The Angels keep coming up short this season.
Amid another disappointing season, the Angels waved the white flag on 2023 and waived six players — Lucas Giolito, Reynaldo Lopez and Dominic Leone, Matt Moore, Hunter Renfroe and Randal Grichuk — on Tuesday.
It was intended to cut their payroll under the $233 million luxury tax threshold.
Five of the six waived players were picked up by other teams, taking more than $5 million off the payroll, but Grichuk went unclaimed.
Teams take on the contracts of the players they claimed, but if a team waives a player and he goes unclaimed, that team still has to pay whatever is left on the player’s contract.
That means the Angels still have Grichuk’s contract on the books.
As a result, they didn’t cut enough salary to get under the luxury tax threshold.
For first-time luxury taxpayers, teams are taxed 20 percent of the amount they are over the threshold.
The Angels will finish the season with a payroll of $233,210,595, according to Spotrac, just barely over the $233 million cutoff.
It will only result in a roughly $42,119 tax.
There was also draft incentive for the Angels to get under the luxury tax, as pick compensation for declined qualifying offers is based on luxury tax status.
It would have potentially allowed them to get a second-round pick, instead of a fourth rounder, for Shohei Othani if he signs elsewhere
There are also long-term implications, as the salary tax percentage increases for repeat offenders and could affect the Angels’ future plans.
For second-time luxury taxpayers, the percentage increases to 30 percent and for teams who have exceeded the threshold three or more times, it is 50 percent.
The Angels’ payroll-cutting decision was a stunning 180 from their sentiment during the trade deadline, when they seemingly went all-in to make a playoff push.
They notably decided to not trade Ohtani, who is set to be a free agent this offseason and is unlikely to return, meaning the Angels will likely lose him for nothing.
The Angels also traded for Giolito, likely the best pitcher on the market, in exchange for their No. 2 and 3-ranked prospects, according to MLB Pipeline.
Barely one month later, the Angels let him go as part of a salary dump that didn’t even work.
Perhaps it’s fitting of the Angels’ season.
“At the time we made decisions we made, we felt like they were the right decisions,” Angels general manager Perry Minasian told reporters about the team’s failed deadline moves.
“Sometimes you do things that work, sometimes you do things that doesn’t.”
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