The 2023 season for the Los Angeles Angels was a roller coaster that, regrettably, broke down near the finish.

With Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani on the team, they had an aggressive summer to start the season with the goal of adding numerous quality players and making their first postseason appearance. The strategy succeeded for most of the season, as the Angels were competitive for the postseason.

Due of this, the Angels were able to acquire Dominic Leone from the New York Mets, C.J. Cron and Randal Grichuk from the Colorado Rockies, and Lucas Giolito and Reynaldo Lopez from the Chicago White Sox at the trade deadline.

Though there was hope that the Angels would be able to play baseball in October for the first time since 2014, the plan was not successful. The Angels placed a large number of their players on waivers in order to avoid paying the luxury tax after they were eliminated from the postseason.

According to Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register, Angels general manager Perry Minasian doesn’t regret taking a bold stance around the trade deadline despite the strategy’s failure:

“Our baseball game was excellent,” Minasian remarked on Friday. “We most certainly had a chance to compete in the remaining stages. It was unsuccessful. I have no regrets. We thought we had a strong team. It was just ineffective. We didn’t have the number of guys return that we had anticipated in terms of injuries. Our performance was not what we had anticipated. Having said that, I have no regrets because we tried to win despite the risks involved.

The Angels were half a game off of the final Wild Card place on July 31, with a 56-51 record. They had virtually little chance of making the playoffs by August 29 and were 63-70. As a result, they placed a number of its older players, including Giolito, López, Matt Moore, Leone, and Hunter Renfroe, on waivers.

It was commendable to watch the Angels try their hardest to qualify for the postseason once in the Ohtani era, even though the strategy did not work out. With the two-way superstar signing a historic contract to play for the Los Angeles Dodgers, the Angels will now need to make adjustments in order to stay relevant.

The Angels allegedly have intentions this offseason to check in on Blake Snell and have expressed interest in Corbin Burnes and Shane Bieber, two of the best starting pitchers available.

Shohei Ohtani is wished well by Perry Minasian.

Angels general manager Perry Minasian wished Ohtani well with the Dodgers but refrained from revealing how close the team was to re-signing him.

During his inaugural press conference with the Dodgers, Ohtani stated unequivocally that winning a World Series is his main priority, which probably caused the Angels to fall farther on his list of potential destinations.