On July 30th, the day before the trade deadline, Arte Moreno gave the OK on soft launching his organization as buyers at the trade deadline. The Angels had won three straight against the Texas Rangers and Seattle Mariners, and they inched closer-and-closer to a wild card spot. Surpassing either the Yankees or Red Sox in the standings is an extreme reach, but beating out the Mariners seemed somewhat within the realm of possibility when the Angels traded for Andrew Chafin and Luis García.
Never mind the fact that the Angels could not complete a sweep against the Rangers they desperately needed, the Angels' already paper-thin odds of reaching the postseason shrunk down to near-zero after the news that broke past midnight on the East Coast -- the day of the trade deadline.