The Angels were sixth in the AL wild-card standings, 1 ¹/₂ games behind the fifth-place Yankees (three get into the playoffs), when they made a statement of purpose Wednesday night. They weren’t trading Shohei Ohtani.

Quite the opposite. They used their No. 2 and 3-ranked prospects according to MLB.com to land two walk-year entities — starter Lucas Giolito and reliever Reynaldo Lopez from the White Sox. Thus, they were fervently hunting their first playoff appearance since 2014, which they hope has the fringe benefit of convincing Ohtani that the Angels can win as part of a recruitment to retain him in free agency.

At the moment of the trade, the Angels had roughly half the chance to make the playoffs (16.7 percent) via FanGraphs’ projection system as the Yankees (33.1) — the Angels then swept a doubleheader Thursday against the Tigers.

But are the Yankees going to find as many reasons to be motivated buyers as the Angels?

It would be embarrassing to have the majors’ second-largest payroll and miss the playoffs — though it looks like No. 1 (Mets) and No. 3 (Padres) are going to fall short; with No. 4 (Phillies) and No. 5 (Angels) no certainty to make it either. Does Brian Cashman’s first in-season firing of a coach (Dillon Lawson) presage an urgency that other jobs — from Cashman downward — are in peril if this team cannot even get into the tournament? Does the absence of a title since 2009 trigger action?

Rival executives talked to for this piece still did not have a clear read on which direction the Yankees were heading in before Tuesday’s 6 p.m. trade deadline. The consensus was that the Yankees would buy, but with real fluctuation in gauging to what level. It could be sensitive to how Aaron Judge looks if, as expected, he does return from his toe injury this weekend and how the Yankees fare in three games against the Orioles.

A bad weekend that further exposes the team’s flaws could convince brass to only try to raise the team’s floor, especially when they have moved out so much farm depth in trades over the last 36 months. In that scenario, the only way the Yankees give up a meaningful return is for a controllable player beyond this season (a mode they might follow this deadline no matter what).

Or do they try to address their offense in a significant way by getting Judge off the IL plus doing something akin to obtaining the Cubs’ Cody Bellinger in his walk year and dealing for Colorado catcher Elias Diaz?

On the raise-the-floor side, there has been a lot of discussion about the Yanks landing Colorado’s Randal Grichuk to play left field, since as a free-agent-to-be, he would not cost a substantial return. But the Yankees’ left-field problem is not just that they are dreadful offensively (.227 average/.674 OPS). They also are tied with the Phillies for last in defensive runs saved in left at minus-15.

Aaron Boone’s best defensive options in left are Billy McKinney and converted infielder Isiah Kiner-Falefa. But if the Yanks actually do get a righty hitter like Grichuk, I think it would reflect wanting to keep playing Jake Bauers, a converted first baseman who has difficulty running and catching concurrently.

His swing changes have led to exit velocity that the Yankees baseball operations group loves and he has hit for some impact. He’s a good find. But the Yankees lose in the playoffs annually because in heavily scouted short series, they are (to make up a word) out-baseballed as the shortcomings of their one-dimensional players are exposed. Bauers’ combo of high strikeouts and difficulty against high-octane stuff gets magnified in October, as does inadequacy versus lefties and on defense.

To me, the Yankees have to solve left field with a well-rounded player — for now and the future. They never have really replaced Brett Gardner’s pitch-to-pitch intensity and defense. Aaron Hicks failed. Oswaldo Cabrera’s regression has been a scar on this Yankee season. Estevan Florial has not been promoted probably because despite hitting/hitting for power/defending, he has a 29.3 percent strikeout rate at Triple-A. He has no options left and the Yanks didn’t want to try to sneak him through waivers again if he had to get sent down. My suspicion is he will be a piece of a trade before the deadline.

I would make sure that Cleveland’s lefty-swinging/low-strikeout/strong defense Steven Kwan is not available. I will reiterate a point I have made before — Arizona’s Jake McCarthy, who still won’t be arbitration eligible this offseason, has some Gardner in him, and the Diamondbacks are looking for pitching depth that the Yankees may be able to supply. They should also ask their nemesis, Houston, about Jake Meyers, who has been usurped by Chas McCormick in center. Meyers is a strong defender, who can hit lefties fine and provide an alternative in center if Harrison Bader leaves in free agency.

Astros GM Dana Brown has made it clear his club is looking for pitching, with season-ending rotation injuries to Luis Garcia and Lance McCullers Jr. and four relievers (Bryan Abreu, Phil Maton, Hector Neris and Ryan Pressly) in MLB’s top 20 in games pitched. Rival executives say the Yanks are willing to talk relievers, probably coaxed by their belief they will get Jonathan Loaisiga back soon to join an end game with Clay Holmes, Tommy Kahnle, Michael King and Wandy Peralta. Has, for example, Ian Hamilton built his stock so that the Yanks can use him as a meaningful piece in a deal?

And I would not discount the Yankees being in the starting pitching market, especially if they need to use Clarke Schmidt or Domingo German to land a bat. The White Sox’s Lance Lynn has the worst ERA (6.47) of any qualified starter and has a limited no-trade clause that includes the Yankees (but word is he wants to get to a contender). But the Yankees acquired him at the 2018 deadline when he had a 5.10 ERA because they liked his peripheral numbers, which this time around include a .174 batting average in four non-Yankee starts versus the AL East.

And there is this: Andy Pettitte has an expanded role with the Yankees. Pettitte was Lynn’s pitching coach on Team USA last spring in the WBC. And I heard Pettitte liked Lynn a lot.