Angels in danger of losing prospect Jose Rojas in Rule 5 Draft.

Politics ruining everything (as usual)

Amidst the 2019 there had been various rumors claiming that the Angels front office did not have confidence in Rojas ability to develop and produce at the MLB level and that’s why he never received a single MLB AB despite practically every Angels prospect getting at least one swing int he bigs. This  really stung the fans given Rojas extremely admirable work ethic, his mental approach, and general ability. Not only did Jose Rojas prove that he deserved to see some MLB time, the teams depth was shot horribly and it just seemed obvious that at some point Rojas wold get a shot just out of necessity.

Why is it that the Angels felt such discomfort at giving Jose Rojas a call up at any point through the 2019 season? For one his plate approach was one that could leave itself open for being cleaved thoroughly in the MLB. You can’t foul the team for thinking that he may still need a little time to clean up his approach before getting a taste of the big leagues, but at the same time the roster was so injury plagued that it still stings to see him completely overlooked despite being a top performer in the Angels system. Even a little experience in the MLB will do a prospect good, no matter if they cleaved up or not.

It almost seems like an overly intentional snub, and it kind of is but at the same time we’re getting into front office politics and that’s never something that a fan will find solace in. The major factor here is that Jose Rojas is simply 36th round pick with very, very little investment paid into him as opposed to first round picks like Matt Thaiss whom the Angels invested deeply in, so deeply that they had him switch positions multiple times just to give him a better path towards the MLB. That’s simply how front offices operate; they aren’t dying to see the investment in Jose Rojas pay off because they’ve invested so little in him in contrast to their top picks who’ve had major investment paid into them, investments which the MLB team reflexively NEED to see pay off. I know it sounds cold and almost neglectful and dismissive, but that’s the case when it comes to front office politics, it’s a very cut and dry business. It’s a shame that such a talent and such a moving and inspiring story as Jose Rojas stayed buried all of 2019 simply because of politics.