Angels' head-shaking trade decision looks even worse now

The Los Angeles Angels decided to buy relievers as part of their MLB trade deadline strategy, hoping to get Mike Trout and the franchise back to the postseason for the first time since 2014. 

While a noble sentiment, it could well be a move that keeps the franchise from moving anywhere close to the postseason any time soon.

On July 30, the Angels added to their bullpen, bringing over Andrew Chafin and Luis Garcia from the Washington Nationals. After winning three of their last four games before the trade, there was hope in Anaheim that the Angels could pull something together.

That hope, however, seems much smaller on Thursday.

With the Seattle Mariners adding two big bats in Josh Naylor and Eugenio Suarez, and the Houston Astros and Texas Rangers expected to improve their roster as well before the trade deadline comes to a close, the road to success in the AL West became bumpier than it even had been before for the Angels. 

How tough? As July 31 dawned, the Angels had a 3.2 percent chance to make the postseason per FanGraphs.

Granted, plenty of fans showed up in Anaheim on Wednesday night dressed as angels, but it's going to take more than faith to get these Angels into meaningful October baseball.

Of course, it's not just in the division where the Angels are going to have to battle to make the postseason. Entering Thursday, Los Angeles sat at 53-56 and four games back of the final wild-card position. With a tie for that third spot between the Mariners and Rangers and three other teams between them and the Angels in the standings, it's going to take a lot of winning (and some help) for Los Angeles to earn a postseason spot.

One of those teams between the Angels and the third wild-card spot is the Cleveland Guardians, a franchise that decided to sell at the deadline rather than buy. While it may not be a popular decision in Cleveland, it's designed to help the franchise prepare to compete in the AL Central in the future.

Is it impossible for the Angels to get into October? No. Is it improbable? Absolutely.

With Los Angeles having potential trade pieces such as Taylor Ward, Tyler Anderson and Kenley Jansen (as well as others, depending on how deep they wanted to go), many thought the Angels would be sellers. If employed, that strategy might have helped Los Angeles build for the future, especially with several of those trade pieces being potential free agents at the end of the season.

Time will tell if the Angels made the right move, but the odds of succeeding this season (and perhaps in the near future as well) do not look promising.