All is not well in Orange County.
About a week has passed since the Angels pushed all of their chips in at the MLB trade deadline to try to make a playoff run and woo back two-way superstar Shohei Ohtani. In that time, they've lost six straight games, including a four-game sweep at the hands of the Mariners, who have made headway in the AL wild card race.
The Angels traded away several of their top prospects to land Lucas Giolito and Reynaldo Lopez from the White Sox and C.J. Cron and Randal Grichuk from the Rockies. Giolito has pitched nine innings in his first two starts, giving up 12 runs and 14 hits and four walks. Lopez has fared better out of the pen, giving up a run in five innings (over four appearances) while striking out nine.
As for the bats, Cron is 5 of 25 and still looking for his first extra-base hit, and Grichuk is 6 of 26 with two home runs to show for it.
The problem with the Angels isn't just the new acquisitions, however. Mike Trout and Anthony Rendon are still hurt, the team is hitting .238 with runners in scoring position -- 28th in baseball ahead of only the Padres and Athletics -- and they just can't seem to pull all of their pieces together.
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While the series against the Mariners was marred by some bad umpiring late, an inability to build any kind of momentum was the cause of that sweep, which now has the Angels seven games back of a wild card berth with the Red Sox, Yankees, and Mariners between them and the Blue Jays for the third AL wild card spot.
Angels wild card standings
On July 31, the eve of the MLB trade deadline, the Angels were 56-51, 4.5 games back of the Rangers in the AL West and three games back of the Blue Jays in the AL wild card race with only the Red Sox between the two.
Fast forward to Aug. 7, and the Angels find themselves 56-57, seven games back of Toronto, with the Mariners, Yankees, and Red Sox ahead of them.
Fangraphs now has the Angels' playoff odds at 2.1 percent, down from 19.5 percent on July 31.
| AL Pos. | Team | Record | Games Back |
| WC1 | Tampa Bay Rays | 68-46 | +4.5 |
| WC2 | Houston Astros | 64-49 | +1 |
| WC3 | Toronto Blue Jays | 63-50 | -- |
| 7 | Seattle Mariners | 60-52 | 2.5 |
| 8 | New York Yankees | 58-54 | 4.5 |
| 9 | Boston Red Sox | 57-54 | 5 |
| 10 | Los Angeles Angels | 56-57 | 7 |
The only solace for the Angels is that the Yankees and Red Sox are also trending in the wrong direction. The Angels are 2-8 in their last 10, the Yankees are 4-6, and the Red Sox are 3-7. The problem is the Blue Jays, who are 6-4, and the Mariners, who are 8-2.
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Angels AL West standings
If the wild card continues to slip away, the AL West isn't going to get any more attainable.
The Angels are in fourth place, and the Rangers are undefeated since the trade deadline and 7-3 in their last 10. The Astros, meanwhile, could well be coiled to make a late-season run, while the Mariners have found some momentum recently.
| Pos. | Team | Record | GB |
| 1 | Texas Rangers | 66-46 | -- |
| 2 | Houston Astros | 64-49 | 2.5 |
| 3 | Seattle Mariners | 60-52 | 6 |
| 4 | Los Angeles Angels | 56-57 | 10.5 |
| 5 | Oakland Athletics | 32-80 | 34 |
The Angels have dropped six straight while the Rangers have won six in a row and the Mariners have won five straight, four coming against the Angels over the weekend.
Angels upcoming schedule
Life is already hard for the Angels, but it's only going to get tougher. The Angels have to deal with an absolute gauntlet the rest of the August, with series against the Astros and Rangers looming especially large.
Not only do they need to start playing well, immediately, they need to play at the level of some of baseball's best teams if they want to avoid being out of the race by Sep. 1. That's going to be no mean feat. They're 31-41 against teams with a winning record, and the teams they're playing in August have a combined winning percentage of .544. The Mets are the only team with a losing record they're slated to play.
| Date | Opponent | Record |
| Aug. 7 | San Francisco Giants | 61-51 |
| Aug. 8 | San Francisco Giants | 61-51 |
| Aug. 9 | San Francisco Giants | 61-51 |
| Aug. 11 | @Houston Astros | 64-49 |
| Aug. 12 | @Houston Astros | 64-49 |
| Aug. 13 | @Houston Astros | 64-49 |
| Aug. 14 | @Texas Rangers | 66-46 |
| Aug. 15 | @Texas Rangers | 66-46 |
| Aug. 16 | @Texas Rangers | 66-46 |
| Aug. 18 | Tampa Bay Rays | 68-46 |
| Aug. 19 | Tampa Bay Rays | 68-46 |
| Aug. 20 | Tampa Bay Rays | 68-46 |
| Aug. 21 | Cincinnati Reds | 59-55 |
| Aug. 22 | Cincinnati Reds | 59-55 |
| Aug. 23 | Cincinnati Reds | 59-55 |
| Aug. 25 | @New York Mets | 50-61 |
| Aug. 26 | @New York Mets | 50-61 |
| Aug. 27 | @New York Mets | 50-61 |
| Aug. 28 | @Philadelphia Phillies | 61-51 |
| Aug. 29 | @Philadelphia Phillies | 61-51 |
| Aug. 30 | @Philadelphia Phillies | 61-51 |
What's next for the Angels and Shohei Ohtani?
If the Angels don't make the playoffs, then the odds of Ohtani returning are almost universally perceived as infinitesimal. The Angels are 317-360 in games where Ohtani has appeared, none of them playoff games.
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If Ohtani does depart after this season, then the Angels will be dealing with several expiring contracts and a depleted farm system thanks to their ambitious deadline. In other words, if Ohtani leaves, it will be full rebuild mode in Los Angeles for the foreseeable future.
Angels 2024 expiring contracts
- Shohei Ohtani, TWP
- Hunter Renfroe, OF
- Lucas Giolito, P*
- Randal Grichuk, OF*
- Giovanni Urshela, 1B
- Matt Moore, P
- C.J. Cron, 1B*
- Reynaldo Lopez, P*
- Dominic Leone, P*
* - Deadline acquisition
Ohtani will be the lynchpin for the Angels. If he decides to leave for another team, it will be time to completely tear it down, even with Trout still on the books. If Ohtani stays, however, we may see the Angels go hyper-aggressive in the offseason to try to build a contender.
Things look bleak now, but winning cures all. Life isn't going to get any easier for the Angels throughout August. But the die was cast when the Angels unloaded prospects for players at the deadline. They have to be aggressive for the rest of the year.