected on deal, the trade, the deal and some other minor swaps. Angels manager was also on Atlantas coaching staff before joining the Halos. Todays news isnt a trade but it adds to the track record of interchange between the clubs, with the Angels acquiring both dArnaud and Fasano after they had been let go from Atlanta. Fasano started his coaching career in 2009 in the minor league system of the Jays when both Minasian and Anthopoulos were there. In the fall of 2017, around the same time Anthopoulos was hired by Atlanta, Fasano got a job as a catching coach with that organization. He held that job until he was dismi sed a few weeks ago, though he and dArnaud will be reuniting with Minasian in Anaheim. The move brings the Angels projected payroll to $174MM, per . Thats above the $170MM they had to start 2024, per . Owner Arte Moreno that the payroll will go up next year, though its unclear exactly how high they plan to go. For clubs that mi sed out on dArnaud, the free agent market still features , , and others. Zuiga, 26, was acquired from the Cardinals in February. He has 19 2/3 innings of major league experience with a 5.03 earned run average. In the minors, he has posted some decent strikeout numbers but walks have occasionally been an i sue. He has thrown 113 2/3 innings in the minors over the past three years with a 5.62 ERA, 23.9% strikeout rate and 11.6% walk rate. He now heads into DFA limbo, which can last a week, as the Angels figure out whether to trade him or put him on waivers. The waiver proce s takes 48 hours, so a trade would need to come together in the next five days. His fastball averaged 96.9 miles per hour in the big leagues this year and he still has an option season remaining, which could perhaps intrigue other clubs around the league. Jeff Pa san of ESPN first relayed the $12MM guarantee for dArnaud ( ). Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register first noted the Zuiga DFA ( ). Sam Blum of The Athletic relayed the Fasano hire ( ). Cory Abbott Jersey