The Athletic: How did Angels squander Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani? It starts with the owner’s frugality

At a time when other large-market teams had already moved aggressively to aid technological training and evaluation aids to their organization, the Angels were lagging behind. In 2019, the team brought in advanced pitching and hitting equipment such as Edgertronic cameras, Rapsodo machines and K-Vests, multiple former coaches said.

“Before 2019, we didn’t have anything at all,” said a longtime former coach in the Angels system. “No technology. Bullpens were thrown without any technology. … We were very outdated as an organization. We were years behind other organizations.”

Roughly half of MLB’s 30 teams have established dedicated pitching or hitting labs, according to published reports, and these kinds of advanced facilities are even spreading throughout the collegiate level. One of the better pitching labs in the country is at Wake Forest University. It cost the school about $12 million to create, and allows players and staff alike to hone in on granular areas for improvement — be it a release point, a grip on a certain pitch, or many other details that might lead to improvement…

The Angels have neither hitting nor pitching labs….

The Angels’ international scouting group is composed of 20 people total. Having a small department could contribute to good players slipping by, a former Angels employee said. The Yankees, for example, have 42 people in their international scouting department, per their media guide. The Giants have 35. These numbers can vary across teams, but 20 is on the low end.