Angels continue to build around Shohei Ohtani, reportedly trade with Rockies for Randal Grichuk, C.J. Cron
The Los Angeles Angels have agreed to a deal to acquire Colorado Rockies outfielder Randal Grichuk and first baseman C.J. Cron, according to multiple reports.
The Rockies will receive pitching prospects Jake Madden and Mason Albright in return, ESPN's Jeff Passan reports. They'll also send $2 million in cash to the Angels.
The deal furthers the Angels' commitment to building around and attempting to retain Shohei Ohtani after they declined to deal the two-way superstar. The Angels reportedly decided last week to retain Ohtani ahead of the MLB trade deadline (6 p.m. ET Tuesday) at the risk of seeing him walk as a free agent in the offseason. The team has since made multiple moves in an effort to improve the roster in hopes of a postseason run and enticing Ohtani to stay.
Shortly after news of their decision to keep Ohtani broke, the Angels traded for Chicago White Sox pitchers Lucas Giolito and Reynaldo López. Now they've added a pair of productive bats in Grichuk and Cron.
Grichuk, 31, is slashing .312/.367/.501 this season, with eight home runs, 27 RBI and two stolen bases. Cron, 33, is slashing .259/.300/.473 with 11 home runs and 32 RBI. They'll move from a downtrodden Rockies team with the worst record in the NL to an Angels team fighting for a postseason berth. Cron returns to the Angels team with which he played four seasons at the start of his career (2014-17).
As of Sunday, the Angels were 55-51, five games behind the AL-West leading Texas Rangers and four games back of a wild-card berth in a competitive AL playoff race. Ohtani, meanwhile, is an overwhelming favorite to win his second AL MVP in three seasons.
An All-Star as a pitcher and a hitter, Ohtani boasts a 3.43 ERA and 1.069 WHIP with 156 strikeouts and 50 walks in 120 2/3 innings pitched. At the plate, he's slashing .302/.400/.683 with 39 home runs, 81 RBI and 12 stolen bases. He leads the league in home runs, triples (7), walks (64), total bases (265), on-base percentage and slugging percentage.
