On July 26, the Angels were at the top of their game. The Angels were considered to have made a significant move for the playoff push when they acquired pitchers Lucas Giolito and Reynaldo Lopez.
With a record of 52-49, the Angels were right back in the race for the Wild Card spot, Mike Trout was expected to return from injury soon, and Shohei Ohtani appeared to be the runaway favorite for AL MVP.
On the 29th of August, Trout was placed back on the injured list after only playing one game,
Ohtani was diagnosed with an elbow injury that will keep him off the mound for the remainder of the season,
and the Angels made the shocking decision to dismiss both Giolito and Lopez, in addition to three other senior players.
According to Jeff Passan of ESPN, the players will be placed on waivers and will be available to be claimed by teams on Thursday.
And will be available to be claimed by teams on Thursday. The MLB waiver rules are based on the reverse standings, which means that the clubs with the fewest wins have the most priority.
However, it appears more likely that the players will pass by those teams and end up on some of the higher-ranked teams that are still seeking to make a push for the playoffs.
On Tuesday, people were going crazy on social media because of the startling moves.