Angels News: Lucas Giolito, Reynaldo Lopez Claimed By American League Contender

The Angels lose 2 trade deadline acquisitions just like that.

The Los Angeles Angels have officially lost two of the players they placed on waivers, and both were trade deadline acquisitions.

RHPs Lucas Giolito and Reynaldo Lopez were claimed on waivers by the Cleveland Guardians, according to ESPN's Jeff Passan.

The Cleveland Guardians claimed right-handed starter Lucas Giolito and right-handed reliever Reynaldo Lopez on waivers from the Los Angeles Angels, sources tell ESPN.

— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) August 31, 2023

The Angels, of course, shocked the baseball world when they waved the white flag and placed six players on waivers, including four trade deadline acquisitions.

Thursday at 10 a.m. PT was the deadline for those players to be claimed, and the news is starting to trickle in about who was claimed.

Giolito and Lopez were acquired by the Angels in a package for their No. 2 and No. 3 prospects, and the hope was that the two pitchers could help turn this team into a postseason contender for the last couple months of the year.

Fast forward about a month, and they did far from that.

Giolito struggled mightily in his six starts with the Halos, sporting a 6.89 ERA with a 1-5 record. He was never able to pitch like the ace the Halos thought they were getting, and is now heading to back to the AL Central in Cleveland where he'll try to assist them in a late season push.

Still, he was surprised about being put on waivers by the Angels.

As for Lopez, he pitched well for the Halos in limited time. He had a 2.77 ERA in 13 appearances, including two saves.

Both are great pickups for the Guardians, who will just have to pay the remainder of their 2023 salary.

As for Arte Moreno and the Angels, they save a little bit of money as they try to dip under the luxury tax with Shohei Ohtani's impending free agency coming.