AngelsWin.com

ARLINGTON, Texas — Shohei Ohtani had a follow-up appointment on Monday and was cleared to begin facing live pitching in about a week, bringing his return to the lineup a step closer.
“All is good,” Manager Brad Ausmus said Monday afternoon. “Everything came back good. The doctor was pleased and he’s going to continue his progression.”
The Angels have not wavered from the expectation that Ohtani will be back in May.
Ohtani is currently taking batting practice against a pitching machine, which provides game-like velocity. If he has no setbacks after another week of that, he’ll be ready to face pitchers.
“As to where that happens, that’s still to be determined,” Ausmus said.
The Angels could bring minor league pitchers to Anaheim to pitch to Ohtani, which they did last summer when he was cleared to hit after his initial injury. They also could send him to extended spring training in Arizona to face pitchers there, either in simulated games or in games against other teams.
In either of those scenarios, the Angels can have him bat as often as they’d like.
Finally, the Angels could send Ohtani to one of their minor league affiliates to play in actual games. Although that is less efficient in terms of the volume of at-bats he could get, Ausmus said “there is something to be said for competing in a baseball game environment.”
Ohtani also continues to throw three times a week, although he is not going to pitch this season.
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CHICAGO — Mike Trout’s injured groin has improved enough for him to rejoin the Angels in Texas, although his return to the lineup is still uncertain.
The Angels announced that Trout was seen by Dr. Steve Yoon on Sunday and ultrasound imaging showed “improvement to his groin.” The statement also said that Trout had reported improvement.
Trout “will continue to be evaluated to determine his readiness to play,” the statement said.
Trout has been out since early in Tuesday’s game, when he first reported discomfort in his right groin. A day later, he said he felt it was improved, but wanted to be cautious because it’s so early in the season and he didn’t want to risk causing the injury to be more serious.
The Angels had Trout remain in Southern California while the rest of the team traveled to Chicago, and he underwent further tests on Friday. The tests Friday also showed improvement, although not enough for him to get to Chicago for Saturday’s game.
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Angels series finale in Chicago postponed by snow and cold Angels’ Zack Cozart snaps hitless drought with 3 hits Angels use full-team effort in thrilling win over Cubs Angels give up 4 homers to Cubs to snap winning streak Angels Shohei Ohtani cleared to hit off a machine, still on target for May return By staying in Southern California for two more days, Trout missed only one more game, because Sunday’s game was postponed by snow.
The weather in Texas, where the Angels are scheduled to open a three-game series on Monday, will be more conducive to maintaining the players’ health. The forecast high temperates for the three days range from 77 to 82 degrees, with a chance of rain on Wednesday.
So far Trout has missed parts of four games with the injury, and the Angels have won three of them.
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CHICAGO — Shohei Ohtani was cleared on Friday for a “baby step” in his progression toward a return to the Angels lineup: hitting off a pitching machine.
The pitching machine can simulate game-speed velocity, without the need for an actual pitcher. The next step for Ohtani will be facing live pitching.
Ohtani said earlier this week that he’s happy with his progress, and he feels ready to play right now, although he understands why the Angels are proceeding cautiously with him.
Manager Brad Ausmus said Friday morning that “nothing’s changed” in terms of the schedule for Ohtani. The Angels are planning on him being back in their lineup sometime in May, and they have not determined any more specific date.
Ausmus said there was nothing to a report out of Japan that Ohtani’s return was set for May 7.
“I don’t know where they’re getting that,” Ausmus said.
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The Angels recalled right-hander Jake Jewell to fill the roster spot vacated when Jaime Barría was optioned following Wednesday’s game. The Angels have been cycling relievers from Triple-A Salt Lake City in order to provide enough innings coverage in the bullpen. They are starting a stretch of 17 games without an off day, and the starters have not been pitching deep in games…
Taylor Ward made six errors at third base in spring training, then he made another error and had another catchable ground ball get past him for a hit on Wednesday. Ausmus said they are still confident in his ability to adjust. Ward was converted from catcher last spring. “Taylor’s very open about wanting to get better so he takes it as constructive criticism,” Ausmus said. “He’s only been doing this for a year at that position, so there’s going to be good days and there’s going to be bad days. He’s progressing and continuing to get better.”
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CHICAGO — While the Angels were at Wrigley Field to open a series against the Chicago Cubs, Mike Trout remained in Southern California to have his sore right groin evaluated.
Manager Brad Ausmus said the Angels still don’t believe Trout’s injury is serious enough to land him on the injured list. He added that Trout could even join the Angels in Chicago as soon as Saturday to play. Or he may just sit out the weekend in chilly Chicago and join the Angels on Monday in Texas.
“He’s going to get looked at again today and then we’ll make a decision as to whether he comes here tonight or whether he meets us in Texas,” Ausmus said Friday morning. “At this point we don’t expect it to be an injury where he’s required to go on the IL. It’s just a matter of how he feels and what the doctors think.”
Trout came out of Tuesday’s game with tightness in his right groin. He did not play on Wednesday, but he said he felt better.
“It didn’t get worse,” Ausmus said. “The plan all along was to have him see the doctor on Friday.”
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The Angels continue this trip on Monday in Texas, where the temperature is expected to be in the 70s.
Trout said on Wednesday that it made no sense to take any chances with this injury at this time of the year. He didn’t want to risk playing at less than 100 percent and suffering an injury that could have him out for months.
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CHICAGO — In the second game of the Angels’ season, Matt Harvey had sailed through four innings before getting into a jam in the fifth. As the Oakland A’s were on their way to filling the bases in a scoreless game, Ty Buttrey got up in the bullpen.
Just like that, it was clear Brad Ausmus was not Mike Scioscia.
By getting one of his best relievers up in the fifth inning, Ausmus demonstrated he’s not going to stick to traditional bullpen roles. Although Scioscia evolved as a manager in many ways throughout his 19-year tenure, at the end he was still reluctant to use his best relievers early in games or without the lead.
Ausmus has since explained that Buttrey is his high-leverage pitcher. When Ausmus feels the game is on the line, he prefers to use Buttrey, regardless of the inning.
“I would imagine back over time there was a manager that did something similar, but it’s more of a new tactic,” Ausmus said this week. “The one guy who really stands out is how Cleveland used Andrew Miller. I’ve talked to Buttrey about being used in that type of role, so he can be ready in the middle of the game to the end of the game.”
Buttrey, a 26-year-old with all of 22 major league innings under his belt, is down with the role.
“I love it,” he said. “It’s awesome. I feel like I bring the same intensity to the mound whether we’re up 10 or down 10, but I love coming in when the game is on the line and I’m trying to protect some guy’s run or protect the lead.”
So far it’s worked. Buttrey has not allowed a run in 5 2/3 innings with nine strikeouts and no walks. Including last season, he has a career 2.45 ERA with 29 strikeouts and five walks. He’s succeeded thanks to a 96 mph fastball and a sharp slider, along with an emerging changeup.
Having the ability to get strikeouts is especially valuable when entering with runners on base. On Sunday, Buttrey came to the mound with one out and the bases loaded against the Texas Rangers. Although the Angels had a five-run cushion in the eighth, the game had the potential to get tight at that moment. Buttrey got dangerous power hitter Joey Gallo on a popup and then struck out Asdrubal Cabrera.
By preserving all of the five-run lead, Buttrey also allowed the Angels to give the day off to closer Cody Allen. Noé Ramírez pitched the ninth instead. As a result of having the day off, Allen was able to pitch each of the next two days, recording a pair of saves.
Just 13 games into the season, the Angels bullpen has been a puzzle of perfect fitting pieces, mostly because all of the pitchers have pitched so well.
So far, the Angels’ bullpen leads the majors with a 1.69 ERA and a WHIP of 0.958. They have allowed just four of 19 inherited runners to score, tied for the fifth-best percentage in the majors.
Their 48 relief innings, however, are the seventh most, which is a function of starters not getting as deep as they’d like.
The Angels have been able to spread that workload only because all of the pitchers have pitched well enough that Ausmus could stick to the freshest relievers each day.
But that may not last.
“That’s a balance, for sure,” Ausmus said. “We’ve gone to our pen quite a bit so far in a week and a half we’ve been here. We can’t, quite frankly, continue to use the guys at the pace we’re using them. We’re aware of it. We’ve also had a lot of close games. There will be spells when you don’t have so many close games. That’s the ebb and flow of the season.”
Managers are now more careful with their relievers than ever. Last year there were 266 instances of a pitcher working on three consecutive days, about nine per team. In 2013, there were 379. In 2008, there were 416.
Ausmus said if a reliever has pitched two days in a row, there is “a big yellow flag” warning not to use him on the third day. Teams now closely monitor the number of times a pitcher simply warms up.
The managerial tightrope walk was evident Wednesday night. Ausmus hoped to stay away from his two best relievers. Allen had pitched two days in a row and Buttrey had pitched three of the previous five. Still, the Angels had a two-run lead in the seventh.
Ausmus got away with it because Cam Bedrosian recorded four outs and Hansel Robles pitched a perfect ninth. Buttrey warmed up just briefly, in case he was needed for the final out of the eighth.
For his part, Buttrey said he’s already developed a routine to help him get ready quickly if he is needed, but not burn out if he’s not.
“I start stretching and getting ready, and if I don’t come in the fifth, then I see how the sixth and seventh go, and if I’m not in then, and we have the lead, I figure they’ll bring me in the eighth,” he said. “I don’t really care. Wherever they want me to go or whatever they want me to do is fine. I’m cool with it.”
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As the Angels open a stretch of 17 games before their next off day, they will need the starters to go a little deeper if they are going to maintain the bullpen’s effectiveness. Otherwise, relievers are going to find themselves being sent to Triple-A temporarily simply because the Angels need to bring up a fresh arm. It happened to Justin Anderson and Luke Bard this week.
“I don’t want to keep using them every day or else they’d be tired at the end of the season,” Ausmus said. “We had some tight games early on. The game kind of dictates when you use them. You hope to have some games with wider margins so you don’t have to use the same guys all the time.”
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ANAHEIM — This time, Mike Trout was enough to get the Angels a victory.
A night after Trout’s homer was the silver lining to an ugly loss, the Angels superstar belted a tie-breaking blast in the sixth and an insurance homer in the eighth to send the Angels on their way to a 3-1 victory over the Texas Rangers on Friday.
The Angels snapped a five-game losing streak, despite playing the game without three of their four best everyday players. Shohei Ohtani and Justin Upton are on the injured list, and Andrelton Simmons was out for the night because of a stiff back.
But the Angels had Trout, who was honored before the game for winning his sixth Silver Slugger Award last season.
He had shown a rare moment of fallibility in the third, when he scuttled an Angels rally by hitting into a double play. So when he came up in the sixth, leading off the inning in a 1-1 game, he had a chance to make up for it.
Lance Lynn fell behind him 2-and-0 and then threw a fastball right down the middle, and Trout blasted it over the fence in right-center.
He hit another homer to right field in the eighth, padding the lead. It was his 15th multi-homer game.
Trout’s first homer of the night left the Angels nine outs to secure the victory, and Hansel Robles, Ty Buttrey and Cody Allen converted, the latter picking up his first save with the Angels.
Robles escaped a difficult spot in the seventh after Delino DeShields bunted for a hit and went to third on two errors.
The Angels also got key contributions from Brian Goodwin, who had a double to set up the first run and made a spectacular catch in left field. Calhoun drove in Goodwin with a single in the third.
Justin Anderson got four key outs after taking over for starter Félix Peña, who gave up one run in 4-2/3 innings. It was an outing that showed both his promise and the hurdles he still needs to overcome.
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His issues, however, were command and control. He threw far too many pitches not even close enough to the strike zone to get hitters to think of swinging, which contributed to his two walks and his high pitch count.
He also missed badly with some fastballs over the middle of the plate, one of which was deposited into the right field seats by Joey Gallo. Another was hit by Ronald Guzman to the warning track in left, where Goodwin hauled it in with a spectacular leaping catch.
Part of the issue might have been getting hit in the right bicep by a comebacker in the third inning.
More to come on this story.


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She braces herself for the worst. Staying strong, she tells herself, is the only way she can win.
She used to cry in the mornings as the sun came up. She would try to drive the kids to school, and the sunlight would slap her in the face. She became so sensitive, it was nearly impossible to see. That was August, when she began to notice something was wrong.
Seven months later, she is in full fight-mode. She puts on sunglasses to protect her delicate eyes and wipes the tears away.
“We’re going to handle this,” she said, in a telephone interview.
Kim Rojas, wife of Angels announcer Victor Rojas, is at their home in Trophy Club, Texas, this week making plans for a surgical procedure she hopes will give her answers. In January, she was diagnosed with Graves’ disease and Graves’ ophthalmopathy, rare thyroid conditions that have caused swollen, bulging eyes and, along with other complications, are threatening her life.
In the next two weeks, she plans to schedule biopsies of two nodules on her thyroid that were discovered after the diagnosis.
“If it’s cancer, we will take it out,” Kim said resolutely. “God doesn’t give you something you can’t handle. I have to keep it together. Yes, this thing is happening to my body, but I’m going to do this for my family. I’d rather something be happening to me than my kids or my husband.”
Angels announcer Victor Rojas(File photo by PAUL RODRIGUEZ, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER/SCNG)Thursday, April 4 is Rojas’ 10th home opener as the Angels television play-by-play man. Forgive him if his mind is elsewhere.
“It’s awful,” Victor said from his hotel room in Seattle, where the Angels played Tuesday night. “We need to find out what the hell is going on. … It breaks my heart. It’s hard not to be there.
“My focus is getting Kim back to where she feels normal. We have to expect the best, but anticipate a bump in the road. You can’t be consumed with what defeat is going to bring.”
As they wait for tests and results, they talk, text and FaceTime 15 or 20 times per night while Victor is calling games for the Angels.
“He has my back,” Kim said.
‘Love at first sight’
They met in Florida when she was a school teacher and he was working in the front office for the Florida Panthers hockey team. They were both working on a charity golf tournament. It was 1996.
“For her, it was love at first sight,” Victor said with a big laugh. He is the son of former major league ballplayer and former Angels and Florida Marlins manager Cookie Rojas.
“It was,” said Kim, who is the daughter of well-known Ft. Lauderdale physician everyone called “Dr. Bob.”
Their first date was to a Panthers hockey game. Victor had to work selling tickets during the game, so he could only see her during the breaks between periods.
“I thought we had a great time,” Kim said. “But he was working.”
By the time she got home that night, Victor had left a message on her answering machine.
“That’s every girl’s dream,” Kim said. “He didn’t do the cool thing and wait for two days. That sealed the deal.”
Within a month, Victor gave Kim a promise ring with a diamond pattern that looked like snowflakes.
Within six months, he proposed. He took her to Shula’s Steakhouse in Miami, and then invited her for a walk on the beach. He got down on a knee. Victor was so nervous, as he took off the snowflake ring, he dropped it in the sand.
In the dark, they had to fish the snowflake ring out of the sand before he could kiss her.
They were married in 2000.
Change of direction
In 2001, Victor Rojas had an epiphany.
He was still working in sales for the Florida Panthers, and still playing some baseball. (He had been a minor league pitcher, briefly, in the Angels system.)
“I decided I wanted to be an announcer,” Victor said.
He called the Newark Bears, an independent baseball team, which was owned by former Yankee catcher Rick Cerone.
Cerone hired Victor AND Kim. Victor worked as an assistant general manager and as a broadcaster. Kim worked as an office manager. They moved to New Jersey, a place they grew to love.
“Rick Cerone was very gracious with Kim and I,” Victor said.
Victor helped convince former major leaguers Jack Armstrong, Jim Leyritz and Jose Canseco to play for the Bears. More important, Victor got hired for a morning radio show called “The Baseball Breakfast” for MLB.com.
He got together a demo reel of his announcing highlights and sent them to Arizona, where, in 2003 Scott Geyer gave him the break he was looking for. Victor was hired as a radio broadcaster for the Diamondbacks.
Kim and Victor had two children – Mattingly, now 16, and Tyler, now 13.
His career went from Arizona to Texas to the MLB Network, from radio to television. On Jan. 4, 2010, beloved Angels broadcaster Rory Markas, who had called the Angels only World Series victory, died suddenly.
The Angels were considering using fill-in announcers for the season. Then owner Arte Moreno met Victor Rojas during spring training.
“Arte said it’s not about now,” Victor remembers. “It’s about five or 10 years down the road.”
Victor loved the long-term goals, the family atmosphere. Victor approached Kim, who was lounging by the hotel pool.
“How would you like to move to Southern California?” he said.
“The Angels made the decision easy,” Kim said.
Not going to hide
They lived in Rancho Santa Margarita for about six years.
But their parents lived in Florida, so Victor and Kim decided to move to Texas to cut down the flying time when they wanted to see their parents. Trophy Club is a community west of Dallas and close to the airport.
Plus, the Angels spend a lot of time in Texas, playing the Rangers and the Astros.
Kim Rojas is the wife of Angels TV broadcaster Victor Rojas. In January, she was diagnosed with Graves’ disease. (Courtesy of Rojas family)Before last summer, life was great. Victor and Kim launched a new business – Big Fly Gear, in which they put numbers from baseball history on T-shirts. For example, they have a line featuring 755, the number of home runs Hank Aaron hit.
Kim was ordering, driving, marketing (“Doing it all,” Victor said) for the business this summer when she noticed her eyes were swelling. She thought it was allergies.
“I looked very tired,” she said. “My eyelids were very swollen.”
As the condition got worse, and he eyes became more sensitive, she began going to doctor after doctor. Finally, they discovered her TSH levels were unusually high, which suggested hypothyroidism.
Kim turned 50 this year, and she was doing a colonoscopy when doctors noticed she had a racing heart while she was under anesthesia. Something wasn’t right.
In January, after about five months of not knowing, she was finally diagnosed with Graves’ disease, which, if untreated, can be fatal.
Her reaction?
“Relief,” she said. “I finally knew what it was.”
Now, she awaits the biopsies and results. If she needs her thyroid removed, she will have to undergo hormone therapy for the rest of her life.
“Some people hide,” Kim said. She is forcing herself to be public about her illness.
In February, Victor wrote a touching tribute and posted a picture of Kim on Facebook.
Victor wrote: “Even with the issues she’s dealt with for months, she still manages to go on with her routine as the most caring, loving mother/wife a family could ask for…as she’s always been. It breaks my heart to see her cry, leaving me helpless with nothing more to offer than simply throwing my arms around her & reminding her just how much I adore her.”
The outpouring of support since that post has inspired her.
“I can’t tell you how great everybody’s been,” Kim said. “The people who have reached out to me … they’ve been my rock. They made me feel like there’s nothing we can’t beat.”
 
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She braces herself for the worst. Staying strong, she tells herself, is the only way she can win.
She used to cry in the mornings as the sun came up. She would try to drive the kids to school, and the sunlight would slap her in the face. She became so sensitive, it was nearly impossible to see. That was August, when she began to notice something was wrong.
Seven months later, she is in full fight-mode. She puts on sunglasses to protect her delicate eyes and wipes the tears away.
“We’re going to handle this,” she said, in a telephone interview.
Kim Rojas, wife of Angels announcer Victor Rojas, is at their home in Trophy Club, Texas, this week making plans for a surgical procedure she hopes will give her answers. In January, she was diagnosed with Graves’ disease and Graves’ ophthalmopathy, rare thyroid conditions that have caused swollen, bulging eyes and, along with other complications, are threatening her life.
In the next two weeks, she plans to schedule biopsies of two nodules on her thyroid that were discovered after the diagnosis.
“If it’s cancer, we will take it out,” Kim said resolutely. “God doesn’t give you something you can’t handle. I have to keep it together. Yes, this thing is happening to my body, but I’m going to do this for my family. I’d rather something be happening to me than my kids or my husband.”
Angels announcer Victor Rojas(File photo by PAUL RODRIGUEZ, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER/SCNG)Thursday, April 4 is Rojas’ 10th home opener as the Angels television play-by-play man. Forgive him if his mind is elsewhere.
“It’s awful,” Victor said from his hotel room in Seattle, where the Angels played Tuesday night. “We need to find out what the hell is going on. … It breaks my heart. It’s hard not to be there.
“My focus is getting Kim back to where she feels normal. We have to expect the best, but anticipate a bump in the road. You can’t be consumed with what defeat is going to bring.”
As they wait for tests and results, they talk, text and FaceTime 15 or 20 times per night while Victor is calling games for the Angels.
“He has my back,” Kim said.
‘Love at first sight’
They met in Florida when she was a school teacher and he was working in the front office for the Florida Panthers hockey team. They were both working on a charity golf tournament. It was 1996.
“For her, it was love at first sight,” Victor said with a big laugh. He is the son of former major league ballplayer and former Angels and Florida Marlins manager Cookie Rojas.
“It was,” said Kim, who is the daughter of well-known Ft. Lauderdale physician everyone called “Dr. Bob.”
Their first date was to a Panthers hockey game. Victor had to work selling tickets during the game, so he could only see her during the breaks between periods.
“I thought we had a great time,” Kim said. “But he was working.”
By the time she got home that night, Victor had left a message on her answering machine.
“That’s every girl’s dream,” Kim said. “He didn’t do the cool thing and wait for two days. That sealed the deal.”
Within a month, Victor gave Kim a promise ring with a diamond pattern that looked like snowflakes.
Within six months, he proposed. He took her to Shula’s Steakhouse in Miami, and then invited her for a walk on the beach. He got down on a knee. Victor was so nervous, as he took off the snowflake ring, he dropped it in the sand.
In the dark, they had to fish the snowflake ring out of the sand before he could kiss her.
They were married in 2000.
Change of direction
In 2001, Victor Rojas had an epiphany.
He was still working in sales for the Florida Panthers, and still playing some baseball. (He had been a minor league pitcher, briefly, in the Angels system.)
“I decided I wanted to be an announcer,” Victor said.
He called the Newark Bears, an independent baseball team, which was owned by former Yankee catcher Rick Cerone.
Cerone hired Victor AND Kim. Victor worked as an assistant general manager and as a broadcaster. Kim worked as an office manager. They moved to New Jersey, a place they grew to love.
“Rick Cerone was very gracious with Kim and I,” Victor said.
Victor helped convince former major leaguers Jack Armstrong, Jim Leyritz and Jose Canseco to play for the Bears. More important, Victor got hired for a morning radio show called “The Baseball Breakfast” for MLB.com.
He got together a demo reel of his announcing highlights and sent them to Arizona, where, in 2003 Scott Geyer gave him the break he was looking for. Victor was hired as a radio broadcaster for the Diamondbacks.
Kim and Victor had two children – Mattingly, now 16, and Tyler, now 13.
His career went from Arizona to Texas to the MLB Network, from radio to television. On Jan. 4, 2010, beloved Angels broadcaster Rory Markas, who had called the Angels only World Series victory, died suddenly.
The Angels were considering using fill-in announcers for the season. Then owner Arte Moreno met Victor Rojas during spring training.
“Arte said it’s not about now,” Victor remembers. “It’s about five or 10 years down the road.”
Victor loved the long-term goals, the family atmosphere. Victor approached Kim, who was lounging by the hotel pool.
“How would you like to move to Southern California?” he said.
“The Angels made the decision easy,” Kim said.
Not going to hide
They lived in Rancho Santa Margarita for about six years.
But their parents lived in Florida, so Victor and Kim decided to move to Texas to cut down the flying time when they wanted to see their parents. Trophy Club is a community west of Dallas and close to the airport.
Plus, the Angels spend a lot of time in Texas, playing the Rangers and the Astros.
Kim Rojas is the wife of Angels TV broadcaster Victor Rojas. In January, she was diagnosed with Graves’ disease. (Courtesy of Rojas family)Before last summer, life was great. Victor and Kim launched a new business – Big Fly Gear, in which they put numbers from baseball history on T-shirts. For example, they have a line featuring 755, the number of home runs Hank Aaron hit.
Kim was ordering, driving, marketing (“Doing it all,” Victor said) for the business this summer when she noticed her eyes were swelling. She thought it was allergies.
“I looked very tired,” she said. “My eyelids were very swollen.”
As the condition got worse, and he eyes became more sensitive, she began going to doctor after doctor. Finally, they discovered her TSH levels were unusually high, which suggested hypothyroidism.
Kim turned 50 this year, and she was doing a colonoscopy when doctors noticed she had a racing heart while she was under anesthesia. Something wasn’t right.
In January, after about five months of not knowing, she was finally diagnosed with Graves’ disease, which, if untreated, can be fatal.
Her reaction?
“Relief,” she said. “I finally knew what it was.”
Now, she awaits the biopsies and results. If she needs her thyroid removed, she will have to undergo hormone therapy for the rest of her life.
“Some people hide,” Kim said. She is forcing herself to be public about her illness.
In February, Victor wrote a touching tribute and posted a picture of Kim on Facebook.
Victor wrote: “Even with the issues she’s dealt with for months, she still manages to go on with her routine as the most caring, loving mother/wife a family could ask for…as she’s always been. It breaks my heart to see her cry, leaving me helpless with nothing more to offer than simply throwing my arms around her & reminding her just how much I adore her.”
The outpouring of support since that post has inspired her.
“I can’t tell you how great everybody’s been,” Kim said. “The people who have reached out to me … they’ve been my rock. They made me feel like there’s nothing we can’t beat.”
 
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Interview Conducted by David Saltzer, AngelsWin.com Senior Writer April 2, 2019.
Ever get the feeling of deja vu? The very first Major League player that I interviewed in the Angels clubhouse was Torii Hunter. And he was a pleasure to interview. I had followed his career for quite a while, long before he was an Angel, as I have many cousins in Minnesota who would rave about him as a player. I was thrilled that we got to see him play as an Angel for a while.
I recently had the opportunity to interview his son, a rising outfield star in the Angels system. Like his father, Torii Hunter, Jr. is a pleasure to talk to. And, like his father, he provides great defense in the outfield with a blend of speed and power.
Torii will be starting the 2019 season with the IE66ers tonight at home. You can purchase tickets for them here. It’s well worth the drive out there to see him and all the other players develop into future Major Leaguers. With the rising pool of talent that the Angels have, you will want to make the trip out there many times.
While you too may experience a bit of deja vu when you see Torii Hunter, Jr. in the outfield, remember, he’s his own man with his own destiny. And he will go as far as his tools and talent will take him.
You can watch our interview with Torii Hunter, Jr. by clicking on the image below.
AngelsWin.com Interviews Torii Hunter, Jr. April 2, 2019 from AngelsWin.com on Vimeo.
 
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She braces herself for the worst. Staying strong, she tells herself, is the only way she can win.
She used to cry in the mornings as the sun came up. She would try to drive the kids to school, and the sunlight would slap her in the face. She became so sensitive, it was nearly impossible to see. That was August, when she began to notice something was wrong.
Seven months later, she is in full fight-mode. She puts on sunglasses to protect her delicate eyes and wipes the tears away.
“We’re going to handle this,” she said, in a telephone interview.
Kim Rojas, wife of Angels announcer Victor Rojas, is at their home in Trophy Club, Texas, this week making plans for a surgical procedure she hopes will give her answers. In January, she was diagnosed with Graves’ disease and Graves’ ophthalmopathy, rare thyroid conditions that have caused swollen, bulging eyes and, along with other complications, are threatening her life.
In the next two weeks, she plans to schedule biopsies of two nodules on her thyroid that were discovered after the diagnosis.
“If it’s cancer, we will take it out,” Kim said resolutely. “God doesn’t give you something you can’t handle. I have to keep it together. Yes, this thing is happening to my body, but I’m going to do this for my family. I’d rather something be happening to me than my kids or my husband.”
Angels announcer Victor Rojas(File photo by PAUL RODRIGUEZ, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER/SCNG)Thursday, April 4 is Rojas’ 10th home opener as the Angels television play-by-play man. Forgive him if his mind is elsewhere.
“It’s awful,” Victor said from his hotel room in Seattle, where the Angels played Tuesday night. “We need to find out what the hell is going on. … It breaks my heart. It’s hard not to be there.
“My focus is getting Kim back to where she feels normal. We have to expect the best, but anticipate a bump in the road. You can’t be consumed with what defeat is going to bring.”
As they wait for tests and results, they talk, text and FaceTime 15 or 20 times per night while Victor is calling games for the Angels.
“He has my back,” Kim said.
‘Love at first sight’
They met in Florida when she was a school teacher and he was working in the front office for the Florida Panthers hockey team. They were both working on a charity golf tournament. It was 1996.
“For her, it was love at first sight,” Victor said with a big laugh. He is the son of former major league ballplayer and former Angels and Florida Marlins manager Cookie Rojas.
“It was,” said Kim, who is the daughter of well-known Ft. Lauderdale physician everyone called “Dr. Bob.”
Their first date was to a Panthers hockey game. Victor had to work selling tickets during the game, so he could only see her during the breaks between periods.
“I thought we had a great time,” Kim said. “But he was working.”
By the time she got home that night, Victor had left a message on her answering machine.
“That’s every girl’s dream,” Kim said. “He didn’t do the cool thing and wait for two days. That sealed the deal.”
Within a month, Victor gave Kim a promise ring with a diamond pattern that looked like snowflakes.
Within six months, he proposed. He took her to Shula’s Steakhouse in Miami, and then invited her for a walk on the beach. He got down on a knee. Victor was so nervous, as he took off the snowflake ring, he dropped it in the sand.
In the dark, they had to fish the snowflake ring out of the sand before he could kiss her.
They were married in 2000.
Change of direction
In 2001, Victor Rojas had an epiphany.
He was still working in sales for the Florida Panthers, and still playing some baseball. (He had been a minor league pitcher, briefly, in the Angels system.)
“I decided I wanted to be an announcer,” Victor said.
He called the Newark Bears, an independent baseball team, which was owned by former Yankee catcher Rick Cerone.
Cerone hired Victor AND Kim. Victor worked as an assistant general manager and as a broadcaster. Kim worked as an office manager. They moved to New Jersey, a place they grew to love.
“Rick Cerone was very gracious with Kim and I,” Victor said.
Victor helped convince former major leaguers Jack Armstrong, Jim Leyritz and Jose Canseco to play for the Bears. More important, Victor got hired for a morning radio show called “The Baseball Breakfast” for MLB.com.
He got together a demo reel of his announcing highlights and sent them to Arizona, where, in 2003 Scott Geyer gave him the break he was looking for. Victor was hired as a radio broadcaster for the Diamondbacks.
Kim and Victor had two children – Mattingly, now 16, and Tyler, now 13.
His career went from Arizona to Texas to the MLB Network, from radio to television. On Jan. 4, 2010, beloved Angels broadcaster Rory Markas, who had called the Angels only World Series victory, died suddenly.
The Angels were considering using fill-in announcers for the season. Then owner Arte Moreno met Victor Rojas during spring training.
“Arte said it’s not about now,” Victor remembers. “It’s about five or 10 years down the road.”
Victor loved the long-term goals, the family atmosphere. Victor approached Kim, who was lounging by the hotel pool.
“How would you like to move to Southern California?” he said.
“The Angels made the decision easy,” Kim said.
Not going to hide
They lived in Rancho Santa Margarita for about six years.
But their parents lived in Florida, so Victor and Kim decided to move to Texas to cut down the flying time when they wanted to see their parents. Trophy Club is a community west of Dallas and close to the airport.
Plus, the Angels spend a lot of time in Texas, playing the Rangers and the Astros.
Kim Rojas is the wife of Angels TV broadcaster Victor Rojas. In January, she was diagnosed with Graves’ disease. (Courtesy of Rojas family)Before last summer, life was great. Victor and Kim launched a new business – Big Fly Gear, in which they put numbers from baseball history on T-shirts. For example, they have a line featuring 755, the number of home runs Hank Aaron hit.
Kim was ordering, driving, marketing (“Doing it all,” Victor said) for the business this summer when she noticed her eyes were swelling. She thought it was allergies.
“I looked very tired,” she said. “My eyelids were very swollen.”
As the condition got worse, and he eyes became more sensitive, she began going to doctor after doctor. Finally, they discovered her TSH levels were unusually high, which suggested hypothyroidism.
Kim turned 50 this year, and she was doing a colonoscopy when doctors noticed she had a racing heart while she was under anesthesia. Something wasn’t right.
In January, after about five months of not knowing, she was finally diagnosed with Graves’ disease, which, if untreated, can be fatal.
Her reaction?
“Relief,” she said. “I finally knew what it was.”
Now, she awaits the biopsies and results. If she needs her thyroid removed, she will have to undergo hormone therapy for the rest of her life.
“Some people hide,” Kim said. She is forcing herself to be public about her illness.
In February, Victor wrote a touching tribute and posted a picture of Kim on Facebook.
Victor wrote: “Even with the issues she’s dealt with for months, she still manages to go on with her routine as the most caring, loving mother/wife a family could ask for…as she’s always been. It breaks my heart to see her cry, leaving me helpless with nothing more to offer than simply throwing my arms around her & reminding her just how much I adore her.”
The outpouring of support since that post has inspired her.
“I can’t tell you how great everybody’s been,” Kim said. “The people who have reached out to me … they’ve been my rock. They made me feel like there’s nothing we can’t beat.”
 
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ANAHEIM — When Mike Trout and Billy Eppler would exchange texts over the winter, it typically began with “smack talk,” Eppler said, about the Chargers and Philadelphia Eagles, their respective favorite teams.
Then there might be some small talk about their families, and then exchanging ideas about the future of the Angels.
Those conversations provided a snapshot of a relationship that would eventually lead to Trout becoming an Angel for life.
On the day that the Angels celebrated Trout’s 12-year, $426.5-million deal with the Angels, Trout explained why a kid from the New Jersey would want to commit to spend the rest of his career in the same uniform.
It came down to Trout’s belief in the organization’s future, and his relationships with those in the organization. Trout seemed specifically to enjoy working with Eppler.
“He relates to the players more than anybody,” Trout said of Eppler. “That’s the biggest thing I like. When he asks something or something comes up, he asks me and I relay it to the guys and the guys give me feedback and we go from there. The communication in the whole organization is top-notch.”
So it should be no surprise, then, that Trout is buying what Eppler is selling when it comes to the future of the Angels.
Since he was hired in 2015, Eppler has often said his plan to make the Angels consistent winners is to build a strong farm system.
“Knowing we’re going in the right direction in the future, that was big for me,” Trout said. “If I didn’t see that, I’d have definitely considered leaving.”
Over the past three years, the Angels went from having one of the worst farm systems in baseball to one in the upper half.
“I feel with the pieces we have coming up in the minor leagues, we have great prospect, great arms,” Trout said. “If we add some guys in free agency, the team each year I feel like is getting better and the direction is good…
“We’ve been through some ups and downs, but I’m really looking toward the future. I really see us winning a championship here.”
Besides Trout’s confidence in the Angels, he also saw what free agency looks like. He had watched Manny Machado and Bryce Harper endure a frustrating winter. Those two superstars had to wait until past the start of spring training to get their deals with the Padres and Phillies, respectively.
“I kind of saw what Manny and Bryce went through and it drew a red flag for me,” Trout said. “I talked to Manny and Bryce. It was a tough couple  months in the offseason. They put perspective in my mind.”
As Trout, Eppler and owner Arte Moreno described it, there had been general conversations about Trout’s new contract for a couple years, but the wheels really began turning about a month ago.
“I said I want to deal with it now,” Trout said. “If not, I’m going to explore free agency. I didn’t want to go through the next few seasons thinking ‘Am I going to get a deal or not?’ I want to know. The Angels, Arte and Billy and (president John Carpino) sat down and said to me ‘Let’s get this done.’
“It was a good process. I wanted to get it done.”
Moreno said talks with Trout began before Harper agreed with the Phillies on Feb. 28. They accelerated over the next couple weeks. Eppler wouldn’t specify how many offers flew back and forth between the club and Trout’s agent, Craig Landis, but he said the process was relatively smooth.
Mike Trout of the Angels, left, is joined by his wife Jessica at a press conference about his new contract outside Angel Stadiumin Anaheim on Sunday, March 24, 2019. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)Eppler said Landis asked early in the process how the Angels felt about opt-out clauses. Eppler said they “would rather not give then. We look at it as a commitment on both directions, and they said ‘OK, that’s fine with us.’ ”
About two weeks ago, Moreno sat with Trout in Manager Brad Ausmus’ office at Tempe Diablo Stadium and they had a heart-to-heart for about an hour. Apparently, it helped comfort both sides.
“I think any time you’re gonna make that kind of investment, you want to be able to sit across from them and look them in the eyes,” Moreno said.
The deal came to a head on Monday morning. Eppler, Moreno and Carpino had talked on the phone to determine the ultimate level they could go financially. Eppler, who had been back in Southern California for a season-ticket holder event last weekend, was at John Wayne Airport, on his way back to Arizona, when he relayed the offer to Landis.
While Eppler was in the air somewhere over Arizona, he got a message on his iPad.
“We have an answer,” said the message from Landis.
Eppler waited.
“I guess I won’t make you wait until you land,” the next message said. “Mike Trout’s going to be an Angel for the rest of his life.”
Eppler —  who famously fell out of his chair after getting the news that Shohei Ohtani wanted to be an Angel — was this time safely buckled in his seat. He texted Moreno, and the Angels had their man.
Just like that, the questions hanging over the Angels and over Trout had been answered.
“I think Mike just got a couple of pianos lifted off his shoulders,” Moreno said, “because for him it was just a lot of pressure from everyone. I feel for Mike because when I was talking to him, you could just tell he just wanted to play baseball.”
Trout smiled and apologized to writers because he had not been open when asked throughout spring training about his negotiations with the Angels.
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Trout wanted to stay despite the constant narrative that the Angels had “wasted” his career. Although Trout has put up historic numbers, winning two MVPs and starting on a Hall of Fame track, the Angels have had losing records in four of his seven seasons. They’ve been to the playoffs once.
“It’s not like we’re trying to lose,” Trout said. “We just had some bad luck with injuries. There are a lot of great teams out there. They are competing to do the same thing we are. We just gotta stay positive. For me ,it’s 12 more years. It seems like a lot but in the baseball world it goes quick. I got to enjoy every minute of it and bring a championship here.”

Mike Trout of the Angels smiles during a press conference about his new contract outside Angel Stadium in Anaheim on Sunday, March 24, 2019. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Angels owner Arte Moreno, left, shakes the hand of Mike Trout during a press conference about his new contract outside Angel Stadium in Anaheim on Sunday, March 24, 2019. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)
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Mike Trout of the Angels, center, is joined by his wife and other from the Angels to holds press conference about his new contract outside Angel Stadium in Anaheim on Sunday, March 24, 2019. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Mike Trout of the Angels speaks to a crowd about him staying with the Angels during a press conference outside Angel Stadium in Anaheim on Sunday, March 24, 2019. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Fans gather outside Angel Stadium to show their support for Angel Mike Trout during a press conference about his new contract in Anaheim on Sunday, March 24, 2019. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Mike Trout of the Angels, left, is joined by his wife Jessica at a press conference about his new contract outside Angel Stadium in Anaheim on Sunday, March 24, 2019. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Fans gather outside Angel Stadium to show their support for Angel Mike Trout during a press conference about his new contract in Anaheim on Sunday, March 24, 2019. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Thousands gather outside Angel Stadium for a press conference with Mike Trout of the Angels about his new contract in Anaheim on Sunday, March 24, 2019. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Mike Trout of the Angels smiles during a press conference about his new contract outside Angel Stadium in Anaheim on Sunday, March 24, 2019. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Angels owner Arte Moreno, left, shakes the hand of Mike Trout during a press conference about his new contract outside Angel Stadium in Anaheim on Sunday, March 24, 2019. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)
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ROTATION
The Angels have the potential to have a better than average rotation, if all goes well and they stay healthy. Matt Harvey and Trevor Cahill have been All-Stars and Tyler Skaggs was on the All-Star bubble last season. Skaggs represents perhaps the most upside, because he was one of the best pitchers in the league as recently as the first half of last season, when he had a 2.57 ERA in June. His season was spoiled by trying to pitch through an injury. Cahill rebounded last season to post a 3.76 ERA in 110 innings, his best season as a starter since 2012. Harvey had been one of baseball’s best pitchers when he first came to the big leagues and again immediately after he had Tommy John surgery. He spent the next three seasons fighting injuries before finally being healthy last year. His stuff also showed signs of rebounding, which is why the Angels took a shot at him on a one-year deal. Andrew Heaney pitched well for most of his first full season following Tommy John surgery. He is going to miss the start of this season with elbow inflammation, although the Angels are hoping he’ll be back within a few weeks. After that, the Angels have Jaime Barría and Felix Peña, both of whom were impressive for most of their first big league starting experience in 2018. When the inevitable injuries occur, the Angels can draw from a group including Dillon Peters, Nick Tropeano and prospects Griffin Canning and José Suarez. JC Ramírez is expected back from Tommy John surgery sometime in June.
BULLPEN
Cody Allen gives the Angels their first established closer since Huston Street. Allen had a disappointing season with the Cleveland Indians last year, as his fastball velocity dipped and he lost the curveball that had made him so effective. He believes he’s corrected that. The Angels will have a corps of power arms getting the ball to Allen. Right-handers Ty Buttrey, Hansel Robles, Luis Garcia and Justin Anderson all throw fastballs in the upper 90s, with swing-and-miss stuff. Dan Jennings has been one of baseball’s most consistent lefty relievers. Cam Bedrosian is still trying to rediscover the form that had him looking like a closer-in-waiting a few years ago. He is hoping that a new splitter can help him. The Angels are still looking for someone to fill the multi-inning role that Yusmeiro Petit handled so well two years ago. With their rotation, they are going to ask the bullpen to fill a heavy workload, so having a pitcher or two who can hold a lead over multiple innings would be a huge boost to their chances. Right-hander Taylor Cole, who performed well over longer relief outings in 2018, could emerge into that role if he can crack the big league roster.
INFIELD
Andrelton Simmons, a three-time Gold Glove winner at shortstop and an improving hitter, will anchor the Angels’ infield. Simmons made a vow to get stronger over the winter, which he hopes will take his offensive game to the next level. Simmons remains one of the game’s most underappreciated stars. Besides him, though, the Angels have an infield full of more questions than answers. Expect the other three positions to go through various cycles with different players manning the spots at different times throughout the year. At first base, the Angels have Albert Pujols and Justin Bour. Pujols is 39, though, so it will be worth watching how many games he can play at first. He will mostly be the designated hitter until Shohei Ohtani comes back in May, pushing Pujols mostly to first base. If Pujols, Bour and Ohtani are all on the roster and healthy, Manager Brad Ausmus will have to sit one. If that turns out to be Pujols, it could be a delicate situation. At second base, David Fletcher is likely to start the season. He is strong defensively and puts the ball in play and does all the little things right. The challenge to his playing time could come from prospect Luis Rengifo, who is faster and seems to be able to get on base better. Rengifo could eventually be the pure leadoff hitter that few teams have. Third baseman Zack Cozart is back after a forgettable debut season with the Angels. He slumped and then hurt his shoulder, missing the second half. If the Angels could just get Cozart to hit to his career averages this year, it would be a big upgrade.
OUTFIELD
The outfield remains unchanged from last year, with Mike Trout flanked by left fielder Justin Upton and right fielder Kole Calhoun. Trout, obviously, is the best player in the world, and he’s just 27. Upton is another solid, perhaps underappreciated player, who cranks out consistent seasons every year. Last year his production was about his normal level, but the timing couldn’t have been worse. He hit .197 with runners in scoring position. If he can do better this year, batting behind the always-on-base Trout, the Angels will get a boost. Calhoun is coming off a rollercoaster season in which he was at his career worst and his career best. Calhoun believes he now knows more about his swing and can avoid a repeat. If something goes wrong, the Angels have Peter Bourjos able to fill in at all three spots. The veteran had a resurgence in the spring, the result of a rebuilt swing. Top prospect Jo Adell also might be looming late in the season.
CATCHER
Jonathan Lucroy was once one of the game’s best offensive catchers, and as his offense slipped he became more known for his contributions on defense, and his work with pitchers. Lucroy wants to get back to where he was offensively, so he spent the winter refining his swing. Kevan Smith and José Briceño are the next layer, with Smith providing more offense and Briceño providing more defense.
BENCH
The Angels might have a three-man bench for much of the early portion of the season, if they decide they need an extra reliever to cover for a rotation that endured some interruptions in the spring. Tommy La Stella can play all the infield positions except shortstop, but both Cozart and Fletcher can back up at short. Once Ohtani comes back, the Angels will most likely have four players on the bench, with Ohtani, Pujols or Bour sitting out each day.
MANAGER
For the first time in the 21st century, the Angels are going to have someone other than Mike Scioscia leading the way. It remains to be seen how different things will go. Ausmus’ biggest challenge might be handling the Ohtani-Pujols-Bour trio, once all three are healthy. He’ll also be charged with handling a pitching staff that is without a workhorse in the rotation. There are sure to be plenty of times when his starter has only given him 15 or 16 outs, and he has to navigate the last 11 or 12 with the bullpen.
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ANAHEIM — When Mike Trout and Billy Eppler would exchange texts over the winter, it typically began with “smack talk,” Eppler said, about the Chargers and Philadelphia Eagles, their respective favorite teams.
Then there might be some small talk about their families, and then exchanging ideas about the future of the Angels.
Those conversations provided a snapshot of a relationship that would eventually lead to Trout becoming an Angel for life.
On the day that the Angels celebrated Trout’s 12-year, $426.5-million deal with the Angels, Trout explained why a kid from the New Jersey would want to commit to spend the rest of his career in the same uniform.
It came down to Trout’s belief in the organization’s future, and his relationships with those in the organization. Trout seemed specifically to enjoy working with Eppler.
“He relates to the players more than anybody,” Trout said of Eppler. “That’s the biggest thing I like. When he asks something or something comes up, he asks me and I relay it to the guys and the guys give me feedback and we go from there. The communication in the whole organization is top-notch.”
So it should be no surprise, then, that Trout is buying what Eppler is selling when it comes to the future of the Angels.
Since he was hired in 2015, Eppler has often said his plan to make the Angels consistent winners is to build a strong farm system.
“Knowing we’re going in the right direction in the future, that was big for me,” Trout said. “If I didn’t see that, I’d have definitely considered leaving.”
Over the past three years, the Angels went from having one of the worst farm systems in baseball to one in the upper half.
“I feel with the pieces we have coming up in the minor leagues, we have great prospect, great arms,” Trout said. “If we add some guys in free agency, the team each year I feel like is getting better and the direction is good…
“We’ve been through some ups and downs, but I’m really looking toward the future. I really see us winning a championship here.”
Besides Trout’s confidence in the Angels, he also saw what free agency looks like. He had watched Manny Machado and Bryce Harper endure a frustrating winter. Those two superstars had to wait until past the start of spring training to get their deals with the Padres and Phillies, respectively.
“I kind of saw what Manny and Bryce went through and it drew a red flag for me,” Trout said. “I talked to Manny and Bryce. It was a tough couple  months in the offseason. They put perspective in my mind.”
As Trout, Eppler and owner Arte Moreno described it, there had been general conversations about Trout’s new contract for a couple years, but the wheels really began turning about a month ago.
“I said I want to deal with it now,” Trout said. “If not, I’m going to explore free agency. I didn’t want to go through the next few seasons thinking ‘Am I going to get a deal or not?’ I want to know. The Angels, Arte and Billy and (president John Carpino) sat down and said to me ‘Let’s get this done.’
“It was a good process. I wanted to get it done.”
Moreno said talks with Trout began before Harper agreed with the Phillies on Feb. 28. They accelerated over the next couple weeks. Eppler wouldn’t specify how many offers flew back and forth between the club and Trout’s agent, Craig Landis, but he said the process was relatively smooth.
Mike Trout of the Angels, left, is joined by his wife Jessica at a press conference about his new contract outside Angel Stadiumin Anaheim on Sunday, March 24, 2019. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)Eppler said Landis asked early in the process how the Angels felt about opt-out clauses. Eppler said they “would rather not give then. We look at it as a commitment on both directions, and they said ‘OK, that’s fine with us.’ ”
About two weeks ago, Moreno sat with Trout in Manager Brad Ausmus’ office at Tempe Diablo Stadium and they had a heart-to-heart for about an hour. Apparently, it helped comfort both sides.
“I think any time you’re gonna make that kind of investment, you want to be able to sit across from them and look them in the eyes,” Moreno said.
The deal came to a head on Monday morning. Eppler, Moreno and Carpino had talked on the phone to determine the ultimate level they could go financially. Eppler, who had been back in Southern California for a season-ticket holder event last weekend, was at John Wayne Airport, on his way back to Arizona, when he relayed the offer to Landis.
While Eppler was in the air somewhere over Arizona, he got a message on his iPad.
“We have an answer,” said the message from Landis.
Eppler waited.
“I guess I won’t make you wait until you land,” the next message said. “Mike Trout’s going to be an Angel for the rest of his life.”
Eppler —  who famously fell out of his chair after getting the news that Shohei Ohtani wanted to be an Angel — was this time safely buckled in his seat. He texted Moreno, and the Angels had their man.
Just like that, the questions hanging over the Angels and over Trout had been answered.
“I think Mike just got a couple of pianos lifted off his shoulders,” Moreno said, “because for him it was just a lot of pressure from everyone. I feel for Mike because when I was talking to him, you could just tell he just wanted to play baseball.”
Trout smiled and apologized to writers because he had not been open when asked throughout spring training about his negotiations with the Angels.
Related Articles
Angels fall to Padres in Cactus League finale Angels finish spring training with a few roster decisions to make Alexander: Late October baseball in SoCal again this year? Count on it Staff predictions: SCNG baseball writers call their shots for 2019 season Angels’ Mike Trout homers in his final spring game in Arizona “It was a crazy process the last few weeks, but I’m happy,” he said. “I’m relieved. If we hadn’t gotten a deal done, it would have been tough for me. I obviously wanted to be here.”
Trout wanted to stay despite the constant narrative that the Angels had “wasted” his career. Although Trout has put up historic numbers, winning two MVPs and starting on a Hall of Fame track, the Angels have had losing records in four of his seven seasons. They’ve been to the playoffs once.
“It’s not like we’re trying to lose,” Trout said. “We just had some bad luck with injuries. There are a lot of great teams out there. They are competing to do the same thing we are. We just gotta stay positive. For me ,it’s 12 more years. It seems like a lot but in the baseball world it goes quick. I got to enjoy every minute of it and bring a championship here.”

Mike Trout of the Angels smiles during a press conference about his new contract outside Angel Stadium in Anaheim on Sunday, March 24, 2019. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Angels owner Arte Moreno, left, shakes the hand of Mike Trout during a press conference about his new contract outside Angel Stadium in Anaheim on Sunday, March 24, 2019. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Sound The gallery will resume inseconds
Mike Trout of the Angels, center, is joined by his wife and other from the Angels to holds press conference about his new contract outside Angel Stadium in Anaheim on Sunday, March 24, 2019. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Mike Trout of the Angels speaks to a crowd about him staying with the Angels during a press conference outside Angel Stadium in Anaheim on Sunday, March 24, 2019. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Fans gather outside Angel Stadium to show their support for Angel Mike Trout during a press conference about his new contract in Anaheim on Sunday, March 24, 2019. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Mike Trout of the Angels, left, is joined by his wife Jessica at a press conference about his new contract outside Angel Stadium in Anaheim on Sunday, March 24, 2019. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Fans gather outside Angel Stadium to show their support for Angel Mike Trout during a press conference about his new contract in Anaheim on Sunday, March 24, 2019. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Thousands gather outside Angel Stadium for a press conference with Mike Trout of the Angels about his new contract in Anaheim on Sunday, March 24, 2019. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Mike Trout of the Angels smiles during a press conference about his new contract outside Angel Stadium in Anaheim on Sunday, March 24, 2019. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Angels owner Arte Moreno, left, shakes the hand of Mike Trout during a press conference about his new contract outside Angel Stadium in Anaheim on Sunday, March 24, 2019. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Show Caption of
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ANAHEIM — When Mike Trout and Billy Eppler would exchange texts over the winter, it typically began with “smack talk,” Eppler said, about the Chargers and Philadelphia Eagles, their respective favorite teams.
Then there might be some small talk about their families, and then exchanging ideas about the future of the Angels.
Those conversations provided a snapshot of a relationship that would eventually lead to Trout becoming an Angel for life.
On the day that the Angels celebrated Trout’s 12-year, $426.5-million deal with the Angels, Trout explained why a kid from the New Jersey would want to commit to spend the rest of his career in the same uniform.
It came down to Trout’s belief in the organization’s future, and his relationships with those in the organization. Trout seemed specifically to enjoy working with Eppler.
“He relates to the players more than anybody,” Trout said of Eppler. “That’s the biggest thing I like. When he asks something or something comes up, he asks me and I relay it to the guys and the guys give me feedback and we go from there. The communication in the whole organization is top-notch.”
So it should be no surprise, then, that Trout is buying what Eppler is selling when it comes to the future of the Angels.
Since he was hired in 2015, Eppler has often said his plan to make the Angels consistent winners is to build a strong farm system.
“Knowing we’re going in the right direction in the future, that was big for me,” Trout said. “If I didn’t see that, I’d have definitely considered leaving.”
Over the past three years, the Angels went from having one of the worst farm systems in baseball to one in the upper half.
“I feel with the pieces we have coming up in the minor leagues, we have great prospect, great arms,” Trout said. “If we add some guys in free agency, the team each year I feel like is getting better and the direction is good…
“We’ve been through some ups and downs, but I’m really looking toward the future. I really see us winning a championship here.”
Besides Trout’s confidence in the Angels, he also saw what free agency looks like. He had watched Manny Machado and Bryce Harper endure a frustrating winter. Those two superstars had to wait until past the start of spring training to get their deals with the Padres and Phillies, respectively.
“I kind of saw what Manny and Bryce went through and it drew a red flag for me,” Trout said. “I talked to Manny and Bryce. It was a tough couple  months in the offseason. They put perspective in my mind.”
As Trout, Eppler and owner Arte Moreno described it, there had been general conversations about Trout’s new contract for a couple years, but the wheels really began turning about a month ago.
“I said I want to deal with it now,” Trout said. “If not, I’m going to explore free agency. I didn’t want to go through the next few seasons thinking ‘Am I going to get a deal or not?’ I want to know. The Angels, Arte and Billy and (president John Carpino) sat down and said to me ‘Let’s get this done.’
“It was a good process. I wanted to get it done.”
Moreno said talks with Trout began before Harper agreed with the Phillies on Feb. 28. They accelerated over the next couple weeks. Eppler wouldn’t specify how many offers flew back and forth between the club and Trout’s agent, Craig Landis, but he said the process was relatively smooth.
Mike Trout of the Angels, left, is joined by his wife Jessica at a press conference about his new contract outside Angel Stadiumin Anaheim on Sunday, March 24, 2019. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)Eppler said Landis asked early in the process how the Angels felt about opt-out clauses. Eppler said they “would rather not give then. We look at it as a commitment on both directions, and they said ‘OK, that’s fine with us.’ ”
About two weeks ago, Moreno sat with Trout in Manager Brad Ausmus’ office at Tempe Diablo Stadium and they had a heart-to-heart for about an hour. Apparently, it helped comfort both sides.
“I think any time you’re gonna make that kind of investment, you want to be able to sit across from them and look them in the eyes,” Moreno said.
The deal came to a head on Monday morning. Eppler, Moreno and Carpino had talked on the phone to determine the ultimate level they could go financially. Eppler, who had been back in Southern California for a season-ticket holder event last weekend, was at John Wayne Airport, on his way back to Arizona, when he relayed the offer to Landis.
While Eppler was in the air somewhere over Arizona, he got a message on his iPad.
“We have an answer,” said the message from Landis.
Eppler waited.
“I guess I won’t make you wait until you land,” the next message said. “Mike Trout’s going to be an Angel for the rest of his life.”
Eppler —  who famously fell out of his chair after getting the news that Shohei Ohtani wanted to be an Angel — was this time safely buckled in his seat. He texted Moreno, and the Angels had their man.
Just like that, the questions hanging over the Angels and over Trout had been answered.
“I think Mike just got a couple of pianos lifted off his shoulders,” Moreno said, “because for him it was just a lot of pressure from everyone. I feel for Mike because when I was talking to him, you could just tell he just wanted to play baseball.”
Trout smiled and apologized to writers because he had not been open when asked throughout spring training about his negotiations with the Angels.
Related Articles
Angels fall to Padres in Cactus League finale Angels finish spring training with a few roster decisions to make Alexander: Late October baseball in SoCal again this year? Count on it Staff predictions: SCNG baseball writers call their shots for 2019 season Angels’ Mike Trout homers in his final spring game in Arizona “It was a crazy process the last few weeks, but I’m happy,” he said. “I’m relieved. If we hadn’t gotten a deal done, it would have been tough for me. I obviously wanted to be here.”
Trout wanted to stay despite the constant narrative that the Angels had “wasted” his career. Although Trout has put up historic numbers, winning two MVPs and starting on a Hall of Fame track, the Angels have had losing records in four of his seven seasons. They’ve been to the playoffs once.
“It’s not like we’re trying to lose,” Trout said. “We just had some bad luck with injuries. There are a lot of great teams out there. They are competing to do the same thing we are. We just gotta stay positive. For me ,it’s 12 more years. It seems like a lot but in the baseball world it goes quick. I got to enjoy every minute of it and bring a championship here.”

Mike Trout of the Angels smiles during a press conference about his new contract outside Angel Stadium in Anaheim on Sunday, March 24, 2019. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Angels owner Arte Moreno, left, shakes the hand of Mike Trout during a press conference about his new contract outside Angel Stadium in Anaheim on Sunday, March 24, 2019. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Sound The gallery will resume inseconds
Mike Trout of the Angels, center, is joined by his wife and other from the Angels to holds press conference about his new contract outside Angel Stadium in Anaheim on Sunday, March 24, 2019. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Mike Trout of the Angels speaks to a crowd about him staying with the Angels during a press conference outside Angel Stadium in Anaheim on Sunday, March 24, 2019. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Fans gather outside Angel Stadium to show their support for Angel Mike Trout during a press conference about his new contract in Anaheim on Sunday, March 24, 2019. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Mike Trout of the Angels, left, is joined by his wife Jessica at a press conference about his new contract outside Angel Stadium in Anaheim on Sunday, March 24, 2019. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Fans gather outside Angel Stadium to show their support for Angel Mike Trout during a press conference about his new contract in Anaheim on Sunday, March 24, 2019. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Thousands gather outside Angel Stadium for a press conference with Mike Trout of the Angels about his new contract in Anaheim on Sunday, March 24, 2019. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Mike Trout of the Angels smiles during a press conference about his new contract outside Angel Stadium in Anaheim on Sunday, March 24, 2019. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Angels owner Arte Moreno, left, shakes the hand of Mike Trout during a press conference about his new contract outside Angel Stadium in Anaheim on Sunday, March 24, 2019. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Show Caption of
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ANAHEIM — When Mike Trout and Billy Eppler would exchange texts over the winter, it typically began with “smack talk,” Eppler said, about the Chargers and Philadelphia Eagles, their respective favorite teams.
Then there might be some small talk about their families, and then exchanging ideas about the future of the Angels.
Those conversations provided a snapshot of a relationship that would eventually lead to Trout becoming an Angel for life.
On the day that the Angels celebrated Trout’s 12-year, $426.5-million deal with the Angels, Trout explained why a kid from the New Jersey would want to commit to spend the rest of his career in the same uniform.
It came down to Trout’s belief in the organization’s future, and his relationships with those in the organization. Trout seemed specifically to enjoy working with Eppler.
“He relates to the players more than anybody,” Trout said of Eppler. “That’s the biggest thing I like. When he asks something or something comes up, he asks me and I relay it to the guys and the guys give me feedback and we go from there. The communication in the whole organization is top-notch.”
So it should be no surprise, then, that Trout is buying what Eppler is selling when it comes to the future of the Angels.
Since he was hired in 2015, Eppler has often said his plan to make the Angels consistent winners is to build a strong farm system.
“Knowing we’re going in the right direction in the future, that was big for me,” Trout said. “If I didn’t see that, I’d have definitely considered leaving.”
Over the past three years, the Angels went from having one of the worst farm systems in baseball to one in the upper half.
“I feel with the pieces we have coming up in the minor leagues, we have great prospect, great arms,” Trout said. “If we add some guys in free agency, the team each year I feel like is getting better and the direction is good…
“We’ve been through some ups and downs, but I’m really looking toward the future. I really see us winning a championship here.”
Besides Trout’s confidence in the Angels, he also saw what free agency looks like. He had watched Manny Machado and Bryce Harper endure a frustrating winter. Those two superstars had to wait until past the start of spring training to get their deals with the Padres and Phillies, respectively.
“I kind of saw what Manny and Bryce went through and it drew a red flag for me,” Trout said. “I talked to Manny and Bryce. It was a tough couple  months in the offseason. They put perspective in my mind.”
As Trout, Eppler and owner Arte Moreno described it, there had been general conversations about Trout’s new contract for a couple years, but the wheels really began turning about a month ago.
“I said I want to deal with it now,” Trout said. “If not, I’m going to explore free agency. I didn’t want to go through the next few seasons thinking ‘Am I going to get a deal or not?’ I want to know. The Angels, Arte and Billy and (president John Carpino) sat down and said to me ‘Let’s get this done.’
“It was a good process. I wanted to get it done.”
Moreno said talks with Trout began before Harper agreed with the Phillies on Feb. 28. They accelerated over the next couple weeks. Eppler wouldn’t specify how many offers flew back and forth between the club and Trout’s agent, Craig Landis, but he said the process was relatively smooth.
Mike Trout of the Angels, left, is joined by his wife Jessica at a press conference about his new contract outside Angel Stadiumin Anaheim on Sunday, March 24, 2019. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)Eppler said Landis asked early in the process how the Angels felt about opt-out clauses. Eppler said they “would rather not give then. We look at it as a commitment on both directions, and they said ‘OK, that’s fine with us.’ ”
About two weeks ago, Moreno sat with Trout in Manager Brad Ausmus’ office at Tempe Diablo Stadium and they had a heart-to-heart for about an hour. Apparently, it helped comfort both sides.
“I think any time you’re gonna make that kind of investment, you want to be able to sit across from them and look them in the eyes,” Moreno said.
The deal came to a head on Monday morning. Eppler, Moreno and Carpino had talked on the phone to determine the ultimate level they could go financially. Eppler, who had been back in Southern California for a season-ticket holder event last weekend, was at John Wayne Airport, on his way back to Arizona, when he relayed the offer to Landis.
While Eppler was in the air somewhere over Arizona, he got a message on his iPad.
“We have an answer,” said the message from Landis.
Eppler waited.
“I guess I won’t make you wait until you land,” the next message said. “Mike Trout’s going to be an Angel for the rest of his life.”
Eppler —  who famously fell out of his chair after getting the news that Shohei Ohtani wanted to be an Angel — was this time safely buckled in his seat. He texted Moreno, and the Angels had their man.
Just like that, the questions hanging over the Angels and over Trout had been answered.
“I think Mike just got a couple of pianos lifted off his shoulders,” Moreno said, “because for him it was just a lot of pressure from everyone. I feel for Mike because when I was talking to him, you could just tell he just wanted to play baseball.”
Trout smiled and apologized to writers because he had not been open when asked throughout spring training about his negotiations with the Angels.
Related Articles
Angels fall to Padres in Cactus League finale Angels finish spring training with a few roster decisions to make Alexander: Late October baseball in SoCal again this year? Count on it Staff predictions: SCNG baseball writers call their shots for 2019 season Angels’ Mike Trout homers in his final spring game in Arizona “It was a crazy process the last few weeks, but I’m happy,” he said. “I’m relieved. If we hadn’t gotten a deal done, it would have been tough for me. I obviously wanted to be here.”
Trout wanted to stay despite the constant narrative that the Angels had “wasted” his career. Although Trout has put up historic numbers, winning two MVPs and starting on a Hall of Fame track, the Angels have had losing records in four of his seven seasons. They’ve been to the playoffs once.
“It’s not like we’re trying to lose,” Trout said. “We just had some bad luck with injuries. There are a lot of great teams out there. They are competing to do the same thing we are. We just gotta stay positive. For me ,it’s 12 more years. It seems like a lot but in the baseball world it goes quick. I got to enjoy every minute of it and bring a championship here.”

Mike Trout of the Angels smiles during a press conference about his new contract outside Angel Stadium in Anaheim on Sunday, March 24, 2019. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Angels owner Arte Moreno, left, shakes the hand of Mike Trout during a press conference about his new contract outside Angel Stadium in Anaheim on Sunday, March 24, 2019. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Sound The gallery will resume inseconds
Mike Trout of the Angels, center, is joined by his wife and other from the Angels to holds press conference about his new contract outside Angel Stadium in Anaheim on Sunday, March 24, 2019. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Mike Trout of the Angels speaks to a crowd about him staying with the Angels during a press conference outside Angel Stadium in Anaheim on Sunday, March 24, 2019. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Fans gather outside Angel Stadium to show their support for Angel Mike Trout during a press conference about his new contract in Anaheim on Sunday, March 24, 2019. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Mike Trout of the Angels, left, is joined by his wife Jessica at a press conference about his new contract outside Angel Stadium in Anaheim on Sunday, March 24, 2019. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Fans gather outside Angel Stadium to show their support for Angel Mike Trout during a press conference about his new contract in Anaheim on Sunday, March 24, 2019. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Thousands gather outside Angel Stadium for a press conference with Mike Trout of the Angels about his new contract in Anaheim on Sunday, March 24, 2019. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Mike Trout of the Angels smiles during a press conference about his new contract outside Angel Stadium in Anaheim on Sunday, March 24, 2019. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Angels owner Arte Moreno, left, shakes the hand of Mike Trout during a press conference about his new contract outside Angel Stadium in Anaheim on Sunday, March 24, 2019. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Show Caption of
Expand View the full article

ANAHEIM — When Mike Trout and Billy Eppler would exchange texts over the winter, it typically began with “smack talk,” Eppler said, about the Chargers and Philadelphia Eagles, their respective favorite teams.
Then there might be some small talk about their families, and then exchanging ideas about the future of the Angels.
Those conversations provided a snapshot of a relationship that would eventually lead to Trout becoming an Angel for life.
On the day that the Angels celebrated Trout’s 12-year, $426.5-million deal with the Angels, Trout explained why a kid from the New Jersey would want to commit to spend the rest of his career in the same uniform.
It came down to Trout’s belief in the organization’s future, and his relationships with those in the organization. Trout seemed specifically to enjoy working with Eppler.
“He relates to the players more than anybody,” Trout said of Eppler. “That’s the biggest thing I like. When he asks something or something comes up, he asks me and I relay it to the guys and the guys give me feedback and we go from there. The communication in the whole organization is top-notch.”
So it should be no surprise, then, that Trout is buying what Eppler is selling when it comes to the future of the Angels.
Since he was hired in 2015, Eppler has often said his plan to make the Angels consistent winners is to build a strong farm system.
“Knowing we’re going in the right direction in the future, that was big for me,” Trout said. “If I didn’t see that, I’d have definitely considered leaving.”
Over the past three years, the Angels went from having one of the worst farm systems in baseball to one in the upper half.
“I feel with the pieces we have coming up in the minor leagues, we have great prospect, great arms,” Trout said. “If we add some guys in free agency, the team each year I feel like is getting better and the direction is good…
“We’ve been through some ups and downs, but I’m really looking toward the future. I really see us winning a championship here.”
Besides Trout’s confidence in the Angels, he also saw what free agency looks like. He had watched Manny Machado and Bryce Harper endure a frustrating winter. Those two superstars had to wait until past the start of spring training to get their deals with the Padres and Phillies, respectively.
“I kind of saw what Manny and Bryce went through and it drew a red flag for me,” Trout said. “I talked to Manny and Bryce. It was a tough couple  months in the offseason. They put perspective in my mind.”
As Trout, Eppler and owner Arte Moreno described it, there had been general conversations about Trout’s new contract for a couple years, but the wheels really began turning about a month ago.
“I said I want to deal with it now,” Trout said. “If not, I’m going to explore free agency. I didn’t want to go through the next few seasons thinking ‘Am I going to get a deal or not?’ I want to know. The Angels, Arte and Billy and (president John Carpino) sat down and said to me ‘Let’s get this done.’
“It was a good process. I wanted to get it done.”
Moreno said talks with Trout began before Harper agreed with the Phillies on Feb. 28. They accelerated over the next couple weeks. Eppler wouldn’t specify how many offers flew back and forth between the club and Trout’s agent, Craig Landis, but he said the process was relatively smooth.
Mike Trout of the Angels, left, is joined by his wife Jessica at a press conference about his new contract outside Angel Stadiumin Anaheim on Sunday, March 24, 2019. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)Eppler said Landis asked early in the process how the Angels felt about opt-out clauses. Eppler said they “would rather not give then. We look at it as a commitment on both directions, and they said ‘OK, that’s fine with us.’ ”
About two weeks ago, Moreno sat with Trout in Manager Brad Ausmus’ office at Tempe Diablo Stadium and they had a heart-to-heart for about an hour. Apparently, it helped comfort both sides.
“I think any time you’re gonna make that kind of investment, you want to be able to sit across from them and look them in the eyes,” Moreno said.
The deal came to a head on Monday morning. Eppler, Moreno and Carpino had talked on the phone to determine the ultimate level they could go financially. Eppler, who had been back in Southern California for a season-ticket holder event last weekend, was at John Wayne Airport, on his way back to Arizona, when he relayed the offer to Landis.
While Eppler was in the air somewhere over Arizona, he got a message on his iPad.
“We have an answer,” said the message from Landis.
Eppler waited.
“I guess I won’t make you wait until you land,” the next message said. “Mike Trout’s going to be an Angel for the rest of his life.”
Eppler —  who famously fell out of his chair after getting the news that Shohei Ohtani wanted to be an Angel — was this time safely buckled in his seat. He texted Moreno, and the Angels had their man.
Just like that, the questions hanging over the Angels and over Trout had been answered.
“I think Mike just got a couple of pianos lifted off his shoulders,” Moreno said, “because for him it was just a lot of pressure from everyone. I feel for Mike because when I was talking to him, you could just tell he just wanted to play baseball.”
Trout smiled and apologized to writers because he had not been open when asked throughout spring training about his negotiations with the Angels.
Related Articles
Angels fall to Padres in Cactus League finale Angels finish spring training with a few roster decisions to make Alexander: Late October baseball in SoCal again this year? Count on it Staff predictions: SCNG baseball writers call their shots for 2019 season Angels’ Mike Trout homers in his final spring game in Arizona “It was a crazy process the last few weeks, but I’m happy,” he said. “I’m relieved. If we hadn’t gotten a deal done, it would have been tough for me. I obviously wanted to be here.”
Trout wanted to stay despite the constant narrative that the Angels had “wasted” his career. Although Trout has put up historic numbers, winning two MVPs and starting on a Hall of Fame track, the Angels have had losing records in four of his seven seasons. They’ve been to the playoffs once.
“It’s not like we’re trying to lose,” Trout said. “We just had some bad luck with injuries. There are a lot of great teams out there. They are competing to do the same thing we are. We just gotta stay positive. For me ,it’s 12 more years. It seems like a lot but in the baseball world it goes quick. I got to enjoy every minute of it and bring a championship here.”

Mike Trout of the Angels smiles during a press conference about his new contract outside Angel Stadium in Anaheim on Sunday, March 24, 2019. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Angels owner Arte Moreno, left, shakes the hand of Mike Trout during a press conference about his new contract outside Angel Stadium in Anaheim on Sunday, March 24, 2019. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Sound The gallery will resume inseconds
Mike Trout of the Angels, center, is joined by his wife and other from the Angels to holds press conference about his new contract outside Angel Stadium in Anaheim on Sunday, March 24, 2019. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Mike Trout of the Angels speaks to a crowd about him staying with the Angels during a press conference outside Angel Stadium in Anaheim on Sunday, March 24, 2019. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Fans gather outside Angel Stadium to show their support for Angel Mike Trout during a press conference about his new contract in Anaheim on Sunday, March 24, 2019. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Mike Trout of the Angels, left, is joined by his wife Jessica at a press conference about his new contract outside Angel Stadium in Anaheim on Sunday, March 24, 2019. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Fans gather outside Angel Stadium to show their support for Angel Mike Trout during a press conference about his new contract in Anaheim on Sunday, March 24, 2019. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Thousands gather outside Angel Stadium for a press conference with Mike Trout of the Angels about his new contract in Anaheim on Sunday, March 24, 2019. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Mike Trout of the Angels smiles during a press conference about his new contract outside Angel Stadium in Anaheim on Sunday, March 24, 2019. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Angels owner Arte Moreno, left, shakes the hand of Mike Trout during a press conference about his new contract outside Angel Stadium in Anaheim on Sunday, March 24, 2019. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Show Caption of
Expand View the full article

ANAHEIM — When Mike Trout and Billy Eppler would exchange texts over the winter, it typically began with “smack talk,” Eppler said, about the Chargers and Philadelphia Eagles, their respective favorite teams.
Then there might be some small talk about their families, and then exchanging ideas about the future of the Angels.
Those conversations provided a snapshot of a relationship that would eventually lead to Trout becoming an Angel for life.
On the day that the Angels celebrated Trout’s 12-year, $426.5-million deal with the Angels, Trout explained why a kid from the New Jersey would want to commit to spend the rest of his career in the same uniform.
It came down to Trout’s belief in the organization’s future, and his relationships with those in the organization. Trout seemed specifically to enjoy working with Eppler.
“He relates to the players more than anybody,” Trout said of Eppler. “That’s the biggest thing I like. When he asks something or something comes up, he asks me and I relay it to the guys and the guys give me feedback and we go from there. The communication in the whole organization is top-notch.”
So it should be no surprise, then, that Trout is buying what Eppler is selling when it comes to the future of the Angels.
Since he was hired in 2015, Eppler has often said his plan to make the Angels consistent winners is to build a strong farm system.
“Knowing we’re going in the right direction in the future, that was big for me,” Trout said. “If I didn’t see that, I’d have definitely considered leaving.”
Over the past three years, the Angels went from having one of the worst farm systems in baseball to one in the upper half.
“I feel with the pieces we have coming up in the minor leagues, we have great prospect, great arms,” Trout said. “If we add some guys in free agency, the team each year I feel like is getting better and the direction is good…
“We’ve been through some ups and downs, but I’m really looking toward the future. I really see us winning a championship here.”
Besides Trout’s confidence in the Angels, he also saw what free agency looks like. He had watched Manny Machado and Bryce Harper endure a frustrating winter. Those two superstars had to wait until past the start of spring training to get their deals with the Padres and Phillies, respectively.
“I kind of saw what Manny and Bryce went through and it drew a red flag for me,” Trout said. “I talked to Manny and Bryce. It was a tough couple  months in the offseason. They put perspective in my mind.”
As Trout, Eppler and owner Arte Moreno described it, there had been general conversations about Trout’s new contract for a couple years, but the wheels really began turning about a month ago.
“I said I want to deal with it now,” Trout said. “If not, I’m going to explore free agency. I didn’t want to go through the next few seasons thinking ‘Am I going to get a deal or not?’ I want to know. The Angels, Arte and Billy and (president John Carpino) sat down and said to me ‘Let’s get this done.’
“It was a good process. I wanted to get it done.”
Moreno said talks with Trout began before Harper agreed with the Phillies on Feb. 28. They accelerated over the next couple weeks. Eppler wouldn’t specify how many offers flew back and forth between the club and Trout’s agent, Craig Landis, but he said the process was relatively smooth.
Mike Trout of the Angels, left, is joined by his wife Jessica at a press conference about his new contract outside Angel Stadiumin Anaheim on Sunday, March 24, 2019. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)Eppler said Landis asked early in the process how the Angels felt about opt-out clauses. Eppler said they “would rather not give then. We look at it as a commitment on both directions, and they said ‘OK, that’s fine with us.’ ”
About two weeks ago, Moreno sat with Trout in Manager Brad Ausmus’ office at Tempe Diablo Stadium and they had a heart-to-heart for about an hour. Apparently, it helped comfort both sides.
“I think any time you’re gonna make that kind of investment, you want to be able to sit across from them and look them in the eyes,” Moreno said.
The deal came to a head on Monday morning. Eppler, Moreno and Carpino had talked on the phone to determine the ultimate level they could go financially. Eppler, who had been back in Southern California for a season-ticket holder event last weekend, was at John Wayne Airport, on his way back to Arizona, when he relayed the offer to Landis.
While Eppler was in the air somewhere over Arizona, he got a message on his iPad.
“We have an answer,” said the message from Landis.
Eppler waited.
“I guess I won’t make you wait until you land,” the next message said. “Mike Trout’s going to be an Angel for the rest of his life.”
Eppler —  who famously fell out of his chair after getting the news that Shohei Ohtani wanted to be an Angel — was this time safely buckled in his seat. He texted Moreno, and the Angels had their man.
Just like that, the questions hanging over the Angels and over Trout had been answered.
“I think Mike just got a couple of pianos lifted off his shoulders,” Moreno said, “because for him it was just a lot of pressure from everyone. I feel for Mike because when I was talking to him, you could just tell he just wanted to play baseball.”
Trout smiled and apologized to writers because he had not been open when asked throughout spring training about his negotiations with the Angels.
Related Articles
Angels fall to Padres in Cactus League finale Angels finish spring training with a few roster decisions to make Alexander: Late October baseball in SoCal again this year? Count on it Staff predictions: SCNG baseball writers call their shots for 2019 season Angels’ Mike Trout homers in his final spring game in Arizona “It was a crazy process the last few weeks, but I’m happy,” he said. “I’m relieved. If we hadn’t gotten a deal done, it would have been tough for me. I obviously wanted to be here.”
Trout wanted to stay despite the constant narrative that the Angels had “wasted” his career. Although Trout has put up historic numbers, winning two MVPs and starting on a Hall of Fame track, the Angels have had losing records in four of his seven seasons. They’ve been to the playoffs once.
“It’s not like we’re trying to lose,” Trout said. “We just had some bad luck with injuries. There are a lot of great teams out there. They are competing to do the same thing we are. We just gotta stay positive. For me ,it’s 12 more years. It seems like a lot but in the baseball world it goes quick. I got to enjoy every minute of it and bring a championship here.”

Mike Trout of the Angels smiles during a press conference about his new contract outside Angel Stadium in Anaheim on Sunday, March 24, 2019. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Angels owner Arte Moreno, left, shakes the hand of Mike Trout during a press conference about his new contract outside Angel Stadium in Anaheim on Sunday, March 24, 2019. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Sound The gallery will resume inseconds
Mike Trout of the Angels, center, is joined by his wife and other from the Angels to holds press conference about his new contract outside Angel Stadium in Anaheim on Sunday, March 24, 2019. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Mike Trout of the Angels speaks to a crowd about him staying with the Angels during a press conference outside Angel Stadium in Anaheim on Sunday, March 24, 2019. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Fans gather outside Angel Stadium to show their support for Angel Mike Trout during a press conference about his new contract in Anaheim on Sunday, March 24, 2019. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Mike Trout of the Angels, left, is joined by his wife Jessica at a press conference about his new contract outside Angel Stadium in Anaheim on Sunday, March 24, 2019. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Fans gather outside Angel Stadium to show their support for Angel Mike Trout during a press conference about his new contract in Anaheim on Sunday, March 24, 2019. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Thousands gather outside Angel Stadium for a press conference with Mike Trout of the Angels about his new contract in Anaheim on Sunday, March 24, 2019. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Mike Trout of the Angels smiles during a press conference about his new contract outside Angel Stadium in Anaheim on Sunday, March 24, 2019. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Angels owner Arte Moreno, left, shakes the hand of Mike Trout during a press conference about his new contract outside Angel Stadium in Anaheim on Sunday, March 24, 2019. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)
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TEMPE, Ariz. — Billy Eppler began to have an idea Mike Trout would be interested in being an Angel for life a couple years ago, with occasional text messages he’d get at 11 at night.
“I would be looking through our minor league box scores,” the Angels general manager said, “and I would get a text from him and he would say ‘Look at what so-and-so did tonight,’ or ‘How about so-and-so?’ I hadn’t really seen that from players before. That was unique. It started to speak toward his investment.”
Eppler said exchanges like that helped him realize Trout’s interest in the long-term fortunes of the franchise.
And now, Trout will get a fortune to be the core of the franchise for the next 12 years.
A day after the Angels completed their 12-year, $426.5-million deal with Trout, Eppler said it was a relief “to get that box checked with Mike and keeping him here.”
Although there had been plenty of talk from outside the organization about Trout wanting to play closer to his hometown in New Jersey, Eppler said Trout has two homes.
“He’s got his upbringing home and his offseason home, but we’re his baseball home,” Eppler said. “To be able to keep him here and keep him home, as far as his professional life is concerned, was important to us. I’m very glad we were able to get that done and very thankful to Arte for making it a focal point of our organization. Between Arte and John Carpino and myself, we all have the same goal in mind and we were able to achieve that.”
The financial commitment from owner Arte Moreno is the largest in the history of North American sports. Trout’s deal is nearly $100 million more than the second-largest baseball contract, which is Bryce Harper’s $330 million deal. It’s $186 million more than the previous biggest deal in Angels history, which went to Albert Pujols.
Under Trout’s old contract, he was to be paid $33.25 million in 2019 and 2020. The new deal replaces those years with $36 million apiece. This year’s money includes a $20 million signing bonus and a $16 million salary. Trout will then be paid $35.45 million each year, from 2021-30.
Eppler said the organization had been planning for years on an extension for Trout, and this offseason was identified as the best time to do it “to operate in the dark as much as we could.” Eppler said the questions about Trout’s future would have only grown louder had they waited until next winter.
Eppler said getting this piece of business out of the way does not affect, one way or another, how the club handles the rest of its roster.
Eppler said the Angels have been on “a direction over speed approach” – in other words, growing the farm system rather than going through quick fixes through free agency – “and it allows us to stay on that path.”
It also allows Angels fans to be comfortable that their Trout jerseys are not going to be obsolete.
“I think it’s just great for the fans here and personally I think it’s great for baseball fans in general,” Eppler said of the prospect of Trout playing his entire career with one team. “ I grew up in an era where there was a coolness to Cal Ripken staying an Oriole and obviously working in New York and seeing Mariano (Rivera) and Derek (Jeter) and (Jorge) Posada play in one uniform. My childhood team that we were season ticket holders to were the Padres, and seeing Tony Gwynn and Robin Yount (with the Brewers) and just that population of guys that play in one uniform.
“I believe that’s good and I’m glad we can do that for the Angels fans and just in general for the baseball community, I think it’s a good thing.”
ICHIRO AND OHTANI
Shohei Ohtani grew up idolizing Ichiro Suzuki, so he was particularly moved by watching the highlights of the final game of Ichiro’s career, early Thursday morning in Arizona.
“I still can’t believe it,” Ohtani said through his interpreter on Thursday morning. “He was always someone that was my goal. That’s not going to change. I won’t be able to see him play anymore, but I’ll always have the memories of him playing.”
Ohtani said he was “very honored and thankful” that Ichiro gave him some advice last year. Ichiro also had some praise for Ohtani during his retirement press conference in Tokyo.
“Shohei needs to be the world’s greatest player,” Ichiro said. “There aren’t any other players like him, with his size and quickness.”
ALSO
The Angels will have to make a decision on Daniel Hudson by Saturday. The veteran reliever is in camp on a minor league deal. If the Angels don’t add him to the major league roster by Saturday, they will have to pay him a $100,000 retention bonus to keep him in the minor leagues. …
Related Articles
Tyler Skaggs shakes off rough first inning in Angels’ loss to Indians Angels make Mike Trout’s 12-year, $426.5-million deal official Mike Trout stays mum the day after record-breaking deal with Angels Five spring training trends you might have missed Why most pro athletes — including Mike Trout — are worth every penny of their big money salaries Taylor Cole has resumed throwing after missing a couple weeks because of shoulder discomfort. Cole said on Thursday morning that he’s encouraged by his recent improvement, but he will nonetheless have to start the season on the injured list. …
Jarrett Parker has been out a few days with a sore oblique, Manager Brad Ausmus said. …
Kaleb Cowart, who cleared waivers and will begin the season in Triple-A, will spend about 80 percent of his time pitching and the rest as a position player, Ausmus said.
View the full article

TEMPE, Ariz. — Billy Eppler began to have an idea Mike Trout would be interested in being an Angel for life a couple years ago, with occasional text messages he’d get at 11 at night.
“I would be looking through our minor league box scores,” the Angels general manager said, “and I would get a text from him and he would say ‘Look at what so-and-so did tonight,’ or ‘How about so-and-so?’ I hadn’t really seen that from players before. That was unique. It started to speak toward his investment.”
Eppler said exchanges like that helped him realize Trout’s interest in the long-term fortunes of the franchise.
And now, Trout will get a fortune to be the core of the franchise for the next 12 years.
A day after the Angels completed their 12-year, $426.5-million deal with Trout, Eppler said it was a relief “to get that box checked with Mike and keeping him here.”
Although there had been plenty of talk from outside the organization about Trout wanting to play closer to his hometown in New Jersey, Eppler said Trout has two homes.
“He’s got his upbringing home and his offseason home, but we’re his baseball home,” Eppler said. “To be able to keep him here and keep him home, as far as his professional life is concerned, was important to us. I’m very glad we were able to get that done and very thankful to Arte for making it a focal point of our organization. Between Arte and John Carpino and myself, we all have the same goal in mind and we were able to achieve that.”
The financial commitment from owner Arte Moreno is the largest in the history of North American sports. Trout’s deal is nearly $100 million more than the second-largest baseball contract, which is Bryce Harper’s $330 million deal. It’s $186 million more than the previous biggest deal in Angels history, which went to Albert Pujols.
Under Trout’s old contract, he was to be paid $33.25 million in 2019 and 2020. The new deal replaces those years with $36 million apiece. This year’s money includes a $20 million signing bonus and a $16 million salary. Trout will then be paid $35.45 million each year, from 2021-30.
Eppler said the organization had been planning for years on an extension for Trout, and this offseason was identified as the best time to do it “to operate in the dark as much as we could.” Eppler said the questions about Trout’s future would have only grown louder had they waited until next winter.
Eppler said getting this piece of business out of the way does not affect, one way or another, how the club handles the rest of its roster.
Eppler said the Angels have been on “a direction over speed approach” – in other words, growing the farm system rather than going through quick fixes through free agency – “and it allows us to stay on that path.”
It also allows Angels fans to be comfortable that their Trout jerseys are not going to be obsolete.
“I think it’s just great for the fans here and personally I think it’s great for baseball fans in general,” Eppler said of the prospect of Trout playing his entire career with one team. “ I grew up in an era where there was a coolness to Cal Ripken staying an Oriole and obviously working in New York and seeing Mariano (Rivera) and Derek (Jeter) and (Jorge) Posada play in one uniform. My childhood team that we were season ticket holders to were the Padres, and seeing Tony Gwynn and Robin Yount (with the Brewers) and just that population of guys that play in one uniform.
“I believe that’s good and I’m glad we can do that for the Angels fans and just in general for the baseball community, I think it’s a good thing.”
ICHIRO AND OHTANI
Shohei Ohtani grew up idolizing Ichiro Suzuki, so he was particularly moved by watching the highlights of the final game of Ichiro’s career, early Thursday morning in Arizona.
“I still can’t believe it,” Ohtani said through his interpreter on Thursday morning. “He was always someone that was my goal. That’s not going to change. I won’t be able to see him play anymore, but I’ll always have the memories of him playing.”
Ohtani said he was “very honored and thankful” that Ichiro gave him some advice last year. Ichiro also had some praise for Ohtani during his retirement press conference in Tokyo.
“Shohei needs to be the world’s greatest player,” Ichiro said. “There aren’t any other players like him, with his size and quickness.”
ALSO
The Angels will have to make a decision on Daniel Hudson by Saturday. The veteran reliever is in camp on a minor league deal. If the Angels don’t add him to the major league roster by Saturday, they will have to pay him a $100,000 retention bonus to keep him in the minor leagues. …
Related Articles
Tyler Skaggs shakes off rough first inning in Angels’ loss to Indians Angels make Mike Trout’s 12-year, $426.5-million deal official Mike Trout stays mum the day after record-breaking deal with Angels Five spring training trends you might have missed Why most pro athletes — including Mike Trout — are worth every penny of their big money salaries Taylor Cole has resumed throwing after missing a couple weeks because of shoulder discomfort. Cole said on Thursday morning that he’s encouraged by his recent improvement, but he will nonetheless have to start the season on the injured list. …
Jarrett Parker has been out a few days with a sore oblique, Manager Brad Ausmus said. …
Kaleb Cowart, who cleared waivers and will begin the season in Triple-A, will spend about 80 percent of his time pitching and the rest as a position player, Ausmus said.
View the full article

TEMPE, Ariz. — For Mike Trout, Wednesday marked the first day of the rest of his life as an Angel.
Trout returned to work a day after he was excused from showing up to Tempe Diablo Stadium amid the news that he and the Angels had agreed to a 12-year, $426.5-million deal.
With the record-breaking contract still not finalized, Trout declined to talk to the media.
Instead, he laughed with his teammates during stretching, as they discussed the feasibility of bringing a fish on team flights.
“Only if it’s a service fish,” quipped Manager Brad Ausmus.
Trout took batting practice, and then he headed down to the minor league complex to load up on seven plate appearances.
Facing Cody Allen, Jaime Barría and top prospect Griffin Canning, Trout had three hits and a walk. He hit a homer off Barría, just after giving a sideways glance to the minor league umpire who had called a strike on a pitch he felt was out of the zone.
Trout also spent a few minutes chatting with former teammate Torii Hunter, who was on hand to watch his son, an Angels prospect.
Trout is likely to get back on the field in a Cactus League game on Thursday, when the Angels travel to Salt River Fields for a game against the Arizona Diamondbacks.
In the meantime, it was up to his teammates to react to the news that Trout had essentially agreed to spend the rest of his career with the Angels.
Shohei Ohtani, the only one of his teammates who could possibly still be with him when the contract expires in 2030, said he was thrilled with the news.
“I’m just simply really happy and excited to play with such a great player such a long time,” Ohtani, 24, said through his interpreter. “If anybody deserves that contract, it’s Mike.”
Trout, of course, spoke to Ohtani via FaceTime during the Angels’ first recruiting meeting with the Japanese star.
“He seemed like a really nice genuine guy,” Ohtani said, recalling the conversation. “He actually was when I met him also. That impression hasn’t changed… Last year I had a lot of questions to ask him. He’s a guy I leaned on.”
OHTANI UPDATE
Ohtani continued throwing and taking batting practice on Wednesday. He was cleared to take regular batting practice in the cage against a coach on Sunday, and so far he said he’s feeling good.
“Body-wise, there are no issues,” Ohtani said. “But there are some things I still need to polish. It’s getting there.”
Ohtani said he’ll be ready to move to batting practice on the field as soon as the medical staff clears him. There is no timetable for that step.
Ausmus also said that Ohtani’s rehab has gone to plan, so far.
“The whole time he’s really been on target,” Ausmus said.
Ohtani also said he stayed up to watch the Seattle Mariners play the Oakland A’s in Tokyo, a game that started at 2:30 a.m. on Wednesday morning in Arizona. Ohtani wanted to see Ichiro Suzuki.
“More than just being a fan, he was somebody every kid looked up to,” Ohtani said. “He’s a really iconic figure.”
ALSO
Although Justin Upton and Zack Cozart are now healthy and back in the lineup, apparently ready to start the season on the active roster, Ausmus said that they may not be ready to play everyday immediately. …
Related Articles
Five spring training trends you might have missed Why most pro athletes — including Mike Trout — are worth every penny of their big money salaries Angels rally for victory as Justin Upton, Zack Cozart return to action Alexander: Mike Trout’s Angels deal rewards baseball’s best, and most humble, star A look at Mike Trout’s deal to remain an Angel through 2030 As expected, Ausmus said the plan is for Albert Pujols to be the DH as much as possible, at least until Ohtani returns. “We’ll try to keep him healthy the entire year, if possible,” Ausmus said. “I think DH-ing is one way of doing it.” Ausmus said he’s been encouraged that Pujols that “hasn’t had any physical issues” this spring. …
Nick Tropeano was scheduled Wednesday for his first bullpen session since he was shut down with a shoulder problem in the first days of spring training. Tropeano has said if all goes well he could be able to pitch by late April. …
Kaleb Cowart cleared waivers and was outrighted. That will allow the Angels to keep Cowart in the minor leagues, as they continue to develop him as a two-way player. It also clears a 40-man roster spot. The Angels could have as many as three non-roster players make the team – Peter Bourjos, Dan Jennings and Daniel Hudson – so they’d need to clear spots for them.
View the full article

TEMPE, Ariz. — For Mike Trout, Wednesday marked the first day of the rest of his life as an Angel.
Trout returned to work a day after he was excused from showing up to Tempe Diablo Stadium amid the news that he and the Angels had agreed to a 12-year, $426.5-million deal.
With the record-breaking contract still not finalized, Trout declined to talk to the media.
Instead, he laughed with his teammates during stretching, as they discussed the feasibility of bringing a fish on team flights.
“Only if it’s a service fish,” quipped Manager Brad Ausmus.
Trout took batting practice, and then he headed down to the minor league complex to load up on seven plate appearances.
Facing Cody Allen, Jaime Barría and top prospect Griffin Canning, Trout had three hits and a walk. He hit a homer off Barría, just after giving a sideways glance to the minor league umpire who had called a strike on a pitch he felt was out of the zone.
Trout also spent a few minutes chatting with former teammate Torii Hunter, who was on hand to watch his son, an Angels prospect.
Trout is likely to get back on the field in a Cactus League game on Thursday, when the Angels travel to Salt River Fields for a game against the Arizona Diamondbacks.
In the meantime, it was up to his teammates to react to the news that Trout had essentially agreed to spend the rest of his career with the Angels.
Shohei Ohtani, the only one of his teammates who could possibly still be with him when the contract expires in 2030, said he was thrilled with the news.
“I’m just simply really happy and excited to play with such a great player such a long time,” Ohtani, 24, said through his interpreter. “If anybody deserves that contract, it’s Mike.”
Trout, of course, spoke to Ohtani via FaceTime during the Angels’ first recruiting meeting with the Japanese star.
“He seemed like a really nice genuine guy,” Ohtani said, recalling the conversation. “He actually was when I met him also. That impression hasn’t changed… Last year I had a lot of questions to ask him. He’s a guy I leaned on.”
OHTANI UPDATE
Ohtani continued throwing and taking batting practice on Wednesday. He was cleared to take regular batting practice in the cage against a coach on Sunday, and so far he said he’s feeling good.
“Body-wise, there are no issues,” Ohtani said. “But there are some things I still need to polish. It’s getting there.”
Ohtani said he’ll be ready to move to batting practice on the field as soon as the medical staff clears him. There is no timetable for that step.
Ausmus also said that Ohtani’s rehab has gone to plan, so far.
“The whole time he’s really been on target,” Ausmus said.
Ohtani also said he stayed up to watch the Seattle Mariners play the Oakland A’s in Tokyo, a game that started at 2:30 a.m. on Wednesday morning in Arizona. Ohtani wanted to see Ichiro Suzuki.
“More than just being a fan, he was somebody every kid looked up to,” Ohtani said. “He’s a really iconic figure.”
ALSO
Although Justin Upton and Zack Cozart are now healthy and back in the lineup, apparently ready to start the season on the active roster, Ausmus said that they may not be ready to play everyday immediately. …
Related Articles
Five spring training trends you might have missed Why most pro athletes — including Mike Trout — are worth every penny of their big money salaries Angels rally for victory as Justin Upton, Zack Cozart return to action Alexander: Mike Trout’s Angels deal rewards baseball’s best, and most humble, star A look at Mike Trout’s deal to remain an Angel through 2030 As expected, Ausmus said the plan is for Albert Pujols to be the DH as much as possible, at least until Ohtani returns. “We’ll try to keep him healthy the entire year, if possible,” Ausmus said. “I think DH-ing is one way of doing it.” Ausmus said he’s been encouraged that Pujols that “hasn’t had any physical issues” this spring. …
Nick Tropeano was scheduled Wednesday for his first bullpen session since he was shut down with a shoulder problem in the first days of spring training. Tropeano has said if all goes well he could be able to pitch by late April. …
Kaleb Cowart cleared waivers and was outrighted. That will allow the Angels to keep Cowart in the minor leagues, as they continue to develop him as a two-way player. It also clears a 40-man roster spot. The Angels could have as many as three non-roster players make the team – Peter Bourjos, Dan Jennings and Daniel Hudson – so they’d need to clear spots for them.
View the full article

TEMPE, Ariz. — Maybe all the mystery about Mike Trout’s future shouldn’t have been such a concern after all.
“This is where I wanted to be all along,” Trout said in a statement included in the Angels’ official announcement of their 12-year, $426.5-million deal with their superstar.
A day after the news broke, the Angels finalized the deal on Wednesday night, completing the largest contract in the history of North American sports.
Trout did not speak with reporters before playing in an intrasquad game – and hitting a homer– on Wednesday afternoon, because the deal was not yet official. After it was finalized on Wednesday night, the Angels announced a press conference on Sunday outside Angel Stadium.
The Angels are encouraging fans to attend the event at the home plate gate at 3 p.m., two hours before the Angels play the Dodgers in the first game of the Freeway Series.
The Angels last held a press conference there in December 2017, when they introduced Shohei Ohtani. This figures to be an even more significant moment, with the best player in the majors committing to the franchise for the rest of his career.
“I have enjoyed my time as an Angel and look forward to representing the organization, my teammates and our fans for years to come,” Trout’s statement read. “I want to thank Arte and Carole Moreno for their efforts. Their leadership and commitment to winning played a key role in my decision. Thanks also to my teammates, coaches, John Carpino, Billy Eppler and his Baseball Operations staff, the entire front office and Angels fans for all their support. It has made a tremendous difference not only for me, but for my family as well!”
Trout’s deal ends years of speculation and concern from Angels fans that their beloved star might leave after the 2020 season, when his current contract was set to expire.
While Trout had always insisted that he was happy with the Angels, he also spoke often about how winning was his priority. The Angels have made the playoffs just once in his first seven years.
The Angels, however, made a historic commitment to him in order to keep him.
His new contract begins immediately, replacing the $66.5 million and two years left on his old deal.
The $426.5 million total value of the new deal dwarfs the previous largest contract in baseball history, the $330-million deal that Bryce Harper signed just last month.
Related Articles
Mike Trout stays mum the day after record-breaking deal with Angels Five spring training trends you might have missed Why most pro athletes — including Mike Trout — are worth every penny of their big money salaries Angels rally for victory as Justin Upton, Zack Cozart return to action Alexander: Mike Trout’s Angels deal rewards baseball’s best, and most humble, star Trout’s deal also surpassed the $365 million deal boxer Canelo Álvarez signed last year with London-based video streaming service DAZN.
“This is an exciting day for Angels fans and every player who has ever worn an Angels uniform,” owner Arte Moreno said in his statement on Wednesday. “Mike Trout, an athlete whose accomplishments have placed him among the greatest baseball players in the history of the game, has agreed to wear an Angels uniform for his entire career.”
Of the players currently wearing Angels uniforms, perhaps only Ohtani will be around long enough to see the end of Trout’s contract. Trout, 27, will be 39 when his deal ends. Ohtani is 24, and still only under Angels control for five more seasons.
“I’m just simply really happy and excited to play with such a great player such a long time,” Ohtani said through his interpreter on Wednesday. “If anybody deserves that contract, it’s Mike.”
View the full article

TEMPE, Ariz. — Maybe all the mystery about Mike Trout’s future shouldn’t have been such a concern after all.
“This is where I wanted to be all along,” Trout said in a statement included in the Angels’ official announcement of their 12-year, $426.5-million deal with their superstar.
A day after the news broke, the Angels finalized the deal on Wednesday night, completing the largest contract in the history of North American sports.
Trout did not speak with reporters before playing in an intrasquad game – and hitting a homer– on Wednesday afternoon, because the deal was not yet official. After it was finalized on Wednesday night, the Angels announced a press conference on Sunday outside Angel Stadium.
The Angels are encouraging fans to attend the event at the home plate gate at 3 p.m., two hours before the Angels play the Dodgers in the first game of the Freeway Series.
The Angels last held a press conference there in December 2017, when they introduced Shohei Ohtani. This figures to be an even more significant moment, with the best player in the majors committing to the franchise for the rest of his career.
“I have enjoyed my time as an Angel and look forward to representing the organization, my teammates and our fans for years to come,” Trout’s statement read. “I want to thank Arte and Carole Moreno for their efforts. Their leadership and commitment to winning played a key role in my decision. Thanks also to my teammates, coaches, John Carpino, Billy Eppler and his Baseball Operations staff, the entire front office and Angels fans for all their support. It has made a tremendous difference not only for me, but for my family as well!”
Trout’s deal ends years of speculation and concern from Angels fans that their beloved star might leave after the 2020 season, when his current contract was set to expire.
While Trout had always insisted that he was happy with the Angels, he also spoke often about how winning was his priority. The Angels have made the playoffs just once in his first seven years.
The Angels, however, made a historic commitment to him in order to keep him.
His new contract begins immediately, replacing the $66.5 million and two years left on his old deal.
The $426.5 million total value of the new deal dwarfs the previous largest contract in baseball history, the $330-million deal that Bryce Harper signed just last month.
Related Articles
Mike Trout stays mum the day after record-breaking deal with Angels Five spring training trends you might have missed Why most pro athletes — including Mike Trout — are worth every penny of their big money salaries Angels rally for victory as Justin Upton, Zack Cozart return to action Alexander: Mike Trout’s Angels deal rewards baseball’s best, and most humble, star Trout’s deal also surpassed the $365 million deal boxer Canelo Álvarez signed last year with London-based video streaming service DAZN.
“This is an exciting day for Angels fans and every player who has ever worn an Angels uniform,” owner Arte Moreno said in his statement on Wednesday. “Mike Trout, an athlete whose accomplishments have placed him among the greatest baseball players in the history of the game, has agreed to wear an Angels uniform for his entire career.”
Of the players currently wearing Angels uniforms, perhaps only Ohtani will be around long enough to see the end of Trout’s contract. Trout, 27, will be 39 when his deal ends. Ohtani is 24, and still only under Angels control for five more seasons.
“I’m just simply really happy and excited to play with such a great player such a long time,” Ohtani said through his interpreter on Wednesday. “If anybody deserves that contract, it’s Mike.”
View the full article

TEMPE, Ariz. — Maybe all the mystery about Mike Trout’s future shouldn’t have been such a concern after all.
“This is where I wanted to be all along,” Trout said in a statement included in the Angels’ official announcement of their 12-year, $426.5-million deal with their superstar.
A day after the news broke, the Angels finalized the deal on Wednesday night, completing the largest contract in the history of North American sports.
Trout did not speak with reporters before playing in an intrasquad game – and hitting a homer– on Wednesday afternoon, because the deal was not yet official. After it was finalized on Wednesday night, the Angels announced a press conference on Sunday outside Angel Stadium.
The Angels are encouraging fans to attend the event at the home plate gate at 3 p.m., two hours before the Angels play the Dodgers in the first game of the Freeway Series.
The Angels last held a press conference there in December 2017, when they introduced Shohei Ohtani. This figures to be an even more significant moment, with the best player in the majors committing to the franchise for the rest of his career.
“I have enjoyed my time as an Angel and look forward to representing the organization, my teammates and our fans for years to come,” Trout’s statement read. “I want to thank Arte and Carole Moreno for their efforts. Their leadership and commitment to winning played a key role in my decision. Thanks also to my teammates, coaches, John Carpino, Billy Eppler and his Baseball Operations staff, the entire front office and Angels fans for all their support. It has made a tremendous difference not only for me, but for my family as well!”
Trout’s deal ends years of speculation and concern from Angels fans that their beloved star might leave after the 2020 season, when his current contract was set to expire.
While Trout had always insisted that he was happy with the Angels, he also spoke often about how winning was his priority. The Angels have made the playoffs just once in his first seven years.
The Angels, however, made a historic commitment to him in order to keep him.
His new contract begins immediately, replacing the $66.5 million and two years left on his old deal.
The $426.5 million total value of the new deal dwarfs the previous largest contract in baseball history, the $330-million deal that Bryce Harper signed just last month.
Related Articles
Mike Trout stays mum the day after record-breaking deal with Angels Five spring training trends you might have missed Why most pro athletes — including Mike Trout — are worth every penny of their big money salaries Angels rally for victory as Justin Upton, Zack Cozart return to action Alexander: Mike Trout’s Angels deal rewards baseball’s best, and most humble, star Trout’s deal also surpassed the $365 million deal boxer Canelo Álvarez signed last year with London-based video streaming service DAZN.
“This is an exciting day for Angels fans and every player who has ever worn an Angels uniform,” owner Arte Moreno said in his statement on Wednesday. “Mike Trout, an athlete whose accomplishments have placed him among the greatest baseball players in the history of the game, has agreed to wear an Angels uniform for his entire career.”
Of the players currently wearing Angels uniforms, perhaps only Ohtani will be around long enough to see the end of Trout’s contract. Trout, 27, will be 39 when his deal ends. Ohtani is 24, and still only under Angels control for five more seasons.
“I’m just simply really happy and excited to play with such a great player such a long time,” Ohtani said through his interpreter on Wednesday. “If anybody deserves that contract, it’s Mike.”
View the full article