Sources: Giolito among 6 Angels put on waivers
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Jeff Passan, ESPN
The Los Angeles Angels placed nearly a quarter of their roster on waivers Tuesday, including starter Lucas Giolito, relievers Matt Moore, Reynaldo Lopez and Dominic Leone, and outfielders Hunter Renfroe and Randal Grichuk, prompting a flurry of intrigue leading up to Thursday when the teams that win the claims will be revealed, sources told ESPN.
The use of waivers, in which the Angels essentially will give away the players for a $50,000 waiver fee and salary relief, stunned the baseball industry. Between now and the expiration of the waiver period Thursday, teams can place claims on players, who, in the meantime, are allowed to play. The team with the worst record on Thursday will be awarded the player — and because he will be on the team’s roster before Sept. 1, all claimed players will be eligible for the postseason.
Other players currently on waivers include New York Yankees center fielder Harrison Bader, New York Mets right-hander Carlos Carrasco, Chicago White Sox right-hander Mike Clevinger and Detroit Tigers reliever Jose Cisnero.
If all six Angels players are claimed, the team stands to save around $7 million in salary over the season’s final month — enough, perhaps, to push its payroll beneath the $233 million competitive-balance-tax threshold. Dipping beneath the tax would allow the Angels to recoup a second-round draft pick as compensation if Shohei Ohtani leaves as a free agent, rather than a fourth-round selection. Players who are not claimed simply would clear waivers and remain under contract with the Angels.
Regardless of who ends up where, considering where the Angels were a month ago, a dump of this magnitude, even of free agents to be, is almost unfathomable.
Late on July 26, the same day the Angels decided not to trade Ohtani, they acquired Giolito and Lopez from the White Sox for catcher Edgar Quero, a 20-year-old ranked by ESPN’s Kiley McDaniel as a top-100 prospect, and left-hander Ky Bush, now in Double-A. The price was heavy, but the Angels were indicating to the industry: They were pushing for a postseason spot to help convince Ohtani to remain in Anaheim.
Four days later, they dealt for Grichuk and first baseman C.J. Cron in a deal with the Colorado Rockies.
Since the Aug. 1 deadline, the Angels have a 7-17 record, the worst in the majors. Ohtani is no longer pitching, as an MRI showed a tear in his right ulnar collateral ligament. Mike Trout, their star outfielder, came off the injured list, played one game and returned with pain in his surgically repaired hamate bone. And the Angels, who were a half-game ahead of Seattle on deadline day, now are 63-69, while the Mariners, at 75-56, reside at the top of the American League West division.
The teams likeliest to benefit from the Angels punting are toward the bottom of the playoff table. While it’s possible San Diego (62-70) could pursue a claim, it’s unlikely. The Yankees’ attempt to move Bader, who is owed less than $1 million for the remainder of the season, suggests they aren’t in the market for Angels players.
The Miami Marlins, at 66-65, are regarded by teams as a favorite to pursue bullpen help, particularly with their big deadline acquisition, David Robertson, losing his closer’s spot this week. Just ahead of them, at 68-65, are the Cincinnati Reds, whose season-long starting pitching struggles make them an ideal landing spot for Giolito.
The current standings, in reverse order, then goes: San Francisco (68-63), Boston (69-63), Arizona (69-63), Minnesota (69-63), Chicago Cubs (69-62).
The pertinent standings will be determined Thursday morning. In the case of a tie between an American League and National League team, the AL team would have priority, according to MLB rules. If the tied teams are in the same league, the team with the worse record in 2022 would have priority.
Considering what Giolito and Lopez cost at the deadline, the ability to get them for next to nothing is a gift for teams struggling in the standings. Giolito, 29, was one of the biggest deadline prizes but has struggled in his six starts with the Angels, posting a 6.89 ERA and allowing 10 home runs in 32⅔ innings. Lopez, 29, has been lights-out for the Angels, striking out 19 in 11⅔ innings and logging a 2.31 ERA.
The 34-year-old Moore, who signed a one-year, $7.55 million deal this offseason, has had the best season of the group, striking out 47 in 43 innings, with a career-low walk rate and 2.30 ERA.
Leone, 31, is making around the major league minimum salary, making him a cheap and easy claim.
Renfroe, 31, and Grichuk, 32, are veteran outfielders whose salaries — $11.9 million and $10.3 million, respectively — could make them slightly less desirable, though with the minuscule acquisition cost, contending teams could see the salary covering two months: September and October.
The Angels, meanwhile, will be watching instead of playing in September, with this brutal one-month stretch the culmination of a season gone wrong.
Without any playoff appearances during Ohtani’s first five seasons, the Angels over the winter signed left-hander Tyler Anderson, utilityman Brandon Drury, closer Carlos Estevez and Moore while trading for Renfroe and infielder Gio Urshela in hopes of contending. Buoyed by Ohtani’s MVP season, the Angels looked primed to ship players out — including potentially Ohtani — until they won seven of eight in late July and owner Arte Moreno decided to hold their superstar and try to build a championship contender around him.
It failed, and the biggest shedding of players via waivers ever in August will happen Tuesday accordingly.
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Adam Rittenberg, ESPN Senior Writer
Wisconsin fired offensive coordinator Phil Longo on Sunday, a day after the Badgers’ 16-13 home loss to No. 1 Oregon.
In a statement, Badgers coach Luke Fickell thanked Longo for his two seasons with the program, while adding, “We are not where we need to be and believe this decision is in the best interest of the team.”
Wisconsin ranks 97th nationally in scoring and 102nd in passing while operating an Air Raid-style offense that Longo brought with him from North Carolina and other stops.
The Badgers, who lost starting quarterback Tyler Van Dyke to a season-ending injury Sept. 14, had only three points and 88 yards in the second half against Oregon, which rallied from a 13-6 deficit entering the fourth quarter.
Wisconsin ranked 101st nationally in scoring in Longo’s 23 games as coordinator and failed to eclipse 13 points on its current three-game losing streak. Quarterback Braedyn Locke had only 96 passing yards against the Ducks.
Fickell did not immediately announce an interim coordinator for Wisconsin’s final regular-season games against Nebraska and Minnesota.
Fickell had long targeted Longo for a coordinator role, going back to his time as Cincinnati’s coach. Longo, 56, oversaw productive offenses at Ole Miss, North Carolina, Sam Houston State and other spots but never consistently got traction at a Wisconsin program that had operated dramatically differently on offense before his arrival.
“This team still has a lot in front of us and I am committed to doing everything we can to close out this season with success,” Fickell said in his statement.
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Eli Lederman, ESPN Staff Writer
Four-star quarterback Tramell Jones Jr. has committed to Florida, he told ESPN on Sunday, joining the Gators’ 2025 class four days after pulling his pledge from Florida State.
Jones, a four-year starter at Florida’s Mandarin High School, is ESPN’s No. 9 dual-threat passer in the Class of 2025. After multiple trips to Florida throughout his recruitment, Jones returned to campus Saturday, taking an official visit with the Gators during the program’s 27-16 win over LSU. A day later, Jones stands as the lone quarterback pledge in a 2025 Florida class that includes five pledges from the ESPN 300.
“I pretty much saw everything I needed to see when I visited last spring — I just love everything around the campus,” Jones told ESPN. “And then hanging out with the guys yesterday, seeing the camaraderie with each other, that really just sealed it for me.”
Jones was the longest-tenured member of Mike Norvell’s 2025 class at Florida State before his decommitment from the Seminoles on Thursday morning.
Jones’ exit came days after Norvell announced the firings of three assistant coaches on Nov. 10, including offensive coordinator and offensive line coach Alex Atkins. Jones was the first Florida State commit to pull his pledge in the wake of the staff shakeup but marked the Seminoles sixth decommitment since the start of the regular season, joining five ESPN 300 recruits who have left Norvell’s recruiting class across the program’s 1-9 start.
Jones’ commitment follows a key late-season victory for Billy Napier on Saturday and marks the Gators’ first recruiting win since athletic director Scott Strickland announced on Nov. 7 that Florida would stick with the third-year coach beyond the 2024 season.
Uncertainty over Napier’s future had weighed down Florida’s recruiting efforts in the 2025 class as the Gators began November with the No. 39 class in ESPN’s latest team rankings for the cycle. But Jones’ pledge comes as a boost for Florida one day after the Gators hosted a handful of high-profile flip targets, including five-star offensive tackle Solomon Thomas (Florida State pledge) and four-star wide receiver Jaime Ffrench (Texas pledge).
When Jones signs with Florida, he’ll arrive on campus flanked by fellow in-state offensive talents in four-star wide receivers Vernell Brown III (No. 44 in the ESPN 300) and Naeshaun Montgomery (No. 115), as well as four-star running back Waltez Clark (No. 223). Florida is also set to sign a pair of in-state defenders from the 2025 ESPN 300 between four-star defensive end Jalen Wiggins (No. 68) and four-star cornerback Ben Hanks Jr. (No. 121).
With Jones’ commitment, Florida has another jolt to its momentum on the recruiting trail as the Gators seek to chart a strong finish in the 2025 cycle next month. More imminently, Florida will host No. 11 Ole Miss on Saturday.
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