The Los Angeles Angels were perhaps the most aggressive team at this year’s Major League Baseball trade deadline, deciding to double down on their all-in approach. Their latest, and final move, was acquiring right-handed reliever Dominic Leone from the New York Mets.
Leone is just one of five new faces in the Angels clubhouse, joining Lucas Giolito, Reynaldo López, C.J. Cron and Randal Grichuk. The Angels didn’t shy away from trading top prospects, moving Edgar Quero and Ky Bush to bring in Giolito, who they’ll need to perform like a front-end arm.
The Angels took a bit of the same stance prior to the season, bringing in veteran guys to fill in the holes where they relied on youth a season prior. But a solid deadline, built on a win-now mode, provided general manager Perry Minasian with a good sense that his team has enough to make a run, per Sarah Valenzuela of the L.A. Times:
“We’ve made some improvements,” Minasian said after his last deadline pickup, “and I want to thank ownership first and foremost, for making the investment. … We were able to make the team better and that was the goal from Day 1.”
There will be some hiccups along the way, but the newcomers were all brought in to add to a roster led by Shohei Ohtani and when healthy, Mike Trout. The verbal commitment from the front office was the first boost, and Minasian provided the team with the rest:
“Like I said over the last week when we got Giolito and López: different, little buzz in there,” manager Phil Nevin said before the last move was made. “The same when we got Croney and Grichuk. Just shoring up the roster and giving us a chance. “
The Angels will have to battle from behind in a competitive American League, but since MLB added the extra Wild Card team, they figure to be chasing one of those final slots.
Randal Grichuk & C.J. Cron make immediate impact in return to Angels
Both Grichuk and Cron arrived in Atlanta from the Colorado Rockies on Monday prior to the first pitch. They were traded to the Angels on Sunday night in exchange for Minor League prospects, Mason Albright and Jake Madden.
Grichuk’s fourth-inning solo homer and Cron’s ninth-inning RBI single provided the Angels with the insurance they needed to power past a team 30 games above .500. Their contributions earned some early praise from Nevin, who is happy to have the pair of right-handed sluggers at his disposal.
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