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Victor Rojas decides not to return as the Angels’ play-by-play announcer

Angels broadcaster Victor Rojas speaks during a news conference.
Angels broadcaster Victor Rojas has decided not to return to the broadcast booth for the 2021 season.
(Blaine Ohigashi / Angels Baseball LP)
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The Angels broadcast booth will look and sound different in 2021. Victor Rojas, the team’s play-by-play announcer for the last 11 seasons, announced Saturday he will not return to his role for the upcoming season.

In a lengthy statement on Twitter, Rojas wrote that he arrived at the decision to step away recently “in order to spend more time with the family in Texas, continue to build our apparel business, await the birth of our [first] grandchild and prepare for my next venture.”

Rojas came to the Angels in 2010 after about 1½ years as an MLB Network studio host, five seasons (2004 to 2008) on the Texas Rangers crew and one season (2003) in the Arizona Diamondbacks’ booth. Rojas, the son of former Angels manager Cookie Rojas, began his 20-year broadcast career by calling games in the independent Atlantic League in 2001. He worked two seasons for the Newark (N.J.) Bears, for whom he also served as assistant general manager and its lead GM.

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Rojas’ career with the Angels dates to 1990, when he pitched one season for their rookie-league team in Arizona.

Last fall, he tried to make the jump from the broadcast booth to the front office in the wake of general manager Billy Eppler’s dismissal. Rojas interviewed for the opening with owner Arte Moreno, president John Carpino and senior advisor Bill Stoneman. He presented possible solutions to address the deficiencies of the team’s 40-man roster, player development and scouting systems and organizational culture.

After the job went to Perry Minasian, Rojas on Twitter thanked the team executives for giving him a chance and wrote, “I’m here for the organization and will continue to do what’s in its best interest.”

Rojas now will turn his attention, in part, to the web-based clothing company, Big Fly, he has run with his wife Kim and their children since early 2019. Despite the difficulties of conducting business in 2020, Rojas said in an early December interview with The Times’ Bill Shaikin that Big Fly had filled about 1,500 orders during the calendar year.

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