The Los Angeles Angels have completely embarrassed themselves with their latest move.
The Angels have placed five players on waivers with the hope that another team will claim the players. The Angels are dumping the players in an attempt to cut salary.
The players the Angels have waived include: Lucas Giolito, Reynaldo Lopez, Matt Moore, Hunter Renfroe and Randal Grichuk.
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
What’s so embarrassing about waiving those players? The Angels gave up prospects to acquire 3 of the 5 players just a month ago and now are just hoping to dump those players away.
The Angels acquired Giolito and Lopez in a trade with the Chicago White Sox last month. They gave up minor-league catcher Edgar Quero and left-handed pitcher Ky Bush to get one month of service from the White Sox players.
The Angels similarly acquired Grichuk (along with C.J. Cron) in a trade deadline deal with the Colorado Rockies. They gave up pitching prospects Mason Albright and Jake Madden to get both players. Grichuk has been terrible for the Angels, while Cron got hurt almost immediately.
What’s the bottom line? The Angels traded away four prospects a month ago for three players who not only did not help the team, but the players actually hurt the team with poor performances. Now, a month after deciding to be “buyers” at the trade deadline, the Angels are trying to give away many of the players in a salary dump.
Moore and Renfroe are veterans who began the season with the Angels. The team is just hoping to avoid paying the luxury tax now.
Many people thought the Angels’ playoff hopes were unrealistic. Rather than trade Shohei Ohtani, they committed to buying at the deadline. Instead, they completely stunk in August, and now are left hoping other teams will claim their players. The team entered play on Tuesday 63-69, placing them 11.5 games back in the wild-card race.
