"Angels wasted Mike Trout's career, Shohei Ohtani's 6 years" – Ex-Marlins President makes feelings known about owner Arte Moreno and GM Perry Minasian
Former Miami Marlins president David Samson believes the Los Angeles Angels wasted Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani's potential. In a recent episode of his podcast "Nothing Personal," Samson made his feelings clear about the Angels front office led by owner Arte Moreno and GM Perry Minasian.
Samson criticized the team's management for not building a competitive team around the two superstars when they had the opportunity.
He said:
"He has a GM named Perry Minasian and they had a team that had Trout and Ohtani, and they've never been able to build a team around those guys. No playoff appearances. They think they can beat the Dodgers but they can't.
"The Angels just stick. They wasted Mike Trout's career along with his injuries. They wasted Ohtani's first six years before he became a free agent."
When Shohei Ohtani was posted in the MLB market in the winter of 2017, he was the hottest international free agent available. The Los Angeles Angels landed him for a $2.315 million signing bonus on the promise of being a two-way player in the majors. However, in the six years he spent with the club, he won two AL MVPs but failed to make a single playoff appearance.
While Ohtani spent six unsuccessful years with the Angels, Mike Trout has been with them since the start of his major league career in 2011. Despite having made 11 All-Star appearances and winning the AL MVP thrice, he made the playoffs only once in 2014 where they were swept by the Kansas City Royals. He remains one of the greatest players of his generation who has never made a World Series appearance.
Hence, it is unsurprising David Samson is sceptical of the Angels management to turn things around and the responsibility falls on Arte Moreno and Perry Minasian to make them a competitive team in the majors.
Angels GM Perry Minasian discusses Mike Trout's role for the next MLB season
Mike Trout is undoubtedly the biggest star on the Angels roster and they will hope to have him fit for the entire season next year. Having ended his season early due to a knee injury in August, GM Perry Minasian discussed his plans for Trout next year:
"Talking about the DH spot, we've done a lot of homework on that... How many extra swings over the course of the game do you take DHing?
"He'll definitely play some outfield and then we'll form a plan as we go forward."
Trout has primarily been used as the designated hitter in recent years, but that results in a huge workload over the year for the slugger, which increases the chances of injury. Minasian said they will use him as both an outfielder and a DH to manage his workload next season.