Logan O’Hoppe’s swipes at Angels should be taken with grain of salt (but he has a point)

The writing was on the wall for a while when it came to Logan O'Hoppe's future with the Los Angeles Angels. Sure, O'Hoppe was a highly touted catching prospect coming up and showed flashes at times, but he had clearly lost the confidence of the front office, and that was before John Mozeliak came with the clear intention of reshaping the entire roster. The only real surprise was that when the Angels traded O'Hoppe to the Rangers alongside Chase Silseth, LA's return was underwhelming at best.

After the trade, Mozeliak went to great lengths to explain that he did not want to waste any time in making a change at catcher, hence the early trade. At the end of the day, things were not working for O'Hoppe with the Angels, so a change of scenery was seen as a much better option than trying to fit a square peg in a round hole.

If that doesn't sound like a ringing endorsement of O'Hoppe and his future, it is because it isn't. However, O'Hoppe had his own side of the story to tell when it came to his time with the Angels as well as his thoughts on being with a new team, and his perspective isn't exactly flattering for LA. Not at all.

Logan O'Hoppe taking shots at the Angels is understandable and even predictable, but that doesn't mean he is wrong

Much of The Athletic's Sam Blum article was O'Hoppe struggling to understand why he didn't develop the way he expected with the Angels. He knows his defense cratered and that his bat wasn't up to the task, but he also said that he tried a lot of different things to improve. They just didn't work, and frankly, that is not an uncommon tale with young players. The game of baseball is extremely hard to play at a high level, especially for catchers who are expected to call games and manage the pitching staff in addition to holding their own at the plate.

However, some of O'Hoppe's comments were very thinly veiled shots at the Angels and how they operated during his time. He noted that having four different managers, five different catching coaches, and a parade of new faces each year on the coaching staff in general made finding consistency impossible. Also, when he said, "I experienced what it was like to lose in the big leagues. I feel like that totally reframed my mind. Playing in the big leagues isn’t everything anymore. It’s winning at that level, and that’s what I want to do. I want to do it (in Texas). I saw some examples of how not to get it done," well...everyone knew what he meant, and it wasn't a kind depiction.

Look, to some extent, O'Hoppe clearly felt as though the Angels didn't always do their best to support and develop him, so he is going to be bitter. At the end of the day, he didn't perform, and he absolutely has to share at least some of the blame there. However, he also isn't wrong about how the Angels operated before Mozeliak showed up. One cannot help but wonder what other young players' careers got completely derailed as well, as well as wonder if those mistakes can be remedied now.

Add us as a preferred source on Google

Follow