Perry Minasian has shown over his tenure as Los Angeles Angels general manager that he is not one to shy away from making surprise moves. He did just that ahead of the 2022 season, as he opted to designate Justin Upton for assignment.

Minasian noted that the decision to part ways with Upton was a “difficult” one, but the call was made as he “felt like Jo [Adell] and Brandon [Marsh] are both ready to go.” This came after the four-time All-Star, who is owed $28 million by the Angels this year, shined in spring training with a .333 batting average and three home runs.

Upton, who later went on to join the Seattle Mariners organization, was not necessarily surprised by this move from the Angels front office.

“I’m gonna be just raw and honest right now,” Upton said on Friday. “The vibe towards me was a little weird. Being around for so long, I could kind of tell that was maybe a possibility. It didn’t come as a surprise. I thought I had a pretty good spring, so I put what I could out on the table. And the decision was made.”

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The veteran outfielder noted that this “vibe” did not come from the players or coaches but rather from the front office.

Upton made his 2022 regular season debut for the Mariners against the Angels on Friday, which came after he featured in 12 games for their Triple-A team in the Tacoma Rainiers. He earned a start out in left field, as he went on to be hit by a pitch and also struck out once over three plate appearances.

The Angels and Mariners are set to face off 17 more times over the remainder of the regular season, as Upton sure will have plenty of opportunities to redeem himself against his former team.