Blessed by the Angels

The Cleveland Guardians wake up today, the first of September, five games back of the Minnesota Twins who lead the decrepit American League Central. But there is a new glimmer of hope in the spark on the hair of the flea on the frog on the log in the bottom of the lake of the chance that the Guardians will make the playoffs and the only team to thank is the Los Angeles Angels. No, the faltering franchise didn't sweep the Twins to help get back games, but they made some of the most shocking and boneheaded personnel moves in baseball this week. In what can only be described as a cost-cutting move, the Angels surprised everyone when they placed five players on waivers, three of whom they acquired during the trade deadline to help bolster their chances of finally going to the playoffs with Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani in the feasible last year they will play together. Those five players, starter Lucas Giolito, relievers Reynaldo Lopez and Matt Moore, and outfielders Hunter Renfroe and Randal Grichuk, were all claimed by other teams with the exception of Grichuk, meaning the Angels lose out on their services for the rest of the season and relinquish them over to the claiming team, no harm no foul.As mentioned, most of these were paid for with prospects. Renfroe was the only player of the four who had started the season as an Angel, but Giolito and Lopez were sent to LA for catcher Edgar Quero, a top-100 and 3rd-best Angels prospect, and pitcher Ky Bush, a promising mid-rotation-ceiling arm. Moore signed with the Angels this offseason, a one-year deal worth $7.55m, part of which is still being paid for by Los Angeles as a signing bonus. Never has baseball seen such a quick turnaround of an organization from buying into selling off, especially given the price they paid for those players. So why are we discussing these mind-boggling moves by a team 3,000 miles from Cleveland? Those three were claimed by Cleveland as 1) an attempt to strive for those last five games needed to overtake the Twins 2) help out a roster that is dragging itself to the back end of a season and 3) blocking other teams, mainly the Twins, from getting said players. In all my years of being a baseball fan, never have I seen a team dump its roster on the waiver wire and seen just one team pick it all back up.Some of those in the media are up in arms, upset that the "pennant race changing talent" fell into the arms of a second-place, under-.500 team, but that's how waivers have always worked. The teams with the worst record have first crack at the best talent available, and if they are not interested, it moves up the ladder. Cleveland, seeing an opportunity to not only get help for their rotation but also gather some intel on free agents for next year, made the smart move and only added $3m in salary to continue to give themselves a shot at this postseason. Let's ask this question: say the Guardians had not claimed any of these and it was the Yankees, a team even further back in their division race and a game ahead of Cleveland for the wild card, would there be such vitriol?Giolito, 7-11 with a 4.45 ERA and 165 strikeouts in 153.2 innings, brings in a pedigree of starting pitcher usually seen in Guardos red and white, and someone the organization is familiar with given his time with the White Sox. He instantly bolsters the starting rotation in a way only the return of Triston McKenzie or Shane Bieber could do, giving the coaching staff an "ace" who they know can go six or seven innings of 2-run ball. His mere presence in the rotation, knowledge and information to the young starters notwithstanding, is badly needed given the innings constraints Tanner Bibee, Gavin Williams, and Logan Allen are going to be dealing with.Lopez, 2-7 with a 3.93 ERA and 71 strikeouts in 56 innings, is a fireballing starter-turned-reliever who should instantly just sign an extension with Cleveland. Lopez could be a closer on 15 teams, but in Cleveland, he can take some of the pressure off of Trevor Stephan and James Karinchak and be a more proper setup guy for closer Emmanuel Clase.Finally, Moore actually has the best record and ERA of the grouping, coming in with a 4-1 record, 2.66 ERA, and 49 strikeouts in 41 innings. A journeyman converted reliever as well, Moore adds another lefty arm to the pen and can be another crafty vet added to the list ala Bryan Shaw over the year.Is it likely Cleveland will keep any of these players over into next year? Not really. Lopez and Giolito were both in the last years of their arbitration calendar, and Moore is playing on a one-year deal. It's also unlikely that Cleveland will catch Minnesota, despite the fact that after this weekend's series with Tampa Bay, the Twins come to town for the final matchup between the two teams. However, we can all say that we have seen the Guardians be touched by some Angels.