Weeks prior to being fired as the Los Angeles Angels manager, Joe Maddon allegedly "blew up" at general manager Perry Minasian after Minasian called to the dugout during a game and demanded Mike Trout be removed from the field. Maddon, who details his account of things in a book he co-authored with Sports Illustrated's Tom Verducci, claims that Minasian made the call -- literally -- during an Angels blowout win on May 9.
Maddon writes that head trainer Mike Frostad approached him in the dugout and said, "Perry just called down. He said get Trout out of the game" after the Angels took an 11-3 lead against the Tampa Bay Rays. Trout had been dealing with groin soreness earlier in the day, but the issue had resolved itself, according to Maddon. Nevertheless, Maddon did remove Trout from the game ahead of the ninth inning -- even though he took exception to what he perceived as Minasian overstepping into the manager's domain:
To Maddon, Minasian broke a sacred code. The GM had called the dugout during a game to dictate strategy to the manager—a proven, veteran manager at that. To Minasian, he simply was deploying the power given to this generation of executives. Nothing was sacred. Nothing was out of bounds.
The next day Maddon blew up at Minasian in Maddon's office. "Listen, don't you ever f------ call down to the dugout again!" Maddon said.
Minasian, for his part, offered the following comment to reporters earlier this week when asked about Maddon's claim that he tried to dictate lineup decisions: "He's trying to sell books … I hope he's on The NY Times bestseller list."
It should be noted that the episode had little bearing on Maddon's subsequent dismissal. The Angels' win that day moved them to 20-11 on the season, a mark that left them up a game in the American League West. Their fortunes would soon turn, as Los Angeles embarked on a 14-game losing streak. Maddon was fired after the 12th loss.
Maddon himself notes that Minasian had previously broached the topic of replacing coaches. Later, when Minasian delivered the news to a newly mohawked Maddon that he was being fired, Maddon claims that Minasian told him, "I've got to do something, Joe."
It's also worth noting that Maddon takes issue with other aspects of how the Angels' front office approached his authority, including how Angels executives had lockers in the coach's locker room, and how assistant general manager Alex Tamin would provide Maddon with data on relief pitchers' usage patterns and availability.
Maddon even places some of the Angels' losing streak on Tamin's information. "In that losing stretch that led to my demise, a lot of relievers were made unavailable," he said. "I couldn't use them."
