Wow! The Angels are putting in some work! After announcing earlier that they will not trade Shohei Ohtani and are keeping him as long as they can, it's clear they are not giving up on a postseason run. They already made a big trade today, trading for starting pitcher Lucas Giolito and relief pitcher Reynaldo Lopez. Two big needs of theirs is starting pitching and relief pitching. Expect some more trades by this seasons trade deadline, which is August 1 at 3 PM. So who are Giolito and Lopez?
Lucas Giolito is a solid starting pitcher and great addition to the rotation. He's been in the league since 2016 and was an All-Star in 2019. Not to mention, he pitched a no-hitter in 2020. This year he is 6-6, 3.79 ERA, with 131 strikeouts in 121 innings pitched. Not the best but pretty good. He gets a lot of strikeouts and only Ohtani has more strikeouts than him this season on the Angels roster. Right now, Giolito is probably the Angels 2nd best starting pitcher so it's a nice addition.
Reynaldo Lopez is a decent relief pitcher. He also has been in the league since 2016. In the beginning of his career he was a starting pitcher right up until 2021, when he started to struggle as a starter. He moved to a relief pitcher and was pretty good. This year he is 2-5, 4.29 ERA, with 52 strikeouts in 42 innings pitched. ERA is a little high but what's important is that his last 15 games he's been looking very nice - 2.81 ERA with 19 strikeouts in 16 innings. He strikeouts a lot of guys and that will be big for the Angels bullpen. Nice addition!
The only downside is that they had to give up 2 top prospects (Catcher Edgar Quero and Pitcher Ky Bush) for Giolito and Lopez, who will become free agents at the end of the season. They'll probably try to re-sign them if they do good but if they leave after this season, losing Quero and Bush will make this a bad trade. But time will tell. If the Angels don't win the World Series this season and Ohtani and Giolito leave, this will be a tough Angels offseason. But we'll see. Edgar Quero is expected to play until 2025 and Logan O'Hoppe is looking like the Angels future at the catcher role anyway. Ky Bush hasn't looked good at all this season in the minors but that can change. Right now, this trade is probably a solid B but time will tell. Hopefully, we see some more good trades soon.
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