Angels acquire Lucas Giolito, Reynaldo López from White Sox for pair of minor leaguers

Just hours after reportedly taking star two-way player Shohei Ohtani off the market and announcing that they intended to make a playoff push, the Los Angeles Angels have made the first major move of the trade season, acquiring high profile pitching from the Chicago White Sox. 

The Halos landed White Sox starter Lucas Giolito and relief pitcher Reynaldo López in exchange for two minor leaguers, left-handed pitcher Ky Bush and catcher Edgar Quero. The deal was first announced by ESPN's Jeff Passan. 

Giolito, 29, has been the subject of trade talks with teams like the Dodgers expressing their interest in recent weeks. In 21 starts this season he's 6-6 with a 3.79 ERA and 131 strikeouts and will slot in nicely to a shaky Angels' rotation. 

An All-Star in 2019, Giolito has tossed at least 160 innings in four of the last five seasons, excluding the shortened 2020 campaign. Over his lifetime, he has a 4.26 ERA and 1,004 Ks. He finished top-10 in Cy Young voting in back-to-back seasons in 2018 and 2019 and returns close to home after growing up in Studio City, playing high school ball for Harvard-Westlake High School before he was drafted in the first round of the 2012 MLB Draft by the Washington Nationals. 

His contract is set to expire at the end of the season. 

López, also 29, began his career as a starter with the White Sox before transitioning to the bullpen last season, when he tossed 65 and one-third innings to the tune of a 2.76 ERA. 

This year, he's appeared in 43 games and sports a 4.29 ERA with 52 strikeouts and four saves. He will provide a much needed upgrade to the Angels bullpen. 

He will also become a free agent after the 2023 season. 

The Angels currently sit third in the American League West, seven games behind the first-place Texas Rangers and five back of the second-place Houston Astros. They have, however, won six of their last seven games and sit just four games back of one of the three AL Wild Card spots, in a very tight race with the New York Yankees, Boston Red Sox and Seattle Mariners. 

In return, the White Sox have receive left-handed pitching prospect Ky Bush, who has played for the Halos' Double-A and Rookie level minor league teams this season, and 20-year-old catcher Edgar Quero. 

Bush, 23, was a second round draft pick by the Angels in 2021. Thus far in his minor league career, he has a 4.47 ERA in 34 starts with 163 strikeouts. 

The lanky 6-foot-6 lefty was ranked No. 3 on the team's list of top prospects and features a four-pitch repertoire of a fastball that sits in the mid-90s and three off-speed pitches — curveball, slider and changeup. 

Quero on the other hand, ranks as the No. 2 prospect in the Halos' farm system. The switch-hitting backstop quickly climbed the ranks, earning an MVP award for the California League while playing with the Angels' Single-A team. 

At just 20-years-old and with a five tool profile, Quero earned his spot as one of Los Angeles' selections for the 2023 Futures Game. 

This season in Double-A he is hitting .245 with three homers and 35 RBIs and a .717 OPS. While his ceiling is high, his path to the bigs was partially blocked by fellow top prospect Logan O'Hoppe, who played well for the Halos this season before being sidelined by injury.