The Los Angeles Angels are in Arizona and gearing up for the 2024 campaign via Spring Training. With pitchers and catchers being first to report to the Angels’ Spring Training facility in Tempe, manager Ron Washington is getting his first look at the team’s most prized young player in Logan O’Hoppe.
This is a massive upcoming year for O’Hoppe, as he was poised to break out in 2023 before a shoulder injury limited him to only 51 games. Even still, his .796 OPS and 111 OPS+ gave the Angels plenty of hope that they have their backstop of the future. And Washington is already noticing the type of player he is in the early days of Spring.
The new Halos skipper spoke about O’Hoppe and what he likes about the 24-year-old entering his second full MLB campaign, via Rhett Bollinger of MLB.com:
“He’s a class act,” Washington said. “I think I had to take a pin yesterday and push it in him to let some of the air out. That’s just how eager he is, the type of person that he is. But I just wanted to make him understand we are in the process for Opening Day. Our process is not for anything going on in Spring Training.”
O’Hoppe and Zach Neto took on an early leadership role last season when Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani both suffered long-term injuries. While it didn’t translate to wins, just about everyone in the organization was excited about the two cornerstones. Washington is echoing that sentiment after only a few days in Tempe.
O’Hoppe responded to Washington’s comments, but quickly turned his attention to the task at hand.
“I don’t know what it means but I love it,” O’Hoppe said. “I definitely still have that bad taste in my mouth from last year and none of us forgot what that was like. And we all talked a lot over the offseason to put a plan in place and change it going forward. Even on Day 1, I felt like we’ve been doing it for weeks. Just keeping in touch with one another and talking about the right things. So it’s on the right track.”
O’Hoppe is arguably the most promising young Halo of the last decade, as he has proven himself to be a leader on and off the field while producing at a high level. It’s these types of players that can quickly change the trajectory of a franchise, and if there were ever a year the Angels needed that type of player, it would be 2024.
Arte Moreno has no plans to sell Angels
The last two years have been filled with uncertainty at the very top of the Angels organization. In that time, Arte Moreno has put the team on the market, subsequently taken it off the market while still hearing offers and has continued to struggle to put a winning team on the field.
All of this has left the team in a state of limbo. L.A. has clearly chosen to cut costs on their 2024 roster, making only minimal bullpen investments. With all of this going on, it’s safe to wonder what Moreno’s long-term plan is.
He spoke publicly on the subject, saying that he has no plans in the near future to sell the Angels franchise.