The Angels waving the white flag on 2023 season further hurts chances of retaining Shohei Ohtani
The Los Angeles Angels have officially waved the white flag on the 2023 MLB season, and that’s probably not great for superstar Shohei Ohtani’s future with the franchise.
On Tuesday, the team surprisingly placed pitchers Lucas Giolito, Matt Moore and Reynaldo López on waivers, as well as outfielders Hunter Renfroe and Randal Grichuk.
With +100000 odds on FanDuel to win the World Series and +10000 odds to make the playoffs right now, the Angels’ postseason chances are basically nonexistent right now.
However, this is still a massive series of moves for the Angels to make, all at once signaling that they’re definitely closing things down for the season and giving MLB playoff contenders an opportunity to add serious talent to the roster in a very unlikely time of year.
The move also signals that Los Angeles not trading Ohtani at the MLB trade deadline and instead pushing in all the chips on a possible playoff appearance might come back to haunt them if Ohtani indeed walks this offseason.
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
It appears that the move is as much financially motivated as it is given the Angels’ poor record and longshot playoff chances.
Who gets the players will be determined by reverse order of record. The team with the worst record that puts in a claim on a player will receive him. And there are going to be plenty of claims put in from playoff-caliber teams that need a starter, bullpen help and bats.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) August 29, 2023
This is clearly not ideal for the Angels, who added Giolito, López and Grichuk ahead of the deadline only to cut them a month or so later.
They’re now the second-worst team in the AL West, only in front of the lowly Oakland A’s. If July’s trade deadline was a chance for Los Angeles to show Ohtani that it’s serious about contending, it failed spectacularly.
It didn’t help Los Angeles that Ohtani tore his UCL and lost his ability to pitch for the remainder of the season, and that’s out of the franchise’s control.
However, everything leading up to Ohtani’s unfortunate injury is clearly on Los Angeles. The franchise failed to build a contender while they had Ohtani in his prime, and it’s a very real possibility that the sensational talent will be playing elsewhere this time next year.
Tuesday’s decision to effectively shrug off the season might be understandable when you consider where Los Angeles is right now.
However, the Angels’ decision to avoid trading the generational talent for a king’s ransom looms even larger now that the team’s last-minute 2023 playoff push has evaporated into thin air.
Ohtani’s time in an Angels uniform feels more tenuous than it ever has.