Why did Los Angeles Angels manager Ron Washington call an emergency team meeting?
Losing arguably the best player we’ve seen in decades was always going to be hard for the Angels, but few - not even the manager - could have predicted this.
As the Los Angeles Angels come to terms with life after Shohei Ohtani, it’s now become clear that the team is in need of a review, at least, that’s what the team’s new manager, Ron Washington, believes and he’s wasted no time in doing just that.
Ron Washington is in crisis management mode
Having conceded a combined 17 runs in the last two games, it would be fair to say that the Los Angeles Angels are not in a good place right now. Indeed, that’s something that new general manager, Ron Washington, appears to be very conscious of, given that he called a team meeting following the team’s most recent fiasco on Sunday.
“Just wanted to let them know they’ve played only two games and we can’t get off track,” Washington said, according to ESPN. “Our focus is on a 162-game championship season. Not two games. The two games haven’t gone like we wanted, but we just got to make certain that we come to the ballpark ready to go.” To be clear, such meetings are normally called when a team has truly entered a slump, something that typically occurs down the stretch of a campaign, not the very first weekend of the season. On the other hand, when you consider the fact that the Angels lost 11-3 on Opening Day and then went down 13-4 on Saturday, it’s not hard to see why Washington took a step.
Yet, it’s got to be said that something bigger is at work in Los Angeles. This is a team that had two of MLB’s best players - Ohtani and Mike Trout - on its roster at the same time for six consecutive seasons and still, could not manage to finish a campaign above .500. How? The simple answer is a lack of depth. Even with the two aforementioned stars on board, there was little else to talk about when it came to the team’s roster and if we’re honest, not much has been done to address that since the Japanese star’s departure. Quite frankly, the Angels have spent more time rejuvenating their bullpen with the likes of outfielder Aaron Hicks and big-hitter Miguel Sanó being the only two new additions. This is all to say that at this point, there will have to be a whole lot more than team meetings if this season is to be anything other than disappointing.