Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images
The Angels head into the 2025 MLB season sporting the longest playoff drought in the league, and there’s not much evidence that suggests they’ll end up bringing it to an end this year, With that said, Ron Washington is doing what he can to turn things around during his second season as the team’s manager and is hoping a cellphone ban can contribute to the cause.
It’s been a very rough decade for fans of the Los Angeles Angels, as the team hasn’t been able to punch its ticket to the postseason since 2014 and has finished under .500 for the past nine years.
The Angels were also somehow unable to capitalize on the six-year stretch where their roster boasted two of the best players on the planet in the form of Shohei Ohtani and Mike Trout; they didn’t even attempt to retain the services of the former, and the superstar made it pretty clear their inability to field a winning team was a major factor in his decision to sign with the Dodgers.
Los Angeles has gone through four different managers since parting ways with c in the wake of the 2018 campaign to bring his 19-year run to an end, and none of the men who’ve come aboard since then have been able to post a winning record.
That includes Ron Washington, who went 63-99 during his inaugural season as the team’s manager last year and heads into 2025 hoping to defy the oddsmakers who think the Angels will have trouble getting more than 70 wins this season.
According to Angels beat reporter Rhett Bollinger, the 72-year-old skipper has harnessed a fairly bold strategy to promote team chemistry in the clubhouse by prohibiting players from using their phones while they’re at their lockers in the hopes it will make them build better relationships with their teammates—a move both Trout and Zach Neto have thrown their support behind.
The #Angels instituted a new rule this season with players not allowed to be on their cell phones at their lockers. Ron Washington said he did it so the players would interact with each other more and bond. Mike Trout and Zach Neto both said it’s worked out great so far.
— Rhett Bollinger (@RhettBollinger) March 19, 2025
Los Angeles will kick off its season against the White Sox on March 27th.