Guardians acquire Giolito from Angels through waiver claim

The Cleveland Guardians have won the Lucas Giolito sweepstakes.

The Guardians claimed the right-hander off waivers on Thursday, two days after the Los Angeles Angels opted to put six players on waivers with their season spiraling downward.

Cleveland also claimed relievers Matt Moore and Reynaldo Lopez, who was traded with Giolito from the Chicago White Sox to the Angels on July 26.

The Angels made a number of moves at the deadline in hopes of making the playoffs for the first time since 2014 - as well as convincing superstar Shohei Ohtani to re-sign. Since the calendar flipped to August, however, Los Angeles is an AL-worst 8-19 and is 11 1/2 games out of the league's final wild-card spot.

The Guardians are on the fringe of the playoff conversation - sitting five games back of the first-place Minnesota Twins in the AL Central - but the front office is showing it is committed to making a postseason push.

The Angels, meanwhile, conceded their playoff chances on Tuesday, placing Giolito, Lopez, Moore, as well as reliever Dominic Leone, and outfielders Hunter Renfroe and Randal Grichuk on waivers.

Giolito struggled in his short time with the Angels, but has a proven track record and is familiar with the AL Central.

An All-Star in 2019, the 29-year-old threw a no-hitter in 2020, and has gone 47-41 with a 3.99 ERA over the last five seasons. Since 2019, his 868 strikeouts rank second among all AL pitchers.

In 21 starts for the White Sox this season, he went 6-6 with a 3.79 ERA before going 1-5 with a 6.89 ERA in six outings for the Angels.

He will take the spot in the starting rotation that belonged to Noah Syndergaard, who was released on Wednesday.

Moore and Lopez will join a Cleveland bullpen that has recorded a 3.48 ERA - the fifth best in MLB.

Moore had a 2.66 ERA in 41 relief appearances for Los Angeles this season, while Lopez posted a 2.77 ERA in 13 games with the Angels.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by Sports Tak Staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)