Angels News: GM Perry Minasian's Interesting Comments on Jo Adell and Mickey Moniak
The Halos' acquisition of OF Brett Phillips turned an already crowded Angels outfield into a bit of a logjam. The Angels already had three starting outfielders — and really good ones at that — in Mike Trout, Taylor Ward and Hunter Renfroe. Phillips is joining the team as a true fourth outfielder, and a depth guy that can play at all three positions when called upon.
However, the Angels management have praised the two players all offseason long, with manager Phil Nevin even comparing Adell's talents to those of Mike Trout.
After the acquisition of Phillips, Angels general manager Perry Minasian was asked about Adell and Moniak at the introductory press conference. Here's what he had to say:
"They are obviously young players who are very talented that haven’t necessarily turned the corner yet that have been putting in a significant amount of work this offseason to do that," Minasian said. "They’re both young. I think we forget about how young these two players are."
Those are very interesting comments, as he continuously mentioned the fact that they're young, somewhat implying that he envisions them as plans of the future rather than the present.
Adell turns 24 in April, while Moniak turns 25 in May. Moniak made his MLB debut at the age of 22, while Adell made his at 21. It's definitely important to remember how young they are when thinking about their status in the league, but at the same time, both these guys definitely want an opportunity to play at the big league level.
It seems that the plan will be to start them in Triple-A, playing on a consistent basis as they get their confidence back up to play at a higher level. Then, when an injury comes, whoever is playing better will get the first crack at playing for the Halos.
Whether the players like that plan will be another story. But for now, the Angels haven't made any indication of wanting to trade either of them.
