Giolito, López, Moore, Leone, Renfroe all claimed off waivers
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Pitchers Lucas Giolito, Reynaldo López, Matt Moore and Dominic Leone and outfielder Hunter Renfroe were all claimed off waivers from the Angels on Thursday.
Giolito, López and Moore are now members of the Guardians, while Renfroe has joined the Reds and Leone the Mariners. With the claiming teams responsible for all of the remaining money owed to the five players, the Angels cleared over $5.7 million from their payroll, according to Spotrac.
Aiming to bolster their postseason chances, the Angels acquired Giolito and López from the White Sox prior to the Trade Deadline, sending two of their best prospects -- No. 2 Edgar Quero and No. 3 Ky Bush -- to Chicago for the two pitchers.
However, the club fell further out of the race over the past few weeks and opted to place a number of players on waivers on Tuesday, leaving time for teams to claim them prior to the postseason-roster-eligibility deadline. (Teams have until 11:59 p.m. ET Thursday to add players to their 40-man roster or 60-day injured list to ensure the players are eligible for the postseason.)
Giolito struggled over six starts after the trade, posting a 6.89 ERA with 15 walks and 10 homers allowed in 32 2/3 innings.
López made 13 appearances with the Angels and put up a 2.77 ERA with a pair of saves and 19 K’s over 13 innings.
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The Angels also acquired Leone prior to the Deadline, sending Minor Leaguer Jeremiah Jackson to the Mets for the veteran right-hander on Aug. 1. Leone had a 5.54 ERA over 11 games with the Halos.
Moore and Renfroe both joined the Angels in the offseason -- Moore as a free agent and Renfroe in a trade with the Brewers.
Moore registered a 2.66 ERA over 41 appearances, while Renfroe produced 19 homers, 56 RBIs and a .242/.304/.434 slash (97 OPS+) in 126 games with the club.
All five players are eligible for free agency this offseason. Randal Grichuk, another pending free agent, was also reportedly placed on waivers Thursday but was not claimed.