MLB Insider Explains The Angels Waiver Wire Situation

The Los Angeles Angels made a very shocking decision late on Tuesday when they placed several players on waivers.

Hunter Renfroe, Matt Moore, Lucas Giolito, Randal Grichuk, and Reynaldo Lopez were all placed on waivers, signaling that the Angels are officially punting on the rest of the season.

All players can be claimed by Thursday for free by new teams.

However, this is certainly a confusing situation.

Even with the Angels out of postseason contention, there is a lot to unpack here.

On Twitter, Jeff Passan of ESPN revealed the specifics of this case in a thread, explaining how waivers work.

Who gets the players will be determined by reverse order of record. The team with the worst record that puts in a claim on a player will receive him. And there are going to be plenty of claims put in from playoff-caliber teams that need a starter, bullpen help and bats.

— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) August 29, 2023

Passan notes that for the Angels, this is merely a salary dump.

All they will get in return is salary relief, due to the fact that August trades are no longer allowed.

Any team that claims these players will only need to take on their salaries for the remainder of this season.

Also, whichever team has the worst record of teams who placed waiver claims on these players will be able to add them to their rosters, as it is determined by reverse order of record.

There will be plenty of postseason contending teams that will want to take a flyer on some of these players.

However, this is where having a worse record than other contending teams can play into said team’s favor.

It should be interesting to see how everything shakes out over the next couple of days and where some of these players ultimately end up.