“We were just behind,” a former Angels minor leaguer said of the organization’s use of analytics in player development. Others said a lack of technology and constant turnover among coaches left the…
Talk to just about anyone who has been in the Angels’ farm system about their processes or facilities or environment, and eventually, the conversation comes around to the Dodgers.
“The way the Dodgers phrase it is they say everybody’s a big leaguer until you prove to us that you’re not,” Duensing said. “I thought that the Angels were really the opposite of that. The Angels were saying you’re not a big leaguer until you prove to us that you are.” Beyond that, though, there is a consensus from those who have been around the organization that the Angels could have gotten more from the talent they had if they had operated the farm system more effectively.
Moreno, who is selling the team he’s owned since 2003, declined a request, through a team spokesman, to comment on his role in player development. In the Angels’ case, many of the issues in 2012 were corrected by 2016, only to give way to different problems. There is no one-size-fits-all solution for development when dealing with hundreds of players and dozens of coaches.
Brenton Del Chiaro began his career in Angels player development in 2008, and he spent nine seasons as a manager and hitting instructor before he was let go following the 2016 season. Another reason for the continuing turnover among the staff was that the Angels were toward the bottom of the industry in what they paid minor league coaches, managers and instructors, multiple sources said. The Angels have significantly raised the pay of their minor league coaches under current GM Perry Minasian, sources said.One of the most notable coaches who left was Ethan Katz, who got his first shot in professional baseball with the Angels.
“That came from the top,” said Wooten, who is now a private hitting instructor. “It was their focus. They want guys that get on base. … Get a good pitch and hit it hard, right? That makes perfect sense. Everybody’s trying to do that. Well, if you’re not in the right position to get off a good swing, then you might as well throw that out the window.”
“I almost never watched video in the minor leagues,” Yarbrough said. “I would say less than five times I got on laptops to watch a side angle of my swing. … No one in the minor leagues was making that a priority. At least, not in the years that I was at the affiliates.” It’s all ubiquitous technology now, but the Angels were a couple of years late to implement it in the minors, according to the players and coaches who were there prior to Eppler.
A third former Angels minor leaguer said “the Astros were three years ahead” of the Angels when it came to technology. However, that player now works with cutting-edge technology as a coach, and he said being slow to adapt is better than going in too quickly.
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