As the Los Angeles Dodgers look to figure out their best 26-man roster as they approach the final month of the season with their sights set on the October, the Los Angeles Angeles decided to wave the white flag.
On Tuesday, the Angels created a shock in the baseball world when they placed Lucas Giolito, Matt Moore, Reynaldo López, Hunter Renfroe, Randal Grichuk and Dominic Leone on release waivers, which makes them available to all 29 other clubs in baseball.
All players will be free agents after the 2023 season and the move helps the Angels get under the luxury tax in another lost year.
Giolito, López, Grichuk and Leone were each acquired prior to the trade deadline, while Moore and Renfroe were added this past offseason as the Angels looked to make a playoff push in what could be Shohei Ohtani’s final season with the team.
The Angels’ trade for Giolito was considered a significant move but he’s struggled with the team.
Each represents a significant upgrade from the quality of players that are usually placed on waivers, and it could have major implications in the Wild Card races.
The Dodgers could certainly use any of the pitchers to upgrade their roster, but it’s unlikely they will be in play for any of them.
“I don’t know if I can talk too much about other players,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts began when asked if the team would look to claim one of the available pitchers.
“But the point being we’ve got a lot of guys. I think our pitching is in a good spot. We’ve got a handful of guys who are potentially on their way back. We picked up Tyson Miller, but those marquee names, I don’t see us in play. It could change, but I don’t see it happening.”
However, it isn’t necessarily a lack of wanting them from the Dodgers’ perspective, but more about how the system is set up. Waiver priority goes in reverse order of standings at the time a player is placed on waivers and a team would not drop in the order if they make a claim.
Because the Dodgers have the third-best record in baseball, that places them third to last in the waiver order, so 26 teams ahead of them have a chance to claim a player before they could. Only the Baltimore Orioles and Atlanta Braves are behind the Dodgers in terms of waiver priority.
The Miami Marlins are the first team with playoff hopes in the waiver order, so they could theoretically claim all six players if they wanted to. Following the Marlins, the Cincinnati Reds, San Francisco Giants and Arizona Diamondbacks have a good chance to claim at least one of the players.
Any player in an organization by August 31 at 11:59 p.m. PT is eligible for the postseason, which is why multiple players were put on waivers this week.
Mike Clevinger, Carlos Carrasco and Harrison Bader were also placed on waivers following the Angels’ moves.
Dodgers had interest in Lucas Giolito
Before the Angels traded two of their top prospects to the Chicago White Sox for Lucas Giolito, the Dodgers reportedly made a competitive offer for the right-hander.
The Dodgers instead turned their sights to Lance Lynn and Eduardo Rodriguez, with the Lynn trade proving to be the correct decision while Rodriguez vetoed the agreed upon trade to stay with the Detroit Tigers.
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