
Stock Down: Angles waiving the white flag and trying to give pieces away
At the trade deadline a month ago, the Los Angeles Angels went all-in to get to the playoffs with superstar Shohei Ohtani. Now 30 days later, they are waiving the white flag, trying to shed payroll, and are in a position that nobody wants to be in heading into what should be considered a franchise-alterting winter.
Falling quickly out of the AL Wild Card race, the Angles on Tuesday placed trade deadline trade additions Randal Grichuk, Lucas Giolito, and Reynaldo Lopez now waivers along with Matt Moore. Any team that claims them needs to pay them their remaining salary for the 2023 season.
BREAKING: The Los Angeles Angels have placed starter Lucas Giolito, relievers Matt Moore and Reynaldo López, and outfielders Hunter Renfroe and Randal Grichuk on waivers, sources tell ESPN. Huge potential playoff implications: All can be claimed by teams for free on Thursday.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) August 29, 2023
Meanwhile, things for the Angels are going in the opposite direction of the Dodgers, who could very well swoop in this offseason and steal Ohtani in free agency. Making the decisions they did at the trade deadline was risky and it has backfired on them, big time. These decisions could set the franchise back further than they already are.
Mike Trout is back on the injured list, Ohtani is not going to pitch the rest of this season and his free agency is going to be the talk of the offseason. Not a good position for the Angels to be in considering their struggles to even get to the postseason in Trout’s and Ohtani’s prime seasons.