The Cleveland Guardians Made A Desperate Play To Win The Division By Claiming Three Of The Players The Angels Waived To Save Money

SOURCE - The Guardians added a host of solid pitchers on Thursday, claiming left-hander Matt Moore and right-handers Lucas Giolito and Reynaldo Lópezfrom the Angels, the team announced. To clear roster space, Cleveland designated right-hander Peyton Battenfield and catcher Eric Haase for assignment.

The Angels are 64-70 and in the middle of a lost season that has gone so badly that it should be written about in Sports Management books and taught in colleges as a cautionary tale. The Guardians are 64-70 as well...and picked up three former Angels today.

The difference is the Angels play in the impossibly tough AL West which features three of the best teams in the league. The Guardians play in the sewer they call the AL Central. This division is so shitty, the Twins currently lead the way at 69-65. Their "best" player Carlos Correa has been lousy (.222/.304/.391). They've turned to Dallas Keuchel to start games for them this month out of desperation. This would have been a great move in 2015. Keuchel had a 9.20 ERA last year in 14 starts. Frank cooked ribs not as cooked as he is.

Ron Vesely. Getty Images.

I think this may be a case of too little, too late. I love to see the Guardians spending money especially if this is Terry Francona's last season. I just wish they had made moves earlier. They are 4 games back and have a have a 3 game series against the Twins starting Monday. The problem there is that's the last time they play each other all year.

It's sort of an odd move. Cleveland just traded starting pitcher Aaron Civale to the Rays a month ago. Since then, they've been running with a starting pitching rotation full of rookies who are pitching great: Tanner Bibee (10-3, 3.03), Logan Allen (6-7, 3.61) and Gavin Williams (1-5, 3.61). Adding a veteran like Lucan Giolito should help… but he's also been diarrhea since going to the Angels last month (1-5, 6.89 ERA). 

The Guardians already have a good bullpen so adding Matt Moore and Reynoldo Lopez create an embarrassment of riches. I don't really understand why didn't make more moves to help with the offensive side of the ball. Randall Grichuk could have been claimed by anyone. The Reds got Harrison Bader (from the Yankees) and Hunter Renfroe. I feel like those players would have helped much more than Lopez.

Ron Schwane. Getty Images.

Since Jose Ramirez KO'd Tim Anderson, the Guardians haven't been great (10-14). It's not like the Twins are red hot either but a 4 game difference with only 28 games left is tough to make up when you aren't very good. I'll be rooting for the Guardians the rest of the way. The rookie starting pitching is a great story and you have to love Jose Ramirez. I'm also not going to blast ownership because they are doing the right thing with these moves but it is frustrating that the team could be so much better if they did spend more.