Within the last week, the Angels officially decided to keep Shohei Ohtani and then announced their presence with authority on the list of buyers in front of the trade deadline by dealing for All-Star starting pitcher Lucas Giolito. Sunday evening, they made another splash. They have acquired outfielder Randal Grichuk and first baseman C.J. Cron from the Rockies, the teams announced.
The return to the Rockies is right-handed pitcher Jake Madden and left-handed pitcher Mason Albright.
Cron, 33, is hitting .260/.304/.476 (96 OPS+) with 12 doubles, 11 homers and 32 RBI in 55 games this season. He was an All-Star last season and ended up with 29 homers and 102 RBI. This will be his second stint with the Angels after spending the first four seasons of his MLB career with the club.
Grichuk, 31, is also returning to the Angels organization. He was drafted by the club in the first round in 2009, though he was traded to the Cardinals before making his MLB debut. In 63 games this season, he's hitting .308/.365/.496 (121 OPS+) with 19 doubles, eight homers and 27 RBI.
We do need to keep in mind the Coors Field effect with both players. Cron is hitting .240/.280/.460 on the road this season while Grichuk has slashed .282/.338/.444 away from Coors.
Both players are likely to step into an everyday role once they join the club. Cron will take over at first, where the Angels have had a revolving door most of the year thanks to Jared Walsh's awful season. Once Brandon Drury returns from the injured list, he can take over at second (he's played first base this season more than any other player for the Angels). Grichuk will probably play center field until Mike Trout returns from the injured list, though it's possible Mickey Moniak stays put and Grichuk plays a corner spot; left fielder Taylor Ward landed on the IL Sunday with facial fractures after being hit in the fact by an Alek Manoah pitch. We'll see how everyone plays until the team is closer to full strength when Drury and Trout return, but until then, Cron and Grichuk will be very important pieces in the lineup.
The Angels are currently 55-51 and four games back of the third and final AL wild-card spot. They've won nine of their last 12 games, though there's a rough stretch coming up in the schedule. They'll play three games against the Braves in Atlanta before returning home for series against the Mariners and Giants. After that it's the Astros and Rangers. In fact, the Angels don't play a sub-.500 team again until Aug. 25 when they visit the Mets.
As for the Rockies' return, Madden was a fourth-round pick in 2022 and has a 5.46 ERA in Class A this season. Albright was a 12th-round pick out of high school in 2021. He has a 3.62 ERA and 1.23 WHIP in 79 2/3 innings in Class A.
