Ron Washington quote casts mystery over Drew Pomeranz's LA Angels departure

On the surface, the Los Angeles Angels releasing Drew Pomeranz had a lot to do with his contract status. Pomeranz had an opt-out that he could have triggered earlier this week if he didn't make the team, and once the team made the decision to not carry him on the Opening Day roster, releasing him seemed more like a formality that allowed him the time to catch on elsewhere before the start of the 2024 season.

However, there appears to be another layer to this story and one that doesn't bode well for Pomeranz going forward. Angels manager Ron Washington was asked about Pomeranz's departure from camp and his comments were...extremely telling with regards to how the Angels felt about where the veteran is right now.

It sure sounds like the LA Angels think that Drew Pomeranz is washed

Aside from the fact that it is almost certain that Wash knows exactly what the Angels' reasoning for releasing Pomeranz was because he probably helped form that decision, this is an interesting way to characterize how Pomeranz's release went down. It is almost as though Washington was going out of his way to let people know that Pomeranz wasn't good enough for even a spot in Triple-A, and that the player himself had very little agency here.

To be fair, Washington and the Angels may be right. Pomeranz is coming off multiple arm injuries and setbacks and his numbers this spring (5.63 ERA with six strikeouts in 8.0 innings of work) didn't exactly jump off the page. At his peak, Pomeranz was a very promising arm, but it is entirely possible that he won't ever approach being that guy again. There is also a slight chance that there was some sort of discord between Pomeranz and the organization, given how abrupt Wash's explanation was here, although there have been no public indications that that was the case.

Whatever the reasons, it is now clear that the timing of the Angels releasing Pomeranz wasn't just to do him a favor, but also because he just wasn't up to snuff. That is not great news for him, given the state of LA's pitching staff at the moment.

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