DETROIT — Hours after reportedly deciding to keep Shohei Ohtani and instead push for the playoffs, the Angels completed a deal that makes clear their intention to do just that.
The Angels acquired right-handed starter Lucas Giolito and right-handed reliever Reynaldo Lopez from the Chicago White Sox on Wednesday night in exchange for left-handed pitcher Ky Bush and catcher Edgar Quero. Bush and Quero were two of the Angels’ top prospects.
Giolito, 29, is 6-6 with a 3.79 ERA for the White Sox this season. He is owed more than $3 million for the rest of this season, and then he’s set to be a free agent. Giolito is a product of Harvard-Westlake High in Studio City.
Lopez, 29, has a 4.29 ERA in 42 innings with the White Sox. He has 52 strikeouts and 22 walks, pitching as a setup man. Also set to be a free agent at the end of the season, he is owed about $1.3 million for the rest of the season.
Angels general manager Perry Minasian and manager Phil Nevin will address the deals with reporters on Thursday in Detroit.
The money committed to the trades for Giolito and Lopez will push the Angels above the $233 million threshold for the luxury tax.
The Angels are four games behind the Toronto Blue Jays in the race for the third American League wild-card spot. They have six games before the Aug. 1 trade deadline, and 61 games left in the regular season.
The news came hours after a report from Sports Illustrated’s Tom Verducci indicating that the Angels had decided not to trade Ohtani, but to instead make a push for the franchise’s first playoff appearance since 2014.
“Arte is committed to making a run this season, along with having Angels fans see Ohtani through September and hopefully into October,” a source told the Southern California News Group in the wake of the Sports Illustrated story. “The best way to do that is through addition, not subtraction.”
Speculation throughout the industry was rampant that the Angels would – or should – trade Ohtani, particularly after they endured a 2-11 rut around the All-Star break that dropped them to two games under .500. The Angels listened to offers for Ohtani, but apparently none were sufficient to entice them to make a deal. Industry experts suggested that, for all of Ohtani’s talent, other teams might have held back their premium prospects because Ohtani is only signed through the end of the season.
The Angels began to quiet the talk about trading Ohtani by winning seven of their last nine games. After a doubleheader on Thursday in Detroit, the Angels will open a three-game series on Friday in Toronto.
Giolito’s last start was on Sunday, so he would be available to pitch this weekend in Toronto. The Angels are currently set to have Chase Silseth start the series opener, followed by Reid Detmers and Tyler Anderson.
Pitching has been one of the Angels’ primary issues. Their rotation was ranked 17th in the majors with a 4.22 ERA, so Giolito certainly could give them a boost in that area.
Giolito was an All-Star in 2019, when he was 14-9 with a 3.41 ERA. He’s also been durable, starting at least 29 times in each full season since 2019. He has started 21 times this season.
The bullpen ranked 22nd with a 4.78 ERA. Closer Carlos Estévez and setup man Matt Moore have been solid all season, although Moore missed nearly two months with an oblique injury. Otherwise, the Angels have not gotten consistent effectiveness out of any of their relievers.
Lopez could provide an upgrade even pitching at the same level as he has this season, but he could be a significant boost if he can return to his form from 2021-22, when he had a 3.07 ERA over 81 games. Lopez got off to a rough start this year, but he has a 2.20 ERA since May 5. Opponents have hit .170 against him over that span.
Lopez has held opponents to a .213 average this season, but he’s been burned by seven homers. He allowed only one homer last year, and 11 in the last two seasons combined.
The cost to acquire the two players was high.
Quero, 20, rocketed through the system, becoming one of the youngest players in Double-A. He was hitting .245 with a .717 OPS this season at Double-A.
Quero was ranked No. 84 in the most recent Baseball America rankings.
The Angels likely felt they could afford to part with him because they have Logan O’Hoppe as their long-term primary catcher, and this season Matt Thaiss has emerged as a capable major league catcher. O’Hoppe is currently rehabbing from shoulder surgery, on track to be active sometime in August.
Bush, 23, began the season as one of the Angels’ top-ranked pitching prospects, although he has been out for much of the year with oblique and groin injuries.
Bush was pitching at Double-A, with a 5.88 ERA in 26 innings. He has a career 4.47 ERA in the minors. The Angels took him in the second round of the 2021 draft.
The Angels will need to make two moves to create spots on the 40-man roster for Giolito and Lopez, because neither Quero nor Bush were on the roster.
