The Los Angeles Angels didn’t accomplish much on the field in 2023. They finished the season 73-89 – fourth in the American League West and just a stone’s throw from the playoffs.

What is remarkable and worth reporting even a year later is the way in which they got there.

The Angels were 56-51 at the end of July and were in good shape at the trade deadline. In separate trades, they acquired pitchers Lucas Giolito, Reynaldo Lopez, Dominic Leone, outfielder Randal Grichuk, first baseman/designated hitter CJ Cron and infielders Mike Moustakas and Eduardo Escobar.

The trades had the opposite of the desired effect. The Angels entered August on a seven-game losing streak. By August 11, they had fallen below .500 and never recovered. Their dream of reaching the postseason with Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani was finally over.

With their fate mathematically all but sealed, the Angels undertook a massive, unprecedented salary cut. Giolito, Lopez, Leone, pitcher Matt Moore and outfielder Hunter Renfroe were all placed on waivers and eventually claimed by contending teams. Other players were placed on waivers but not claimed.

It wasn’t a good picture for the Angels, as their fans had to suffer through an uninspiring September so soon after their playoff hopes were raised. At least the payroll hit had the desired effect: The Angels were able to avoid paying a luxury tax, something that had become a priority during Arte Moreno’s tenure as the team’s owner.

Looking ahead, the Texas Rangers are in an eerily similar situation. At 56-66, their chances of defending their World Series title are next to none. They signed pitcher Andrew Chafin and catcher Carson Kelly from the Detroit Tigers before the July 30 deadline, but have done nothing else.

Now, the veterans on their roster have a better chance of reaching the postseason with at least a dozen other teams competing. Starter Andrew Heaney, as well as Chafin, Kelly and closer Kirby Yates, may not mind a change of scenery, and the Rangers may not mind saving luxury tax money by terminating their contracts. But will they succeed?

Recent comments from General Manager Chris Young suggest that will not be the case.

“We will play to win the rest of the year,” Young told the Dallas Morning News before the Rangers’ 3-2 loss to Minnesota to open a seven-game home series. “I expect every game we play that we come in with the mindset that we’re going to win this game and find a way to win this game. And I believe the momentum that we built the rest of this season will carry over into the offseason and into 2025. So it’s really important that we finish strong.”

Young’s aversion to a fire sale could prevent a rule change that Major League Baseball had discussed internally after the Angels sold off in 2023. The issue was discussed at GM meetings in November, according to ESPN’s Buster Olney, but MLB decided that “more data is needed – at least one more season of evidence to determine whether the Angels’ salary deduction set a precedent for other teams to take similar actions or whether the Angels’ 2023 waiver decisions were a one-time event.”

For now, it remains a one-off event.