OC Register: Despite waiver moves, Angels are still above luxury tax for 2023

[AngelsWin.com]

OAKLAND — In a fitting moment for this disappointing Angels season, they came up just short once again.

A day after the Angels had more than $5 million come off their payroll by having five players claimed on waivers, General Manager Perry Minasian said the team is still above the threshold for the luxury tax in 2023.

Public sources that track major league payrolls often have estimates or other incomplete information, so it was not certain whether the Angels made it until Minasian addressed the topic on Friday.

The Angels are close enough that they would have made it if the sixth player placed on waivers, Randal Grichuk, had been claimed. Grichuk is set to make about $1.7 million for the rest of the season.

Pitchers Lucas Giolito, Reynaldo López, Matt Moore and Dominic Leone and outfielder Hunter Renfroe were all claimed, relieving the Angels of their salaries.

The tax the Angels would pay for 2023 would be just 20% of the overage. More significant, however, is that it would set them up to pay 30%, instead of 20%, if they go over in 2024. The penalties increase for teams that exceed the tax in consecutive seasons. It would be 50% in the third season.

Minasian said he didn’t think exceeding the threshold in 2023 would make a difference when it comes to how the roster is built for 2024.

“We’ll get to that point when we start building the ’24 roster, but from the conversation I’ve had, there will be no impact (of paying the 2023 luxury tax),” Minasian said.

Also, if the Angels lose free agent Shohei Ohtani over the winter, the compensation pick they would receive will be after the fourth round of the 2024 draft instead of after the second round.

Minasian said there was a financial implication to the waiver deals, but also it was a way to create an opportunity for young players. Infielder Kyren Paris was recalled for his major league debut on Friday, filling one of the vacated spots.

The roster moves certainly were not what Minasian planned when he swung a series of trades just before the Aug. 1 deadline. He said at the time the Angels were going to “roll the dice” to try to get into the playoffs for the first time since 2014.

The plan failed miserably, as the Angels went 8-19 in August, resulting in essentially waving the white flag by the end of the month.

“It’s baseball,” Minasian said. “Things happen. At the time we made the decisions we made, we felt like they were the right decisions. And sometimes you do things that work. Sometimes you do things that don’t. For multiple reasons, we just haven’t played well. You can look at different parts, whether it be on the pitching end, offensively, situational hitting, bullpen, defense. That’s something we’ll look at at the end of the year and really go through it and try to learn from it.”

THE REPLACEMENTS

The Angels had seven roster spots to fill Friday, with five players claimed on waivers and two extra spots for September.

They recalled Paris and infielder Michael Stefanic, and relief pitchers José Marte, Kolton Ingram, Andrew Wantz, Jimmy Herget and Gerardo Reyes.

Notable by his absence was David Fletcher, who has spent almost the entire season at Triple-A. Fletcher has hit .327 with a .789 OPS in 76 games at Salt Lake. He’s hit .250 with a .624 OPS since he returned to the minors on July 20, though.

“We have a lot of players that we could have called up that are playing really hard and performing to a certain degree,” Minasian said. “You only have so many roster spots. We ended up calling up some of the guys we called up and we feel like they’re the best to help us win games for this month. We’ll see what they do.”

Paris, 21, had an .810 OPS at Double-A. The Angels’ second-round draft pick in 2019, Paris is from Oakley, about an hour away from Oakland. He said he had about 50 friends and family members at the game on Friday.

Manager Phil Nevin said Paris would start at least the first two games, and probably all three, in Oakland.

NOTES

Minasian still does not know if Ohtani is planning to have Tommy John surgery. Although he has a torn ulnar collateral ligament, Ohtani continues to be in the lineup every day as the DH. “He’s playing until he tells us he’s not,” Minasian said. …

Shortstop Zach Neto (lower back inflammation) took batting practice in the cage and did a full workout on the field. Nevin said he will do that all weekend in Oakland, and he should be able to go on a rehab assignment sometime next week. …

Right-hander Sam Bachman (shoulder inflammation) had a setback and has stopped throwing, Nevin said. “Nothing we’re too alarmed about,” Nevin said. “Just something we have to keep monitoring with him.” …

Right-hander Ben Joyce (ulnar neuritis) pitched in a game in the Arizona Complex League this week. “He threw well,” Nevin said. “We’re going to take it slow with him. He feels great. We’ll see how he progresses over the next week or so.” …

Catcher Matt Thaiss (right shoulder inflammation) is expected to resume throwing “very shortly,” Nevin said. “I would anticipate seeing him back again this year.” …

Without Giolito, the Angels have moved Tyler Anderson up to take his spot in the rotation on Sunday. Nevin said the Angels are still hoping that Chase Silseth (concussion) will be able to start one of the games this week at home against the Baltimore Orioles. The Angels have just five starters on the roster now, but they won’t necessarily go with a five-man rotation. Nevin said they could insert Kenny Rosenberg for “a game here or there.”

UP NEXT

Angels (RHP Griffin Canning, 7-4, 4.38 ERA) at A’s (RHP Paul Blackburn, 3-4, 3.93 ERA), Saturday, 1:07 p.m., Bally Sports West, 830 AM

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[Taylor]

Lol

[jsnpritchett]

So when will the surgery be scheduled? 

"Right-hander Sam Bachman (shoulder inflammation) had a setback and has stopped throwing, Nevin said. “Nothing we’re too alarmed about,” Nevin said. “Just something we have to keep monitoring with him."

[DCAngelsFan]

When you fail at failing ... 

[AngelStew43]

Once we release a player or two at the end of the season, like Herget, Wallach, etc. we should be under.

[jsnpritchett]

7 minutes ago, AngelStew43 said:

Once we release a player or two at the end of the season, like Herget, Wallach, etc. we should be under.

That's not how it works.

[Stradling]

34 minutes ago, jsnpritchett said:

That's not how it works.

I was wondering if there was a player that could be released that isn’t arb eligible which means I don’t believe their contracts are guaranteed.  Could they release one of those guys and get under the cap?  is there a Barria/Suarez or both that could be released, get under the tax even though Barria would have to be replaced on the roster.  

[BTH]

3 minutes ago, Stradling said:

I was wondering if there was a player that could be released that isn’t arb eligible which means I don’t believe their contracts are guaranteed.  Could they release one of those guys and get under the cap?  is there a Barria/Suarez or both that could be released, get under the tax even though Barria would have to be replaced on the roster.  

 

[BTH]

11 minutes ago, Stradling said:

is there a Barria/Suarez or both that could be released, get under the tax even though Barria would have to be replaced on the roster.  

They could waive Suarez and a team might pick him up and assume the rest of his salary, but I don’t think they’d save enough to get under.

[Stradling]

Just now, BTH said:

They could waive Suarez and a team might pick him up and assume the rest of his salary, but I don’t think they’d save enough to get under.

Actually I don’t think that is true.  I think anyone released now on a guaranteed contract is paid by the team that released him.  Or I am wrong.  

[BTH]

A sneaky way they could try to get under the luxury tax is if they extend someone (Drury?) to a multi-year deal with an AAV lower than their current AAV.

I’m not sure if that works, but it might if the new AAV overrides the old AAV.

[BTH]

4 minutes ago, Stradling said:

Actually I don’t think that is true.  I think anyone released now on a guaranteed contract is paid by the team that released him.  Or I am wrong.  

If they waive Suarez and a team claims him, I’m pretty sure they pick up the salary (a la Giolito, López, etc.).

Suarez just isn’t playoff eligible, which doesn’t matter since he’s hurt. But for a team like KC, they’d be picking up Suarez with 2024 in mind.