Following a failure in August for the Angels, who went 7-17 then. In less than a month, the team went from doing all they could to fight for a postseason spot to throwing in the towel. A pitiful display from the team. The situation is terrible and an embarrassment. Leading up to putting five players on waivers to save 7.3 million dollars. The players who were placed on waivers are as follows. Starter Lucas Giolito, relievers Matt Moore and Reynaldo López, and outfielders Hunter Renfroe and Randal Grichuk.
Angels Failure in August
It All Fell Apart
In most seasons, trades during the deadline generally become a wash. Some guys do better, and others fall off. Almost every trade done at the deadline failed for the Angels in August. The most significant addition in Lucas Giolito has been terrible. In his six starts, he has a 1-5 record with a 6.82 era, 1.469 WHIP, and giving up ten home runs in 30 innings pitched. To be fair to him, Giolito is dealing with something off the field that could be hindering his performance. Nevertheless, he has not played well in the slightest.
The offensive additions have equally failed on the other side of the ball. Randal Grichuk has a pitiful slash line of .140/.190/.470. Compared to his line in Colorado of .308/.365/.861. His poor August has dropped his batting average by 40 points. It’s just a poor showing from Grichuk in his six weeks in Anaheim. To make matters worse, both C.J. Cron and Mike Moustakas have done well in Anaheim. Moustakas even became a fan favorite in his short time as an Angel.
This failure in August culminated in many things that went wrong this season. Starting with Arte Moreno not selling the team. That one move deadlocked some moves in the offseason, from players and coaching moves. Forgoing the hire of a new manager and coaching staff to have them be replaced in a year with a new owner. The blame for 2023 will be shared among the whole organization, but it is an owner and executive issue.
What Does the Future Hold
The season is still ongoing for the Angels for another month or so. Plenty of changes will be taking place over the next two days. None of them fix any of the problems that plague the team. Gutting the already thin farm system failed miserably. Fall from the number 19 spot to 28. Only the White Sox and Braves rank worse. Consequently, failing to get anything back from the guys on waivers hurts even more, as all that talent was traded for possibly nothing.
On top of the loss of Shohei Ohtani, these new failures in August add more to the mountain of questions. From what will Ohtani do, and do they look to trade Mike Trout? Above all plenty of plotlines will develop in the last few weeks and into the offseason. As of now, the Angels are a fourth-place team. Therefore, more than likely, they will be a fourth-place team next year. It could make sense to rebuild and reset. On a positive note, the Angels have a young core to build around. In the same vein the potential is there for something good to come from the issues of 2023, it’s just going to take some time.
In The End
Indeed, no amount of public shame, fan anger, protest, etc., will change things in the short term. The 2023 season will arguably be the worst season for the Angels. For example, they couldn’t pitch and hit in the clutch, bought when they should have sold, and may have lost the best baseball talent ever. Being the 23rd in the league in pitching with a 4.70 era will not get it done. The same can be said about the 23rd-ranked .237 batting average with runners in scoring position. Finally, fans of the Angels and baseball deserve better than this.
Main Photo Credits: Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports
