The Angels have again placed outfielder Randal Grichuk on waivers, reports Bob Nightengale of USA Today (Twitter link). The veteran went unclaimed when the Halos put him on waivers last week.
That appears the likeliest outcome this time around. When Grichuk was available last week, he would’ve been eligible for postseason play with a new team. That’s no longer the case, as anyone acquired from outside the organization after September 1 is ineligible for the playoffs. Any team that puts in a claim for Grichuk, an impending free agent, would only be able to play him for the final three and a half weeks of the regular season.
While it seems unlikely a club would be interested in doing that, there’s at least some logic to the Angels trying to move Grichuk again. When he was on waivers last time, fellow right-handed hitting outfielders Hunter Renfroe and Harrison Bader were also available. The Reds, who were near the top of the waiver order among teams with a shot at making the playoffs, claimed both players.
Every team passed on Grichuk. Yet it seems likely there were teams behind the Reds in waiver priority that put in unsuccessful claims for Bader and/or Renfroe. Perhaps the Angels hope that one of those clubs would be willing to pivot to Grichuk now that they know they can’t land one of the other players.
For the Angels, the motivation is clear. Los Angeles has spent the past week endeavoring to get their luxury tax number below the $233MM base threshold. General manager Perry Minasian confirmed on Friday that shedding the contracts of Lucas Giolito, Reynaldo López, Matt Moore, Dominic Leone and Renfroe didn’t get them to that point, as they remained on the hook for some of Grichuk’s salary when he went unclaimed. The Halos placed Max Stassi on the restricted list over the weekend, declining to pay him for the final month of the season while he’s away from the team attending to a family health issue. That reportedly knocked around $300K off the club’s tax ledger but still left it unclear if the Angels had limboed below the line.
Grichuk remains eligible to play for the Angels while the waiver process plays out. He would likely stick on the MLB roster for the final few weeks of the season if he again goes unclaimed. Grichuk has hit only .179/.230/.359 in 31 games for the Halos after they acquired him from the Rockies prior to the trade deadline.
The door has finally closed on the Justin Upton to the Braves trade.
Angels going out of business sale everything must go..
I think you mean the A’s.
The A’s are long since out of business, everything went.
LOL!
They stink.
Wouldn’t you rather see young enthusiastic players than these middling veterans? If you are going to lose anyway who wants to see over paid over the hill past their best years place holders? Not me.
But what if he gives great, enthusiastic, surprise clubhouse hugs? “Gotcha with a Grichug!!!”
So what if there was that one mistimed hug in the showers. Bad timing, that’s all. You don’t waive a guy for that!
3 weeks ago you were likely saying these same “middling vets” were the difference makers in the Angels season
This is all just pathetic. Arte is truly the worst
High comedy.
The Angels are DESPERATE to get under luxury Tax
Is it also possible that the Angels are within 100K of the luxury tax threshold, so even is he’s not claimed, they can release him figuring some team will claim him and the prorated portion of the minimum salary is all they need?
Angels need to make a handshake agreement with another team to claim Grichuk if they’re a hair over the LTT. Did Minasian burn some bridges? We’ll see.
Man if they are that desperate go after the peanut vendors, bat boys, and lawn crew. Ugh; how humiliating for Grichuk. There is something unseemly & unsavory about how the Angels are conducting themselves right now. Leaves a bad taste in my mouth.
The Angels don’t even fly their radio team for road games. They announce the road games from a monitor at Angels Stadium. That’s how cheap Arte is.
The Angels are doing the smart thing, however, my fantasy would never allow this, so in that respect, my fantasy league is better run than MLB.
Who cares? if you were not being told this you wouldn’t notice.
Langston almost died in Houston and I’m sure both would rather be with their family than on the road.
They are appx. $3.5 mil over and Grichuk’s remaining salary is less than $1.5 mil. It looks worse than terrible.
Stassi is on a 3 year, $17.5 million deal. CBT calculations are based on AAV so, that means that one month knocks $970k off the books, not $300k.
Have no clue where that $300k number comes from but its wrong.
Stassi going on the restricted list for 30 days saves the Angels about $1.1MM in actual, present-day payroll. But that savings is then prorated over the three-year term of the three-year contract with regard to the luxury tax.
Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register reported it saves “closer to $300K,” which is what Anthony is referencing here. By my count, it’s $376K, to be exact, which likely isn’t enough to dip them below the tax threshold. A team claiming t left on the now-smaller remainder Grichuk’s deal (relative to the last time he was on waivers) could change that.
So you are saying because Stassi is not a FA that money saved is spread over 3 seasons? That makes sense. The team is still saving $1 million in real dollars.
$300k did not make a lick of sense.
That makes much more sense.
For those that don’t understand why Angel fans want Arte Moreno to desperately sell the ballclub…
Stassi dealt with a family issue at the beginning of the season and agreed to pay him as a “take care of the family” situation. Now, in desperation, Arte pulled the plug on Stassi and his family and that just looks terrible. Imagine how Max, his family, and his agency feels.
Yes you run an MLB club as a business, but you have to also realize you’re constantly marketing your club for future players and agencies. Arte is a money burning joke in the industry.
In contrast, the Dodgers are still paying Andrew Toles health insurance because it’s the right thing to do. He hasn’t played for the team since 2019 dealing with serious mental health issues.
At this point, who in their right mind would want to play for the Angels with the way they’ve treated their players…?
Health insurance, not $1 million per month salary plus health insurance plus service time plus benefits that the Angels paid Stassi.
The Dodgers don’t look good in contrast.
But keep on with the moronic comments so we all look good by contrast.
Please explain to me how the Dodgers don’t look good for paying health insurance to one of their players suffering from serious mental health issues? Mind you, a player that hasn’t been in MLB since 2018, not 2019 as I originally stated.
I’ll wait.
A couple hundred dollars a month does not make them look good IN CONTRAST to the Angels that paid MILLIONS to a player that has neither played nor rehabbed all season.
It was a nice thing to do to keep Toles on their insurance.
It was above and beyond to pay Stassi more than $4 million plus keep him on the roster so he got service time plus pay his insurance and other benefits.
Let’s keep things in perspective and not let your illogical hate of the Angels blind you to reality.
Go ahead and pat yourself on the back for paying an injured player less than 60% of his salary all for a slightly better draft pick.. Congrats.
Keep supporting these minor league moves made by your minor league owner and enjoy another decade of embarrassment and futility.
Reality as usual is the exact opposite of nuke lalooshes hare-brained thoughts
On September 1st Stassi informed the Angels that he would not be back this season. The Angels, who had paid him for 5 months of nothing already, more than $4 million, put him on the restricted list for the rest of the station.
Paying him anything was a class act. Not paying him for not rehabbing and not playing was a very awesome thing for the team to do. They didn’t have to and most teams don’t.
You’re making assumptions that you have no idea what you’re talking about. It’s worse than what you think and if you’re trying to take Arte’s side in these business dealings, as if its good business or good for the league, then you’re clearly a Moreno family member.
No. YOU are making assumptions. I am reading the local papers and what the writers are saying.
As usual you make an uninformed statement and then project your BS on others.
Lol, the Angels paid him this season because if they didn’t they’d be dragged AGAIN for horrible management which has been put on display for all to see AGAIN this season. Now, in a desperate attempt to get under the CBT threshold (all for a better compensatory draft pick when Shohei leaves), they’re dumping anyone and everyone – no matter the circumstances.
As I said, who in their right mind would want to play for this franchise?
Another question is: why do Angels fans put up with this utter nonsense? John Fisher is the only owner worse than Arte.
If the Angels didn’t pay him they would have been just like every other team that placed a player on the restricted list and didn’t pay them.
It happens every single year. They would have had ZERO backlash. In fact, you wouldn’t even KNOW that he wasn’t getting paid because all you would have seen was that he was placed on the restricted list to start the season.
You are delusional. What I want to know how someone like you with so little logic can even get on the internet and comment.
“Take my Grichuck – Please!”
Well let’s see, this is an Arte Moreno owned team surely he could get someone to claim Grichuk on waivers for nothing “wink, wink.” There wouldn’t be any sort of present or future payment on the side by Arte or the team in another trade, “wink, wink.”
I hope that Grichuk goes unclaimed and the Los Angeles Waivers stay above the CBT.
Texas should claim him so they can keep up with Tornoto and Boston for the last wild card spot. The Rangers were 6.5 up on the Astros and about 9 or so up on the Mariners. I’m too depressed to look it up tbh.
It has been a wild ride for so many AL teams this year.
It’s possible the Marlins claim him to replace Soler. He won’t be eligible for the postseason, but he might make a difference in a game or two down the stretch for one of the teams in contention for the NL Wild Card spots.
Maybe replace Avasail?
I was thinking the same thing. I would not be surprised if the Rangers put in a claim.
Good point, but they always have budget problems
This sounds about right.
An embarrassment to the MLB PA. Allowing clubs to dangle warm bodies to restrict a club’s luxury status and curbing that tax from being split in the profit sharing.
Should not be allowed to do that. But they built their own jail and game MLB the only key.
I wonder how the PA feels about this. If you restrict a team’s ability to wiggle under the luxury tax thresholds, perhaps they are less likely to go over the threshold in the first place. Maybe reducing that flexibility actually slightly reduces overall spending.
From the perspective of the individual player, I’m sure it is awful.
It honestly wouldn’t be an issue if not for Moreno. We’ve never seen anything like this, and probably won’t again. Players going on waiver is a good thing for the game and players, and will remain
But, they may need to come up with an Arte clause that prevents him or some other scumbag from even having th opportunity in the future
Are you kidding me? Do you really believe players would rather spend the last month of the season on a team with no shot at the playoffs or on a team that is in contention?
The players that were moved love this. They were FA in a month anyway.
Baseballislife – that’s a good point. I’m sure for some players, it ends up being a good thing. Maybe they are in a bad situation and just land somewhere better.
I was thinking more along the lines of the stress/distraction that comes with the speculation and actually changing teams. Especially for guys with families.
Perhaps the moves had nothing to do with it but Giolito has pitched terribly the last few months. His value in FA has probably gone down significantly.
ALL of these guys were changing teams in a month regardless.
Guys families were not going to be moving their families for 1 month. They won’t until they sign a new deal.
Please someone have mercy upon poor Grichuk! Get him out from under these hitting coaches and back to being somewhat of a serviceable bat.
wow, seem cold blooded but I get it .. it’s business.
It is business, but it is still different. The commodities used by this business are not inanimate objects, they are actual human beings. Players being jerked around like a yo-yo may make business sense, but businessmen should also strive to be good human beings as well. Money matters, but so does one’s humanity.
If they were REALLY serious about getting under the CBT they would have waived Ohtani. Yeah, it would have been the ultimate bad look that would have resulted in a large karmic debt among other things, but it would have worked.
I’m far from the first to state this opinion, but theres many issues to waiving Ohtani:
-the whole point of this is to increase the compensation pick ~60 spots
-Ohtani brings in a ton of money with ticket and merchandise sales. There’s no other reason to go to an Angel game but Ohtani at this point
-there’s an expected wave of merchandise sales when he wins MVP, I would imagine
Exactly. That’s the primary reason for getting under the tax figure. It also makes no sense to give up the other revenue earlier than they have to do it. I’m sure all the Angels souvenir cups have his picture on them.
Hopefully the Reds won’t grab him too.
Free agents are going to be pounding on Moreno’s door with hat-in-hand, begging for a contract to play for LAA next season.
But the argument I’ve heard when I said some stuff has been “Oh, free agents will go to the team who bids the highest.” I still think that’s utter BS. Saying we can re-sign the players that were waived, in the off-season is such a completely ignorant thing to say.
(All this to say I agree with you)
definition of insanity.
There is a clear rationale to to it. Now that Grichuk is the best available option (without Bader or Renfroe ahead of him) – maybe a team bites. Perhaps a low probability that he gets claimed.. but there is no cost and no risk – so why not give it a go?
I agree. It is worth a shot.
From a business perspective it makes sense (and cents). The odds are low, but I would assume everyone knows that.
I thought perhaps the Ohtani injury increased the probability of the Angels re-signing him.. this seems like a clear signal of how the Angels perceive their odds.
There probably was a brief thought about it but I am sure they realize it’s not going to deter teams from making the same level of offers. Look at what happened with Durant when it was known he was going to be out an entire year with a torn Achilles. Basketball doesn’t have an equivalent to a DH either and he still got a huge deal from the Nets.
If you’re Shohei, why in the world would you want to play for the Angels?
Why does any free agent sign with the Angels? Stupid amounts of money.
I get your point though, Ohtani is going to have a lot of options. Seems silly to settle with the Angels, unless they are going to do a crazy overpay. That seems unlikely.
It is possible that he enjoys playing the game with Trout or other members of the Angels. Ohtani has enough money to retire tomorrow and live a life of luxury for the remainder (most good players do by 30), so I doubt money really matters that much to him. I know it matters to a lot of commenters around here, but that is mainly because they haven’t already earned millions. Once you have millions in the bank, there is far less pressure to gather more.
Just because you’d be fine with millions in the bank doesn’t mean others have the same view.
Shohei is on record stating he wants to win. That’s not happening in Anaheim.
Shohei also has a obligation to the other MLB players to take the highest offer possible. “A rising tide lifts all boats.”
Hiflew- sure, maybe that ends up being the case.. it just doesn’t seem to happen very often. Most players that choose to hit free agency are out to maximize their payday.
Giants are dead in the water; they should help the Angels out by making a claim
How bad do the angels want to get under the cap? “Team A” picks up Grichuk, help the Angels financially. Angels trade a high level prospect to “Team A” for a low level prospect as a thanks for saving poor Artie money. Any takers?
It’s not a trade just a claim if I’m not mistaken with the new rules, maybe someone out of the playoffs bites.
No trade. The Angels got nothing back for waiving the previous players.
This is purely a “business decision”. Companies reduce payroll in the private sector all the time. I understand that Arte is not everyone’s favorite owner here, however he does own the team and he has the prerogative to run it as he sees fit. He has made more money than any of us who posts on here, yet so many openly criticize him, otherwise you (other posters) would be the ones being criticized in these posts. I honestly laugh at all who tell Arte how he should be spending the money that he has rightfully earned.
I got news for you who criticize Arte……he does not care about you opinions!
He has a right to run the team as he sees fit, that is true. Just as fans have the right not to show up, watch on TV, buy merchandise, etc.
Exactly! Not attending games, not watching games on TV, not buying merchandise….that is how you get his attention.
Maybe he’ll start when the team competes with the A’s for worst record in baseball next season.
When they don’t will you quit this website?
When they do, will you?
Let’s see what Moreno has done
– chased off multiple GMs because of his meddling
– seen his meddling result in the franchise becoming a laughingstock since 2010
– wasted countless millions and years of great players careers because of the meddling (and:)
– spent some on the publicly visible payroll, but basically nothing past that, resulting in continued poor drafting/scouting and horrific health/conditioning
Now in a desperate attempt to give Ohtani a winning season before he walks he went behind his most recently GMs back to trade away a bunch of prospects for guys he cut a few weeks later in a desperate attempt to save money when his first master plan didn’t work at all.
Sure, he can run it however he wants, I guess. Why any Angels fan would support it is the question. But like battered wives, many just keep making excuses for what is clearly the most dysfunctional organization in the game solely because of the joke at the top
He replaced GM’s – ok 75% of the teams out there have done just as much turnover
“seen” meddling result – are we to assume you are in their offices watching over them?
waster millions -ummm what?? Arte’s “neddling” put millions of $$ in players pockets
spent pubicly – Isn’t every MLB teams payroll public?
What proof is there that he went behind the GM’s back?
So I guessing you are not an Angels fan. If that is the case, why the nonsensical post? You came to a sword fight holding a wet noodle.
Ha ha
Have to say this is a great reply to dark stars post. Nicely done Angel1972
Since you’d like clarification on how Arte wasted millions, here you go:
Justin Upton – 5/106M
Josh Hamilton – 5/125M
Gary Matthews Jr – 5/50M
Vernon Wells – 4/86M
Albert Pujols – 10/240M
Anthony Rendon – 7/245M
I am aware of the contract figures. I was referring to how he meddled.in player contracts. The Angels made an offer, the player accepted. How is that meddling?
If you were referring to wasted millions on bad contracts. That I agree with. I don’t see any players complaining that they are being paid millions either.
Oh look the worst of the worst of the mindless lapdogs has chimed in to lick artes boots, and by mostly avoiding what was actually said haha
About to be 5 gms in a 13 year span, none of which left because of other job opportunities …sure, just like every other team
Your second “point” doesn’t make any sense whatsoever. Its just gibberish unrelated to anything actually said
Yes, putting countless millions of dollars in the pockets of complexity useless players is the goal of all owners and what all fans wish of their team. Thanks for filling us in on that
Yes, you moron, public means public …you not able to read a full sentence though? Apparently not…
But hey, I’m sure the battered wife angels fans that can’t admit reality love the absolutely nothing you said, *shrug* …so enjoy the rest of your 8th straight sub-500 season, I guess, you earned it! Hahaha
He just said that’s a good thing because those players made money *shrug*
Just repeat the chant after him: “its good Arte did that”
…although his replies here lead me to believe he may not understand what meddling means or have enough reading comprehension to follow a topic past the first few words of a sentence. So who knows
Don’t forget Arte being wrapped up in corrupt city dealings that led to the mayor being ousted.
And help covering up the Angels front office involvement in Skaggs’ death
I hope a team scoops him up this time. Arte so desperate to dump his salary he might have his brake lines cut
Angel fans are truly an interesting group.
Years and years of whining that Arte wouldn’t go over the luxury tax limit – OUTRAGE
The one year they go over the luxury tax limit – CRICKETS.
Season doesn’t pan out and the Angels are making moves to try and get under the luxury tax – OUTRAGE.
Funniest part is most are missing the important point. The fact that they are trying so hard to get under the tax indicates they fully intend to go over the tax next year – CRICKETS
I doubt he’s going to go over next year, but you never know… IMO they’re trying to get under the CBT now to get a better compensatory draft pick when Shohei leaves.
There may be a little bit of truth on both your points. Indicators are they want to make a run at Ohtani, but if they probably wanted the better pick should they not get him to sign with the Angels.
I would agree with you, that SOME fans are “complainers” Most I feel are fans of the team and of the game, and realize that they really have no control of the front office or of Arte Moreno, and accept it. Those fans enjoy the good times and suffer through the bad times, but are still loyal to the team.
It’s just I find it funny that although several decisions they made this year didn’t pan out, it seems the fans get more outraged at moves that actually will improve the club’s position (whether that is getting a better pick or avoiding the repeat offender tax if they go over next year). I know it means nothing, but I have inside info. They are going to go big after Sho, and if they don’t land him they will spend elsewhere.
Outside of arbitration cases (none of which IMO will result in big raises) Halos are at about $120mil next year. That leaves about $110m under luxury tax. If what I hear is true, Halos will have about $150mil of flexibility (Shohei or not). That should be exciting for a team that has Trout and a decent core of young, club controlled players like Neto, O’Hoppe, Schanuel, Silseth, etc.
I like what you are saying.. Hope your inside scoop is validated!
Add to the mix Ward, Drury, Thais and Rengifo as complimentary players. Maybe they can get Urshela to come back at a reasonable salary.
The most obvious glaring absence is pitching, starting middle, and end