Angels GM Expects To Be Active This Offseason With Tons of Additions

Maren Angus-Coombs | Oct 3, 2024

Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

It isn't secret. This was a tough year for the Los Angeles Angels.

General manager Perry Minasian held his annual end-of-season press conference at Angel Stadium on Monday and vowed for a brighter future.

The Angels hit rock bottom this season finishing with a franchise record 99 losses.

Minasian, who received a two-year extension in late August, emphasized the significance of player development and maintaining continuity moving forward, as the Angels plan to retain their entire coaching staff, including manager Ron Washington. Echoing Washington's sentiments throughout the season, he highlighted the team’s young core—Zach Neto, Logan O’Hoppe, Nolan Schanuel, Jose Soriano, Jack Kochanowicz, and Ben Joyce—as a source of optimism for the future.

“I know this is a tough year,” Minasian said. “It's a frustrating year for all of us. I'll be the first one to say that. But big picture, I'm really excited where this thing's going. I've been in situations like this in other organizations where we’ve had tough seasons. But you can usually point to a season where things change, not necessarily in the win-loss column, but where players took huge leaps and caused a jump in wins and a jump to contention. We needed a young core to build around and we finally have it.”

Minasian is confident that the Angels are poised to be active this offseason, looking to enhance the team through free agency and trades. Despite the fact that he hasn't received specifics from owner Arte Moreno regarding next season's payroll, an increase is anticipated after a reduction heading into 2024.

“There's been significant money spent on the payroll, it comes back to the players we're spending on,” Minasian said. “And we need our best players to play. They know that. With that being said, we definitely need more players.”

However, Minasian understands the challenges faced by Angels fans, particularly since the team hasn't reached the postseason since 2014—the longest active drought in baseball—and hasn't posted a winning record since 2015.

Instead of undergoing a complete reset during that time, the club leaned on its youth, similar to their approach in 2024, and Minasian believes this strategy will lead to improvement moving forward.

“For our fans, the ones that have been following us over the last three years and gone through what we've gone through, I wouldn't jump off the bandwagon now,” Minasian said. “This team is going to improve. It’s going to be an exciting team to watch going forward.”