ANAHEIM, Calif. \u2014 If you ask Angels general manager Perry Minasian about his team, everything is fine.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019ll work itself out,\u201d he said of a bullpen whose meltdowns have contributed to losses in 12-or-14 games, and an American League-worst 13-22 record.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur best baseball is in front of us, there\u2019s no doubt about that,\u201d he said of a team that\u2019s not even sniffed a .500 record in his six seasons at GM.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s become the hallmark of a Minasian interview \u2014 refusing to acknowledge the plainly obvious shortcomings of the roster he constructs. Acting as though the losses are happenstance, not the product of years poor development, poor drafts and poor spending.<\/p>\n
To Minasian, the Angels have been on the precipice of success for the last half-dozen years.<\/p>\n
He acknowledged that the recent 0-6 road trip through Kansas City and Chicago was \u201cone of the toughest I\u2019ve been on,\u201d but refuses to talk about it in the honest context that it requires. He speaks with the confidence of a baseball executive who has built a roster worthy of the \u201cWell, it\u2019s early\u201d caveat.<\/p>\n
Perhaps that would be fair for the defending American League-champion Toronto Blue Jays to say. Or the Seattle Mariners, or even the New York Mets \u2014 the team that just took two of three in Anaheim. But not the Angels, who are 103 games below .500 in Minasian\u2019s tenure.<\/p>\n
Minasian hasn\u2019t talked to reporters much at all this season, even with a first-year manager in Kurt Suzuki on a one-year deal at the helm. When he does talk, on Sunday and in scrums past, he repeatedly responds to basic questions with indignation or unnecessary requests for clarification.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat do you mean,\u201d he asked when posed a question about what Yusei Kikuchi\u2019s serious shoulder injury means for the rotation.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs far as?\u201d He asked, when questioned on whether the key to fixing the bullpen rests with internal options or external acquisitions.<\/p>\n