The Los Angeles Angels’ 2023 season was a roller coaster that unfortunately broke down at the end of the ride.
The year started with an aggressive offseason that saw them add multiple quality players with the hopes of reaching the postseason for the first time with Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani on the roster. For much of the season, the plan worked as the Angels were in playoff contention.
That led to the Angels buying at the trade deadline as they acquired Lucas Giolito and Reynaldo López from the Chicago White Sox, along with C.J. Cron and Randal Grichuk from the Colorado Rockies and Dominic Leone from the New York Mets.
There was optimism the Angels would be able to play October baseball for the first time since 2014, but the plan failed. The Angels fell out of playoff contention and put many of their players on waivers to get under the luxury tax threshold.
Although the approach was unsuccessful, Angels general manager Perry Minasian doesn’t have any regrets about his aggressive approach at the trade deadline, via Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register:
“We were playing really good baseball,” Minasian said Friday. “We definitely had a chance to compete the rest of the way. It didn’t work out. There’s zero regrets. We felt like we had a really good team. It just didn’t work. From an injury standpoint, we didn’t have guys return that we thought we would. We didn’t perform like we thought we would. With that being said, we took a chance on trying to win and I have no regrets.”
On July 31, the Angels were 56-51, sitting half a game out of the final Wild Card spot. By August 29, they were 63-70 with almost no playoff hopes, which led to them placing many of their veteran players on waivers, including Giolito, López, Matt Moore, Leone and Hunter Renfroe.
Although the plan failed, it was admirable to see the Angels make every effort to make the playoffs once in the Ohtani era. Now, the Angels will have to adjust to maintain their relevance with the two-way superstar taking the 5 to the Los Angeles Dodgers on a historic contract.
Among their plans this offseason, the Angels have reportedly shown interest in a pair of the top available starting pitchers, Corbin Burnes and Shane Bieber, and they have also checked in on Blake Snell.
Perry Minasian wishes Shohei Ohtani well
While speaking with reporters, Angels general manager Perry Minasian declined to share how close the team was to re-signing Ohtani but wished him well with the Dodgers.
Ohtani made it clear during his introductory press conference with the Dodgers that his top priority is winning a World Series, which likely lowered the Angels on his list of possible destinations.
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