Angels GM Challenges Players to Have Self-Motivation Next Season

Perry put his team on notice

The Los Angeles Angels are heading in a different direction as a franchise from here on out. The loss of their two-way superstar, Shohei Ohtani, is franchise-altering. With that, the front office, including general manager Perry Minasian, will do their best to make the Halos competitive again. 

Although the loss of Ohtani is devastating, the Halos still have a young and promising team, at least on paper. With youngsters like Zach Neto, Logan O'Hoppe, and Mickey Moniak, to name a few, they should be taking a massive leap in 2024. The Angels also have veteran pieces in superstar Mike Trout and infielder Anthony Rendon. However, the Angels, through all these years, have been unable to get over the hump, even with Ohtani on the roster. 

Minasian knows this better than anyone, and he's tired of it. During an interview with Angels' insider for The Athletic Sam Blum, Minasian challenged his players to be self-motivated next season. 

“Southern California is an outstanding place to live. The beach is there, you can go surfing,” Minasian said. “There has to be some self-motivation when you show up to the park. We have a lot of motivated players. We’d like to add to that, bring some edge to the group. We want players that love to play, that want to be out there and play every day, that are dying to be out there.”

(per Perry Minasian via The Athletic)

Southern California is a busy place. There are many things to do, and it could be easy to get lost here. That goes for the young players and the veterans. It's easy to be plugged in when you're winning, but when you've been losing, like the Halos, it's not hard to find other things that can interest someone.

The Angels' GM is tired of losing and wants to make sure his players are all on the same page. It's hard to control professionals like this, but something needs to change, and maybe these subtle jabs toward his players can spice things up. 

All hands must be on deck for the Halos to go from zero to hero.