The Angels acquired Ballesteros and right-hander Mason McGwire from the Cubs on Monday in exchange for right-hander Ryan Zeferjahn, Jeff Fletcher of The Orange County Register reports.
Ballesteros had been playing regularly at Triple-A Iowa over the past six weeks, but he may not have to wait long to receive another look in the majors with the Angels, either as a designated hitter or as an option at catcher. The 22-year-old is firmly a bat-first catching prospect, though the Angels will likely have more patience than the Cubs in overseeing his development behind the dish. After recently dealing away Logan O'Hoppe, the Angels are left with the underwhelming veteran duo of Travis d'Arnaud and Tyler Heineman as their catching tandem, and it wouldn't be surprising if Ballesteros was prioritized ahead of them down the stretch. Ballesteros has already demonstrated himself to be a big-league-caliber hitter, producing a .249/.328/.408 slash line with a 10.8 percent walk rate and 19.9 percent strikeout rate over 241 career plate appearances with the Cubs.