Angels Reportedly Still Over Luxury Tax Threshold Despite Recent Release of 6 Players

The Los Angeles Angels essentially punted on the remainder of the 2023 season this week, placing Lucas Giolito, Reynaldo López, Dominic Leone, Matt Moore, Hunter Renfroe and Randal Grichuk on waivers.

Those moves saved the team around $5 million in payroll, though it still reportedly didn't take them below the luxury tax threshold, according to Jeff Fletcher of the SoCal News Group:

Since the trade deadline on Aug. 1, when the team added a number of players in an attempt to make the postseason—including Giolito, Leone, López, Grichuk and Eduardo Escobar—pretty much everything has gone wrong.

The Angels went 8-19 in August. Mike Trout returned for all of one game before being place right back on the injured list. Superstar Shoehei Ohtani may need Tommy John surgery on his torn UCL, and while he continues to play as a hitter, his season as a pitcher is over and he may not pitch next season either.

Which team he does or doesn't pitch for remains up in the air as well, given his pending free agency. The Angels (64-70) chose against trading him ahead of the trade deadline, instead being buyers in an effort to get into the postseason, perhaps hoping to entice Ohtani to stay with the organization for the long term.

Instead, it's been one disaster after another for the Halos.