Daron Sutton will not be part of the Angels’ broadcast team for the remainder of the season.
Sutton said he was informed on Saturday that he would no longer be on Bally Sports West telecasts moving forward. He said the decision came as a surprise to him.
“This was definitely more of a trial or test than I understood when we started,” Sutton said via text Sunday. “I enjoyed every second of this opportunity and will cherish the memories always. I am proud of every moment of television the Bally Sports team produced, that I was a part of, without incident, and to the joy and satisfaction of so many.”
The son of the late Hall of Famer and former Angels and Dodgers pitcher Don Sutton, Daron grew up as an Angels fan and formerly worked as a radio play-by-play commentator for the club during the 2000 and 2001 seasons before going on to become the television play-by-play voice for the Milwaukee Brewers (2002-06) and Arizona Diamondbacks (2007-12).
Sutton had been hired as the team’s secondary play-by-play voice, along with primary play-by-play man Matt Vasgersian, at the start of the season. Over the first half of the season, game calls had been split relatively evenly between him and Vasgersian, who can only call Angels games on a part-time basis because of his other responsibilities with MLB Network and as ESPN’s lead broadcaster on Sunday Night Baseball.
When Sutton was introduced as one of the team’s new broadcasters this spring he called it a “dream job” and on Sunday said “it was great to reconnect with Angels fans. They’re the best! The very best!” Sutton and Vasgersian replaced Victor Rojas after he became the president and general manager of the minor-league Frisco RoughRiders this winter.
Sutton, who also works with PerfectGame.TV covering amateur and college baseball, added that he is “grateful to Bally Sports for this opportunity and our relationship remains strong and productive to this very moment. I’m looking forward to working with them again in the future.”
The team has not said how it will replace Sutton on its broadcasts.
This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.