OC Register: Angels GM Perry Minasian: ‘I still believe in this team’

[AngelsWin.com]

HOUSTON — Although the early returns of Perry Minasian’s gamble haven’t been good, the Angels general manager isn’t ready to concede that he picked the wrong path.

“We still have 46 games to go,” Minasian said before the Angels opened a series against the Houston Astros on Friday. “There’s a lot of baseball to be played. We’re we’re going to put our best foot forward. I still believe in this team.”

Minasian spoke to the media for the first time since the deadline, which came just before a seven-game losing streak.

No one would expect Minasian to throw in the towel with more than a quarter of the season to go, but the Angels’ chances of reaching the postseason obviously have taken a significant hit.

The Angels, who were as close as three games from a playoff spot in late July, opted to keep Shohei Ohtani and they traded away five prospects for pitchers Lucas Giolito, Reynaldo López and Dominic Leone, first baseman C.J. Cron and outfielder Randal Grichuk.

Just after those deals were done, the Angels went into a tailspin.

According to FanGraphs, their playoff chances went from 19.5% to 1.4% during their seven-game losing streak. Victories in the next two bumped their chances back up to 2.2%.

“We’ve got some work to do,” Minasian said. “There’s no denying that, but I’m looking forward to watching the next 46 and seeing how we do.”

Minasian said that a team’s fortunes can change week to week.

“As good as things are, they can change really quick,” he said. “As bad as things are, they can change really quick. We’ve seen that throughout the year. For us, the most important thing is to understand how important today is and do what we need to do to win a game.”

Minasian also gave his support to Manager Phil Nevin.

“Phil’s been great,” Minasian said. “Going through what we’ve gone through health-wise. For me, the most important thing as far as evaluating managers go is respect, and I think he has the utmost respect of the room.”

TROUT UPDATE

Mike Trout took some fly balls and aggressively ran the bases, and he said he was set to hit off the pitching machine for the first time since undergoing surgery have his fractured hamate bone removed.

Trout still would need to advance to facing the high-velocity machine before he could get back into the lineup.

Although the Angels won’t give a timeline for that, it is likely that Trout is still at least a week away.

“We’re taking it day by day,” Minasian said. “Hopefully sooner than later. You can’t push it. It’s a pain tolerance thing. It’s a significant injury that takes time. He knows where we’re at and what we’re playing for. And trust me, he’d love to come back today. When he’s healthy and when he knows he can he can perform and when he’s ready to play, he’ll be the first one to say ‘Hey, I’m ready to go.’”

NOTES

Right-hander Griffin Canning (calf tightness) said he felt good after throwing Friday. He had a normal bullpen session Wednesday. The Angels have not yet determined his next step. …

Anthony Rendon (bone bruise) did not make the trip to Houston. Rendon is still not able to do any baseball activity. “He’s doing everything he can to get as healthy as he can as quick as he can,” Minasian said. “He wants to play. He wants to help us win games. Nobody’s more disappointed with what he’s going through than himself. It’s a freak injury. This isn’t a pulled hamstring.” …

Catcher Logan O’Hoppe (shoulder surgery) had three hits in nine at-bats in the first three games of his rehab assignment at Class-A Inland Empire. He is likely to remain at that level through Sunday and then go to Triple-A. …

López was activated from the bereavement list. The Angels made room by sending down right-hander Zack Weiss. …

Outfielder Jordyn Adams has not started a game since making his major-league debut on Aug. 2 at Atlanta. Since then, he’s been limited to two pinch-running appearances and one inning in center field. “I understand coming up and not getting an opportunity to play is difficult for a young player, but this isn’t April and May,” Nevin said. “These are games where I feel like I’ve got to put the best nine on the field each day. And I feel like I’ve been doing that.” …

Catcher Chad Wallach got the start Friday because Nevin wanted him to work with pitcher Reid Detmers. Nevin also liked Wallach over Matt Thaiss against right-hander Justin Verlander. Right-handed hitters have performed slightly better than lefties against Verlander this season.

UP NEXT

Angels (LHP Tyler Anderson, 5-3, 4.92) vs. Astros (RHP J.P. France, 8-3, 2.75), 4:10 p.m. Saturday, Minute Maid Park, Fox, 830 AM.

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[BTH]

16 minutes ago, AngelsWin.com said:

Minasian also gave his support to Manager Phil Nevin.

“Phil’s been great,” Minasian said. “Going through what we’ve gone through health-wise. For me, the most important thing as far as evaluating managers go is respect, and I think he has the utmost respect of the room.”

ahh, the dreaded vote of confidence.

[BTH]

16 minutes ago, AngelsWin.com said:

Outfielder Jordyn Adams has not started a game since making his major-league debut on Aug. 2 at Atlanta. Since then, he’s been limited to two pinch-running appearances and one inning in center field. “I understand coming up and not getting an opportunity to play is difficult for a young player, but this isn’t April and May,” Nevin said. “These are games where I feel like I’ve got to put the best nine on the field each day. And I feel like I’ve been doing that.” …

I totally agree with Nevin's sentiment, which makes me wonder why the front office put Adams on the roster instead of Brett Phillips.

Especially since Adams' defense looked rough in the one game he played.

[Second Base]

It's not like he's going to give in and admit failure.

[greginpsca]

I guess perry made up his mind to go down with the ship.

[jsnpritchett]

[SoCalDucksFan]

23 minutes ago, greginpsca said:

I guess perry made up his mind to go down with the ship.

Well, he ignored the iceberg telegram warning, why would you expect him to notice that they already hit the iceberg.

[AngelsLakersFan]

I still believe in this team too. Now I don’t believe they are going to win, but they are clearly real. 

[Angelsjunky]

[Angels 1961]

59 minutes ago, greginpsca said:

I guess perry made up his mind to go down with the ship.

No lifeboats left, every man for himself. Perry you did your job just did not work out. 

[SoCalDucksFan]

Only question now is who will Arte blame, because I assure you, he lives in a glass house with no mirrors.

[CaliAngel]

Great. Trout getting ready to jump in the water right after the ship has sunk.

[cysomeawfulpitcher]

I see George Santos is our new GM.

[SoCalDucksFan]

57 minutes ago, CaliAngel said:

Great. Trout getting ready to jump in the water right after the ship has sunk.

It worries me that he's going to come back, try to make an impact in a futile situation, and injures himself badly enough that he ends up not being ready to play next season.

[TroutField]

Just now, SoCalDucksFan said:

It worries me that he's going to come back, try to make an impact in a futile situation, and injure himself badly enough that he ends up not being ready to play next season.

I agree with this. O’hoppe and Trout aren’t going to come and save this crap roster and magically turn this into a playoff club. We have the pitching staff giving up 9-10 runs a game, can’t win much when that’s the case. 

[Angels in 2030]

Team

Not

Very

Good

[arch stanton]

Trout and O'Hoppe are major league baseball players who want to participate in Major League Baseball. I'd much rather watch the next 6 weeks of baseball (which will still be played regardless of their proximity to the post season) with them than without

[Jason]

5 hours ago, Second Base said:

It's not like he's going to give in and admit failure.

The results will do the talking 

[Jason]

16 minutes ago, SoCalDucksFan said:

It worries me that he's going to come back, try to make an impact in a futile situation, and injures himself badly enough that he ends up not being ready to play next season.

 

13 minutes ago, TroutField said:

I agree with this. O’hoppe and Trout aren’t going to come and save this crap roster and magically turn this into a playoff club. We have the pitching staff giving up 9-10 runs a game, can’t win much when that’s the case. 

I think the team knows it’s over so I can see them taking a cautious approach to all their injured players for reasons we are all concerned about. I think the team needs to start looking and building to 2024. 

[Sho Way That Was A Strike]

So when Ohtani leaves and we have cash to spend, sign Nevin to a 10 year 10 mil per year deal? 
 

What could go wrong?

[cjcinec]

Perry knew that this team as constructed didn’t have enough pitching to hold a lead in their own division let alone run down teams ahead of them. Angels are what they are which is a mediocre aging team that is just a little bit better than the Kansas City’s or the A’s in the American League. We see things with our hearts as fan’s but he is getting paid big bucks to make the right moves to better the team. He failed the organization. 

[Rudedawg]

20 hours ago, TroutField said:

I agree with this. O’hoppe and Trout aren’t going to come and save this crap roster and magically turn this into a playoff club. We have the pitching staff giving up 9-10 runs a game, can’t win much when that’s the case. 

Huge disappointment with some of these starters. They’re experienced, yet horribly inconsistent.  An embarrassment.  

[jsnpritchett]

[SoCalDucksFan]

4 hours ago, cjcinec said:

Perry knew that this team as constructed didn’t have enough pitching to hold a lead in their own division let alone run down teams ahead of them. Angels are what they are which is a mediocre aging team that is just a little bit better than the Kansas City’s or the A’s in the American League. We see things with our hearts as fan’s but he is getting paid big bucks to make the right moves to better the team. He failed the organization. 

A mediocre team with 2 of the greatest players so far this century.  Just think what would have been possible had there been a halfway decent supporting cast.

[thebloob]

52 minutes ago, SoCalDucksFan said:

A mediocre team with 2 of the greatest players so far this century.  Just think what would have been possible had there been a halfway decent supporting cast.

Assuming ohtani wins MVP this year, since 2014 the Angels will have had 5 MVPs, 1 playoff appearance and zero playoff wins.