Angels abandon playoff push by ‘waiving starting pitchers, relievers, and outfielders’ one month after keeping Shohei Ohtani at the deadline

One month after opting to keep Shohei Ohtani at the trade deadline, the Los Angeles Angels now appear to be waiving the white flag on their season.

As reported by ESPN, the club placed starter Lucas Giolito, relievers Matt Moore and Reynaldo López, and outfielders Hunter Renfroe and Randal Grichuk on waivers, thereby allowing more competitive teams to pick up their heft contracts en route to the playoffs.

LA opened the day 11.5 games out of the final Wild Card spot in the American League. Earlier this week, the team learned that Ohtani suffered a UCL tear in his right elbow, ending his season on the mound and putting his future as an ace pitcher into question.

Ohtani will become a free agent after the season, but remains baseball’s top slugger with 44 home runs on the season.

More to follow…