On the anniversary of his MLB debut, Mike Trout hit a three-run home run. There is a time and a place.
The American League's starting lineup for the All-Star game will be made up of Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani. They were within the top 10 in the majors in FanGraphs wins above replacement.
The Los Angeles Angels are currently sitting 11 games below.500 and seven games back of the final playoff spot, with a brutal five-game stretch coming against the Houston Astros and the Los Angeles Dodgers.
August will be the birthday of Trout. Ohtani will be able to enter the free agent market within 16 months. The Angels have two of the best players in the game, according to the general manager.
Minasian said there's a formula to win around them and it's a deeper team. There are a lot of ways to do that. Free agency and trades are part of it. There is a road map to put a competitive team on the field. They perform well and are great players. I'm looking forward to watching both of them in the All-Star game, I think they deserve all the praise they get.
They're two of the best players in baseball, and we're fortunate to have them.
The Angels went on to win 27 of their first 44 games. After that, Minasian fired Joe Maddon as the team's manager. The Angels went 11-20 under Phil Nevin. Minasian focused on the starting rotation during the off-season. Despite the presence of Trout and Ohtani, the Angels' offense has struggled, posting the second-lowest average in the majors over the past seven weeks.
Minasian said it was his responsibility. A large amount on me. I am in charge of the team. I give the coaches what they need to do their job. I am very aware of that.
The trade market is expected to pick up after the conclusion of next week's draft, at which point teams will likely express interest in the Angels' Noah Syndergaard and Michael Lorenzen. Minasian said he will look for opportunities to make the club better, whether that's short term or long term.
The Angels are being asked if they would consider trading Ohtani, who is under team control through 2023, or Trout, who is under team control through 2030. If it were to be considered, it wouldn't happen until the off-season, when more teams are involved.
Minasian said he wasn't going to talk about specific people. People are going to be called and asked about. Most of the time, if you have good players on your team, you're called and asked about them. You don't hang up the phone but some players are more difficult to trade than others.
All Rights Reserved © 2024
