The Los Angeles Angels are giving up on the season, and it could lead to a major shake up in the playoff fortunes of a number of teams.
After trading for starting pitcher Lucas Giolito, reliever Reynaldo López and outfielder Randal Grichuk at the trade deadline, Los Angeles is placing all three on waivers a month later. Additionally, they are waiving reliever Matt Moore and outfielder Hunter Renfroe. This is all according to ESPN’s Jeff Passan.
The waived players present an interesting situation for a team like the Giants, who are probably feeling better about their playoff chances on the heels of Kyle Harrison’s electric home debut on Monday. Giolito was a player many thought San Francisco would target at the deadline, and they could have another shot at him if things shake out.
Of course, one of these players would have to fall to the Giants first. The waiver claim order is the reverse order of the MLB standings, meaning at the time of writing, 15 teams would get a chance to claim any of these players before the Giants. That might not seem like great odds, but remember that most teams out of contention won’t be interested in adding expiring contracts.
In addition to the implications for other teams, Tuesday’s news is a clear indication that their hail mary plan to keep Shohei Ohtani has all but failed. Instead of trading the two-way player at the deadline, the Angels went all-in in an attempt to make a serious playoff push, and convince Ohtani to stay in the offseason. Since then, LA has been in free-fall, and had the situation compounded by another UCL injury for Ohtani, ending his season as a pitcher. Hence, the fire sale.
If the Giants aren’t enticed by any of these names, there are also a number of high profile players on the waiver wire.