The Angels have been underwhelming this season.
In yet another disappointing season, the Angels waved the 2023 white flag on Tuesday and cut six players — Lucas Giolito, Reynaldo Lopez and Dominique Leone, Matt Moore, Hunter Renfro and Randall Grichuk.
The goal is to cut their salaries below the $233 million luxury-tax threshold.
Five of the six players who were cut were drafted by other teams, taking a payroll cut of more than $5 million, but Grichuk went unclaimed.
Teams will accept the contracts of players they claim, but if a team waives a player and the player goes unclaimed, the team will still be required to pay the remainder of the player’s contract.
That means the Angels still keep Grichuk’s contract.
As a result, they didn’t cut salaries enough to fall below the luxury-tax threshold.
For first-time luxury taxpayers, the team needs to pay 20% of the amount exceeding the threshold.
According to Spotrac, the Angels’ payroll this season will total $233,210,595, just above the $233 million cap.
It would only generate about $42,119 in taxes.
The Angels also have a draft incentive to avoid paying the luxury tax, since draft compensation for rejecting qualifying offers is based on luxury tax status.
Had Shohei Othani signed elsewhere, they could have gotten a second-round pick instead of a fourth-round pick
This also has long-term implications, as the payroll tax percentage for recidivism increases and could affect the Angels’ future plans.
That increases to 30 percent for second-time luxury tax payers and 50 percent for teams that cross the threshold three or more times.
The Angels’ salary-cut decision was a far cry from their mood during the trade deadline, when they seemed all-in for a playoff push.
Notably, they decided not to trade Ohtani, who will be a free agent this offseason and is unlikely to return, meaning the Angels could lose him for nothing.
The Angels also traded Giolito, possibly the best pitcher on the market, for their No. 2 and No. 3 rookies, according to MLB Pipeline.
The Angels fired him just a month later as part of a pay cut, but that didn’t work.
Maybe it’s just the right season for the Angels.
“When we made decisions, we felt like they were the right decisions,” Angels general manager Perry Minassian told reporters about the team’s failed deadline move.
“Sometimes you do something that works, and sometimes you do something that doesn’t.”
