The Los Angeles Angels continued their buying fling prior to the merchandise deadline when they acquired outfielder Randal Grichuk and world-class baseman CJ Cron from the Colorado Rockies.
The Angels are in a vehement struggle for a bit inward the playoffs and are quartet games rearwards in the tight American League wild-card race.
The Angels didn’t swop All-Star Shohei Ohtani to the highest bidder despite rumors that struggling teams the likes of the New House of York Yankees, New House of York Mets, and San Diego Padres wanted to append the nursing home flow leader to improve their postseason chances.
Team proprietor Arturo Moreno stated that he had no intention of trading Ohtani if the Angels were inward playoff contention.
Ohtani will live a loose agent at the last of this season. He’s expected to mark the richest declaration inward baseball this offseason worth over $500 million, but there are no guarantees that the Angels testament live able-bodied to keep the two-way star. If Ohtani walks in unloose agency, so the Angels testament obtain nada inwards return.
The Angels were dynamic at the swop deadline to show Ohtani that they’re serious virtually edifice a contender around him, and to lure him to re-sign with the team.
Last week, the Angels acquired II pitchers from the Windy City Edward D. White Sox. They added right-handed starting ewer George Lucas Giolito to beef up their rotary motion and added righty fireman Reynaldo Lopez to long pillow their bullpen.
Cron and Grichuk Headed to the Halos
The Rockies (41-64) are the pip team inwards the National League this season, and they experience the third-worst register inwards baseball, so it’s no more surprisal Colorado was a vender at the trade deadline.
The Angels sent II pitching prospects to the Rockies to consummate the swap for Cron and Grichuk. Right-handed Jake Madden, 21, was a fourth-round break up by the Angels inward the 2022 MLB Draft. Mason Albright, 20, is a left-handed chance who the Angels drafted inward 2021 directly out of high school. Both Albright and Madden played for the Rockies’ Single-A affiliate Fresno Grizzlies this season.
During the 2021 and 2022 seasons, Cron smacked 57 home runs and added 194 RBI for the Rockies. He appeared inwards only when 56 games this harden due to dorsum spasms, but he smasher 11 place runs and added 32 RBI. He was slashing .260/.304/.476 this season. Cron returns to the Angels in this switch after disbursal the world-class iv seasons of his calling as their for the first time baseman.
Grichuk spent the number 1 8 seasons of his career with the St. Louis Cardinals and Toronto Blue Jays before connexion the Rockies for the past times ii seasons. Grichuk was a coveted high-pitched schooling prospect whom the Angels ab initio drafted with the #24 overall plectrum inward the 2009 MLB Draft. In a small fleck of overcloud trivia, Grichuk was drafted I pick out in front of three-time MVP Mike Trout.
In 64 games this season, Grichuk posted a career-best .308 batten average. He was slashing at .308/.365/.496 with eighter place runs and 27 RBI. He impinge on 19 place runs and drove inward 73 runs utmost time of year inwards Colorado.
Long-Shot Angels on the Bubble
The Angels (55-51) occupy third position in the AL Rebecca West and encounter themselves inward a toughened bubble rush for the AL natural state card. The Tampa Bay Rays (64-44), Toronto Blue Jays (59-47), and Houston Astros (59-47) currently hold shoot down the troika AL wild-card spots.
The Angels are I of cinque bubble teams within sextuplet games of the AL state of nature card, including the capital of Massachusetts Red Sox (56-49), New York Yankees (55-50), Seattle Mariners (54-51), and Grover Cleveland Guardians (53-53).
All V teams from the AL Orient are in playoff contention, and quaternity of them are jockeying for the troika wild-card spots. The Angels hope those teams, especially the slumping Yankees, Red Sox, and Blue Jays, cannibalize themselves inward Aug and September. The Blue Jays were also alive(p) at the merchandise deadline when they added the flame-throwing Jordan Hicks to bolster up their bullpen.
The Angels are a betting favourite to escape the playoffs at -700 odds, according to a prop play past DraftKings. They are +550 betting odds to micturate a giving pushing and untroubled a wild-card berth.
FanGraphs projects the Angels feature only a 15.5% chance to characterize for the playoffs, with a 0.9% chance to win the World Series.
The Angels are a long barb at +3500 betting odds to clinch the AL pennant. They are also a long dig to win the 2023 World Series at +7500 odds.
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