OC Register: Angels hire Tony La Russa for advisory role

[AngelsWin.com]

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — Years ago, Billy Eppler went out to dinner with Tony La Russa and they ended up having a four-hour conversation.

Ever since then, Eppler has maintained a relationship with the Hall of Fame manager, culminating with Tuesday’s announcement that the Angels have hired La Russa as a special advisor to baseball operations.

“From my chair, he’ll be a sounding board for anything and everything as it pertains to developing players, coaching players, just generally someone to bounce ideas off,” Eppler said during the second day of the GM Meetings.

La Russa, 75, had lengthy stints managing the Oakland A’s and St. Louis Cardinals, including three World Series titles. Since he retired from managing in 2011, he has worked in the front offices of the Arizona Diamondbacks and Boston Red Sox.

Eppler said La Russa will be around the Angels’ major league club, in spring training and also helping with evaluating their minor leaguers. Eppler did not expect him to have much input on major league player acquisitions.

“He’s seen a lot, experienced a lot,” Eppler said. “My interactions with him have always been positive. I’m looking forward to using him as a resource.”

WAITING FOR ADELL

While most of the Angels enjoy a winter off, top prospect Jo Adell continues to be busy.

Adell played in the Arizona Fall League, and now he’s playing for Team USA in Japan as they try to qualify for the 2020 Olympics. Adell hit an opposite-field home run to led the U.S. to a victory over Japan in its last game.

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Eppler said the extra games have helped Adell make up for the time he missed at the beginning of the season after he was hurt during spring training.

Adell, 20, is expected to compete for a spot in the Angels’ everyday lineup sometime in 2020, but Eppler wouldn’t commit to how soon that could be.

“There are a lot of elements that he can get better at, just like there are a lot of elements of the game a lot of young players can get better at,” Eppler said. “Time will tell. I would just watch to see how things unfold. He’s had limited at-bats at Triple-A and in those at-bats he performed at a level consistent with when he first got to Double-A.”

Adell hit .238 with a .753 OPS when he first reached Double-A in 2018. When he returned in 2019, he hit .308 with a .944 OPS. In his first 27 games at Triple-A at the end of 2019, Adell hit .264 with a .676 OPS.

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[Pancake Bear]

3 hours ago, AngelsWin.com said:

“There are a lot of elements that he can get better at, just like there are a lot of elements of the game a lot of young players can get better at,” Eppler said. “Time will tell. I would just watch to see how things unfold. He’s had limited at-bats at Triple-A and in those at-bats he performed at a level consistent with when he first got to Double-A.”

That doesn't sound like they're planning on him making the team out of Spring.