Angels News: Flop Trade Deadline Acquisition Returns to Anaheim Days After Being Sent to Cleveland

The month of August was supposed to be one of hope for the Los Angeles Angels. The team believed that they had a realistic shot at reaching the postseason after pulling within a few games of the final wild-card spot right before the trade deadline.

It led them to make some aggressive deadline trades, in the hope that they would boost their chances. One of which was acquiring starting pitcher Lucas Giolito from the Chicago White Sox, as they believed he was the missing piece to elevate their rotation.

However, the Halos went on a free-fall post-deadline and fell even further behind in the standings. Now, they will face another season where they miss the playoffs entirely, among other issues.

Now Giolito and the other trade deadline acquisitions are gone after being put on waivers. Giolito made his return to Anaheim this weekend with the Cleveland Guardians in town. He is scheduled to start against his former team on Saturday, and he opened up about it all.

“I don’t think I’ll be expecting any tribute video,” the 29-year-old righty said with a laugh. “Considering I was there for a month and didn’t pitch great. It’s all just part of it.”

Per The Athletic

Giolito performed poorly during his time with the Angels, posting an ERA of 6.89 over six starts. He didn’t look comfortable on the mound at all, which led to his performances.

During his time with the Chicago White Sox, he posted an ERA of 3.79 over 21 starts. The Halso never got that version of Giolito, and it hurt their playoff chances. But he wasn’t the only problem for this team.

The Angels deadline risk didn’t pan out, and in addition, both star outfielder Mike Trout and two-way superstar Shohei Ohtani are injured, and things just aren’t looking good for this organization.

They will enter the offseason with more questions than answers. For the first time, it seems that Trout could ask out of the organization, and Ohtani very well may leave as a free agent. The Angels winter will be one of the more fascinating across baseball, and they have some tough decisions to make.