Former Angels Manager at Dodgers Camp, Talking to Shohei Ohtani
It's been a rough offseason for the Los Angeles Angels. For starters, and most importantly, they lost their two-way superstar player, Japanese sensation Shohei Ohtani, to their freeway rivals, the Los Angeles Dodgers.
It's the biggest gut punch if there ever was one.
Ohtani is with a new team, and the Angels have themselves a new manager in Ron Washington. Washington will lead the Halos into this new era after replacing former Angels manager Phil Nevin.
Ohtani and Nevin are away from the Angels, but their relationship seems as strong as ever. The two were seen chatting it up during the Dodgers spring training on Monday. Fabian Ardaya, who covers the Dodgers for The Athletic, shared via X.
It's unsure what the two were chatting about.
Nevin has a son in the Dodgers organization, Kyle Nevin. He plays for the Dodgers Ranch Cucamonga Quakes, their Single-A affiliate.
Nevin managed the Angels and Ohtani from June 2022 to October 2023. The 53-year-old former manager replaced Joe Maddon as interim manager before being retained.
The Angels eventually removed the 'interim' tag after the 2022 season. He led the Angels to a 119-149 record, finishing third in the AL West in 2022 and fourth in 2023.
It's safe to say both seasons were underwhelming. Nevin's time in Anaheim was filled with "what ifs" as the team struggled to stay healthy for long stretches and failed to play meaningful games past July.
As for Ohtani, he gave everything to the Angels franchise and then some. He was their best player and changed the franchise during his time there. Unfortunately, he lacked the supporting cast to get things done when it mattered most.
The two are now gone, but at least they still seem to have a bond.
