Latest news with #PerryMinasian
CBS News
2 days ago
- Sport
- CBS News
Giants trade struggling 1B/OF LaMonte Wade Jr. and cash to Angels
The Los Angeles Angels acquired veteran first baseman and outfielder LaMonte Wade Jr. and cash from the San Francisco Giants on Sunday. The Angels will send cash or a player to be named to San Francisco for the 31-year-old Wade, who had been with the Giants since 2021. The team designated him for assignment last Wednesday. Los Angeles right-hander Michael Darrell-Hicks was designated for assignment to make room on the 40-man roster. Wade batted .167 with one homer and 15 RBIs for the Giants this season, his struggles culminating with a 2-for-17 performance on the team's most recent road trip. Wade hit a career-high .260 last season, and he gained a reputation in San Francisco for clutch late-game performances. The Angels currently have Nolan Schanuel at first base and six outfielders on their major league roster, but some have position flexibility. Angels general manager Perry Minasian and Giants general manager Zack Minasian are brothers.
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
Giants trade struggling 1B/OF LaMonte Wade Jr. and cash to Angels
San Francisco Giants first baseman LaMonte Wade Jr. (31) catches for an out on the Minnesota Twins at first base during the second inning of a baseball game Sunday, May 11, 2025, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Ellen Schmidt) ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — The Los Angeles Angels acquired veteran first baseman and outfielder LaMonte Wade Jr. and cash from the San Francisco Giants on Sunday. The Angels will send cash or a player to be named to San Francisco for the 31-year-old Wade, who had been with the Giants since 2021. The team designated him for assignment last Wednesday. Advertisement Los Angeles right-hander Michael Darrell-Hicks was designated for assignment to make room on the 40-man roster. Wade batted .167 with one homer and 15 RBIs for the Giants this season, his struggles culminating with a 2-for-17 performance on the team's most recent road trip. Wade hit a career-high .260 last season, and he gained a reputation in San Francisco for clutch late-game performances. The Angels currently have Nolan Schanuel at first base and six outfielders on their major league roster, but some have position flexibility. Angels general manager Perry Minasian and Giants general manager Zack Minasian are brothers. ___ AP MLB:
Associated Press
3 days ago
- Sport
- Associated Press
Giants trade struggling 1B/OF LaMonte Wade Jr. and cash to Angels
ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — The Los Angeles Angels acquired veteran first baseman and outfielder LaMonte Wade Jr. and cash from the San Francisco Giants on Sunday. The Angels will send cash or a player to be named to San Francisco for the 31-year-old Wade, who had been with the Giants since 2021. The team designated him for assignment last Wednesday. Los Angeles right-hander Michael Darrell-Hicks was designated for assignment to make room on the 40-man roster. Wade batted .167 with one homer and 15 RBIs for the Giants this season, his struggles culminating with a 2-for-17 performance on the team's most recent road trip. Wade hit a career-high .260 last season, and he gained a reputation in San Francisco for clutch late-game performances. The Angels currently have Nolan Schanuel at first base and six outfielders on their major league roster, but some have position flexibility. Angels general manager Perry Minasian and Giants general manager Zack Minasian are brothers. ___ AP MLB:
Yahoo
25-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Angels upbeat about their future despite dropping back-to-back games
The Angels' Tim Anderson, left, is tagged out by Miami Marlins second baseman Javier Sanoja while trying to steal second during the first inning Sunday at Angel Stadium. (Mark J. Terrill / Associated Press) Angels manager Ron Washington knew his team needed cultural adjustments. It wasn't just handling the 40-man roster general manager Perry Minasian assembled. The 73-year-old skipper, in his second season leading the Halos, identified a characteristic missing from last year's Angels. Washington said his goal was for the Angels to become a family. Advertisement Looking back on two weeks ago, when the Angels stumbled to a 17-25 record after a hot start to begin the season, Washington said he felt the buy-in to the family ideology already seeped into the walls of the clubhouse — featuring a roster makeup mixing veterans with postseason success along his young starters across his infield. The results, however, were yet to come. 'My clubhouse was already jelled,' Washington said. 'We just had to start playing good baseball.' Read more: Why Angels manager Ron Washington thinks 'things can go way better than you think' The Angels didn't just play good baseball. They were the best in baseball across the last two weeks. With seven of eight victories coming on the road — a three-game sweep of the Dodgers and a four-game sweep of the Athletics — the Angels riddled off an eight-game winning streak. The run was the franchise's best since 2014 when the Angels won 10 straight and clinched a postseason berth (their most recent playoff appearance). Advertisement "We're not going to win them all,' said shortstop Zach Neto, referring to Saturday's loss to the Marlins that broke the Angels' streak. 'It was a matter of time. But we've been playing really good baseball. It's another day today. We get to come out, play, play the game we all love.' After falling to the Marlins (21-30) in 6-2 fashion on Saturday, the Angels (25-27) couldn't respond Sunday, falling 3-0 to Miami to lose the weekend series. Marlins right-hander Edward Cabrera sailed through 5 2/3 shutout innings, striking out 10 as the Angels' offense struggled to produce for back-to-back days and tallied just three hits. Saturday and Sunday's offensive production featured the opposite of the Angels' winning streak. Read more: Angels defeat Shohei Ohtani and rival Dodgers, but they aspire for much more Advertisement Players such as veteran outfielder Taylor Ward were hitting the cover off the ball. The 31-year-old former first-round pick tallied a hit in each game of the eight-win run, hitting a home run in five of the contests amid a 10-game hitting streak and franchise-tying nine-game extra-base hit streak. On Sunday, both streaks came to a close. The Angels, as a whole, socked 19 home runs across the eight games — the power appeared to help them surge to third place in a division more than up for grabs. 'Everyone's whacking homers all the time,' said Jack Kochanowicz, the Angels' second-year starting pitcher who shut down the Dodgers for 6 ⅔ innings of one-run ball on May 16. 'It's just good vibes in here right now." As Angels first base coach Eric Young Sr. put it, last year's team featured young upstart talent — Neto, catcher Logan O'Hoppe and first baseman Nolan Schanuel — trying to make a name for themselves on a roster circling the drain of the American League West. Advertisement In 2025, all three have taken the next step. Read more: Shaikin: The Angels have the longest playoff drought in MLB. What exactly is the plan? 'They're playing better baseball than they did last year,' Washington said. 'They are more consistent right now than they were last year. Are they a finished product? Not by a long shot, but we like the progress. And that's what the game of baseball is — progression." O'Hoppe (.272 batting average, 14 home runs and 30 RBI) is slugging almost .100 points higher than a year ago to a .543 clip. Neto (.284 batting average, eight home runs and 19 RBI) is hitting close to .300 for the first time in his career, coming back from a right-shoulder surgery that kept him out of action to begin the season. Schanuel (.281 batting average, .382 on-base percentage and has walked just as much as he's struck out with 26 apiece) has developed into the Angels' surefire everyday first baseman in his second full season at Angel Stadium. Advertisement The trio has year in, year out All-Star potential should the Angels play their cards right. O'Hoppe is under team control until 2029, while Neto and Schanuel are under team control until 2030. 'We realize, the veterans realize, that those guys are going to be the leaders of the Angels in the future, if not now,' Young said. 'They probably have more leadership than they know, because we can't let them know too much right now because they are still young, but they are learning and processing.' Read more: Shaikin: Angels ownership could learn something from Athletics' purposeful rebuild And despite the eight-game turnaround turning into a two-game skid to end the weekend against the Marlins, Young knows the Angels could turn it back around on a dime. Advertisement 'I don't remember in my major league career going on an eight-game winning streak,' he said. 'And you know, you always say, 'Hey, we're gonna start a new one today.' Well, you never know, it's got to start somewhere. 'So why not go out there and win today?' Get the best, most interesting and strangest stories of the day from the L.A. sports scene and beyond from our newsletter The Sports Report. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
New York Times
19-05-2025
- Business
- New York Times
Atlanta west? In Anaheim, ex-Braves fill the roster and staff as Angels seek winning culture
Just days before the start of the season, the Los Angeles Angels and Atlanta Braves made a trade. It was their seventh deal in the last 11 months. It was a swap of two once-promising, now-struggling pitchers. Ian Anderson to the Angels. José Suarez to Atlanta. Both joined the big league clubs to get their shot at a fresh start. Advertisement Neither one was very good. Today, the pair are in the bullpen of the Gwinnett Stripers, Atlanta's Triple-A affiliate. The Braves re-claimed Anderson on waivers after the Angels DFA'd him. Their teammates in Gwinnett include nine other players who have been in the Angels organization in the last four years, including seven who made the Angels' major league roster. Gwinnett is a who's who of names that didn't work out in Anaheim. That isn't just some weird coincidence. It's emblematic of a unique dynamic between the two clubs, one that's grown even more notably over the last calendar year. And a relationship that appears rooted in the Angels' attempt to emulate Atlanta's sustained success. The Angels' front office, coaching staff and roster are populated with former Braves. The roots of their comfortable dynamic stem from the history of Angels GM Perry Minasian, who took over in 2020 after spending four years as an assistant GM under Braves president of baseball operations Alex Anthopoulos in Atlanta; the pair also worked together for seven years in Toronto. There is no effort in place to consciously acquire players or staff from the Braves, Minasian said; he and Anthopoulos know each other well, of course, but anything beyond that is circumstantial. 'Me personally, I don't see any type of connection, outside of familiarity with the person who runs the team,' Minasian said. Anthopoulos declined an interview request. Some others see it differently. Joe Maddon managed the Angels from 2020 to 2022. The club fired him in June of 2022, after a 12-game losing streak. That October, he released a book, 'The Book of Joe: Trying Not to Suck at Baseball and Life,' that offered a firsthand account of his experience with the early years of the Minasian front office: 'A lot of things were related to 'We did it this way with the Braves,'' Maddon wrote. Advertisement If that were the case, it's easy to see why they'd look to Atlanta. The Angels haven't had a winning record in a decade. The Braves, on the other hand, have been to the playoffs the last seven seasons and won a championship in 2021. And by now the list of hires, trades, and signings is so extensive that Braves lineage — and by extension Braves ideas, methods and culture — run deeply through the Angels organization. The Angels' coaching staff is led by manager Ron Washington, who spent seven years as the Braves' third base coach, leaving only when he was hired to manage the Angels. Additionally, base running coach Eric Young Sr., infield coach Ryan Goins and assistant pitching coach Sal Fasano all come from the Braves. Head athletic trainer Mike Frostad has Atlanta roots. So do senior director of research and development Michael Lord, assistant field coordinator Sean Kazmar Jr, pitching coordinator Dom Chiti, and since-fired Angels assistant GM Alex Tamin. The Angels have routinely signed players with ties to the Braves. It's a practice that dates to Kurt Suzuki, Minasian's second big league signing as Angels GM. He came as a backup catcher, two years removed from two great seasons with the Braves. He remains with the Angels, currently as a front office advisor. Just this offseason, the Angels traded for Jorge Soler, signed Travis d'Arnaud, traded away Davis Daniel, traded away Michael Peterson, traded for Angel Perdomo and made the aforementioned Suarez-Anderson swap. They recently signed reliever Hector Neris, who started the season in Atlanta. Some big trades, more small trades, but always a high volume of deal-making. The two teams have even engaged in significant salary dump trades, with the Angels unloading Raisel Iglesias' contract in 2022, as well as David Fletcher and Max Stassi the year after. Advertisement One could argue that the Angels' most consequential trades of the Minasian era have been with the Phillies. But at just four trades in five years, their volume of transactions pales by comparison. Since May of last year, the Angels have made 14 trades; seven of them have been with the Braves. Since Minasian's tenure began in November of 2020, 11 of the 46 total swaps have come with Atlanta. Despite the extreme volume, it's not as though the Angels are attempting to be an exact replica of the Braves. They do employ people all across the organization who came from different franchises. Some with Atlanta ties were known to Minasian in previous stops. And quite clearly, the results have been different. The Angels have yet to win more than 77 games under the current front office. That continues a streak of losing seasons that started under Minasian's predecessor, Billy Eppler, who ran the team over the 2016 to 2020 seasons without posting a winning record. Last year, the Angels finished with a franchise-record 99 losses. They're on pace to finish 72-90 in 2025, following a weekend sweep of the Dodgers. 'Invest,' Angels DH Jorge Soler said flatly when asked how the Angels reach the Braves' level. Soler was the World Series MVP in 2021 for Atlanta. 'You see the Braves, they have a lot of money for contracts.' 'You need players,' Washington said, when posed the same question as Soler. '… It takes time. It'll take about three years before you start seeing big-time improvement. 'These past couple years, I think we've been trying to get it right.' The question surrounding the Angels is if they are actually building anything similar, as Washington suggests. Atlanta's history offers at least a sliver of hope: Before the Braves' run of playoff appearances, they weren't good, either. Four straight years of sub-.500 records. But they were rebuilding successfully, and their young core all came up around the same time. Advertisement 'How were the Braves before the sustained success?' said Angels catcher d'Arnaud, who spent the previous five years in Atlanta. 'There's a little period where they were struggling for a handful of years. Trying to develop and build a culture. 'That's what I think is happening. Trying to build a culture here that creates winning. The people you surround yourself with is ultimately who you become,' d'Arnaud continued. There are other voices with other organizational roots in the room, who are trying to make it happen. AGM and player development director Joey Prebynski, for example, came from the St. Louis Cardinals. Scouting director Tim McIlvaine was with the Milwaukee Brewers. But still, the most consistent through line has been the Braves, felt throughout every facet of their operation. From the GM, to the manager, to even bench veterans over the years like Kevin Pillar or Phil Gosselin. 'They want to help everybody actually become a better player, and aren't scared to pass along information, which I think is very important,' d'Arnaud said of Angels people with Braves ties. 'To have that familiarity for me is huge.' When Washington started as manager, he wanted to build a culture like Atlanta's. He wanted guys that could post, a core of players who would play every day. In his final year as a Braves coach, in 2023, Atlanta's starting lineup averaged 144.3 games played. The Angels averaged just 101.4. That's what the Angels are in search of: stability. A reliable core. A pipeline of talent. And a system of player development that can be consistently good. The Angels' brass has sold their current plight as a growth period. What's less clear is if this rebuild is actually working. To Soler's point, the Braves have spent more money on payroll, though not dramatically so. They're at $211 million, according to FanGraphs. The Angels' payroll is $203 million. However, Atlanta's is balanced throughout their roster. They've locked up their young players, while the Angels haven't. Advertisement What they've done is create something that looks similar to the Braves, with many of the same architects around it. Only time will tell if they can ever come close to matching Atlanta's success. — With contributions from The Athletic's David O'Brien. (Top photo of Travis d'Arnaud with Atlanta and Nolan Schanuel during a 2024 Braves-Angels game: Orlando Ramirez / Getty Images)
