Eight Players Red Sox Could Target After Shocking MLB Waiver Dump

Turns out the Major League Baseball trade deadline was not teams’ final opportunity to add potential impact talent before the stretch run.

A stunning development took place Tuesday that deserves the attention of the Boston Red Sox — and all 2023 postseason hopefuls across MLB.

The Los Angeles Angels upset the apple cart, reportedly placing five(!) players on waivers. And not just scrubs, either. We’re talking legitimate big leaguers who could leave their fingerprints on the MLB playoff race.

Why? Well, they’re the Angels. Keep that in mind while trying to dissect their decision-making. But the most logical explanation centers around the luxury tax. Los Angeles, which has fallen out of the American League wild-card chase with a dismal August, seemingly is looking to sneak back under the $233 million competitive balance tax (CBT) threshold, an important bit of housekeeping that could impact the draft-pick compensation the Halos receive if Shohei Ohtani walks in free agency this offseason.

This opens the door for the other 29 MLB teams — including the Red Sox — to put in waiver claims for any of the five players. Any team that wins a waiver claim must add the player(s) to its 40-man roster and pay the remainder of his contract. No other trade compensation is required.

Waiver priority runs in reverse order of record (through Wednesday’s games), with ties broken by last year’s records. The Red Sox entered Wednesday with the same record as the Minnesota Twins and Arizona Diamondbacks (69-64), the 16th-worst mark in MLB. The San Francisco Giants (69-63) sit just ahead of them in the standings (and just behind them in the waiver order).

Placing players on waivers isn’t unprecedented. It happens every year. The size and scope of the Angels’ waiver dump is jarring, though, especially since it involves multiple players LA just acquired before the trade deadline.

They’re also not alone in suddenly flooding the market, as the New York Yankees, New York Mets and Chicago White Sox reportedly added to the mix with less-substantial waiver moves of their own.

Do any of these available players make sense for the Red Sox? They certainly could as Boston hangs on by a thread in the AL playoff hunt.

But the same can be said for other clubs ahead of the Red Sox in the waiver order, of course, and Boston presumably will want to remain below the CBT threshold, a factor to consider when looking at each player’s salary for the remainder of 2023.

Boston has ~$5MM under the tax the rest of the way, give or take some bonus payments.

17.7% of the season remaining, meaning they would each cost:

Giolito – $1.84MM
Moore- $1.34MM
López – $641k
Renfroe – $2.11MM
Grichuk – $1.82MM https://t.co/yAO9AqpgrL

— Red Sox Payroll (@redsoxpayroll) August 29, 2023

Without further ado, here are eight notable names to reportedly hit the waiver wire Tuesday.

Lucas Giolito, RHP (Angels)
How bad did the Angels botch the trade deadline? Consider this: They traded two of their top three prospects for Giolito and Lopez, only to watch Giolito go 1-5 with a 6.89 ERA in six starts (32 2/3 innings) with LA. That said, Giolito has a good-enough MLB track record — he finished in the top 11 in AL Cy Young voting each season from 2019 to 2021 — that teams still should be interested in his services despite his poor 2023. Starting pitching doesn’t exactly grow on trees this time of year.

Reynaldo López, RHP (Angels)
López’s performance has been up and down, both this season and for the duration of his MLB career. But the recent results are good — 2.31 ERA, 1.81 WHIP and 14.7 strikeouts per nine innings in 12 relief appearances with Los Angeles — and everyone could use bullpen help, right?

Matt Moore, LHP (Angels)
Not only has Moore been good this season, pitching to a 2.30 ERA and 0.98 WHIP in 40 relief appearances (43 innings). He was solid last season, as well, posting a 1.95 ERA and 1.18 WHIP across 63 appearances (74 innings). Any team needing a lefty arm in its ‘pen should be salivating.

Hunter Renfroe, OF (Angels)
Renfroe is streaky. And he’s been on a downward track this month. But there’s no denying his right-handed pop — Renfroe totaled 60 home runs, an .812 OPS and a 118 OPS+ between 2021 and 2022 — and ability to get hot. He’d be a nice addition to many outfield equations across the league.

Randal Grichuk, OF (Angels)
Grichuk, another Angels trade deadline acquisition, is in the same boat as Renfroe, with a lower ceiling and a shorter price tag. He’s a right-handed outfielder capable of leaving his mark if used correctly. Grichuk, who started the year with the Colorado Rockies, is slashing .330/.394/.596 with six homers and 12 RBIs in 104 plate appearances against lefties this season.

Harrison Bader, OF (Yankees)
Bader has fallen off a cliff offensively since his days with the St. Louis Cardinals. But he’s one of the better defensive center fielders in MLB. He’ll be a nice chess piece wherever he lands.

Carlos Carrasco, RHP (Mets)
A lot has changed since Carrasco finished fourth in AL Cy Young voting with Cleveland in 2017. For one, he’s been really, really bad with the Mets this season. But Carrasco was decent as recently as 2022, when he went 15-7 with a 3.97 ERA and 3.53 FIP in 29 starts (152 innings). And again, starting pitching is hard to find this late in the year.

Mike Clevinger, RHP (White Sox)
Not interested in Carrasco? How about his former Cleveland teammate? The last few years have been a grind for Clevinger, who missed all of 2021 after undergoing Tommy John surgery, but there’s obvious talent with which to work. The 32-year-old owns a 3.32 ERA in 18 starts (97 2/3 innings) in 2023.