The Angels announced an unexpected change at the top of baseball operations. Los Angeles fired general manager Perry Minasian and hired longtime Cardinals executive John Mozeliak as interim GM.
Mozeliak’s official title is baseball operations coordinator. He will take over the day-to-day management of the program in the short term but is clearly not being considered at that time. The team announced that Mozeliak was being brought in to “(refine) the baseball strategy and (assist) the organization in the search for a new general manager.” They did not specify how long they expect that search to take, but ESPN’s Alden González writes that Mozeliak is expected to stay with the organization through the end of the calendar year.
Minasian stepped down after a five-plus year run as general manager. Club president Molly Jolly issued a press release. “Perry has been a respected leader who has worked tirelessly over the past six years to strengthen our baseball operations department,” said Jolly. “I am grateful for his dedication, understanding and contribution to our organization.”
The Halos hired Minasian for the 2020-21 offseason. They have made the play-offs just once in the last 11 seasons and are in the middle of their window to control the club. Shohei Ohtani. Minasian took over with two of the best players in the MLB but was sorely lacking in depth vision without much in the way of the minor league. The same was true during his front office tenure, which was characterized by an inability to continue to field talented supporting cast for Ohtani (three seasons) and Mike Trout.
Los Angeles has systematically refused to rebuild, an authority that includes many front offices and likely comes directly from owner Arte Moreno. They’ve tried to mix things up with mid-level free agent signings and draft college players they can rush to the minor leagues.
While that way comes out at shortstop Zach Netotheir other top picks under Minasian shouldn’t have a significant impact. They chose Sam Bachman, Nolan Schanuel again Christian Moore with the top 15 picks between 2021-24. Schanuel is a low-level regular at first. Bachman battled through injuries and earned relief. It’s too early to judge Moore, who has experienced minor league play but struggled in his first 58 MLB games while trying to find a place on defense.
That would be less of a problem if they got more than the first round, but that didn’t really happen. The Angels chose Ky. Bush with their second-round pick in 2021. They selected their two second-round picks to sign Noah Syndergaard again Tyler Andersonrespectively.
Ohtani’s free agency after the 2023 season was a clear organizational crossover. The Angels were a few games back of the Wild Card picture at the deadline and decided to take it. They pushed in Lucas Giolito again Reynaldo Lópezsending Bush and then-prospect Edgar Quero to the White Sox for free agent rights. Most notably, they took Ohtani off the trade market, which was reportedly the second year in a row that Moreno stepped in to kill the chances of trading the best player in the sport.
It soon sank to the south. The Angels went 8-19 in August to fall out of the playoff spot. They put Giolito, López and other free-lancers who would come to a layoff to throw away their wages and avoid paying the luxury tax. Ohtani will go for a second-round draft pick a few months after the Halos likely ordered a trade return. Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic recently reported that the Rays have floated an engaging prospect package Little Caminero again Carson Williams few months of Ohtani’s services.
The selection of the Ohtani compensation was emblematic of the team’s overall approach. They used that pick on the Dallas Baptist righty Ryan Johnsonwho stayed through the 2024 season. The Angels jumped Johnson straight to MLB as a reliever last year. He struggled and was optioned all the way to High-A in May to build as a starter. Johnson has been up and down from Double-A this season and has an 8.21 ERA in 34 big league innings. He remains one of the team’s best prospects, but there hasn’t been any sign of an organizational development plan.
There was a similar number of changes in the hole. The Angels had four full-time managers during Minasian’s tenure as GM, and a half-season Ray Montgomery stint while Ron Washington was out for health reasons. Minasian got Joe Maddon, who was fired midway through the ’22 season. Phil Nevin got a season and a half before the Halos hired Washington. They moved on from him last season. After the collapse of Albert Pujols’ efforts, they hired Kurt Suzuki on a short one-year contract. That tied him with Minasian, whose contract expires at the end of 2026.
The Angels have gone 392-500 since the start of 2021. Their 63-99 record over the past two seasons is the worst in franchise history. They are one of four teams – along with the Pirates, Rockies and Nationals – that have not made the playoffs in the past five years and have the longest drought in sports at 11 seasons.
There is no real reason to believe they are close to a change. This year’s 34-48 start puts them at 67 wins and tied with the Royals for the worst record in the American League. While technically only 5.5 games back of the Wild Card spot, that’s a lot more in terms of AL playoff status. Their draft strategy always leaves them with the sport’s weakest farm systems. Baseball America ranked their minor league pitcher 28th in MLB entering this season. Last year’s #2 overall pick Tyler Bremner their only hope in BA’s Top 100 list.
Minasian certainly does not deserve blame. Moreno’s intervention in baseball operations has taken many front offices. GM has succeeded in disaster Anthony Rendon contract and faced various salary restrictions, especially after the collapse of the team’s local television deal. The Angels have yet to exceed his three-year, $63MM contract Yusei Kikuchi over the past five seasons. The only other signings over $30MM were Raisel Iglesias (whose salary they dropped a few months into a four-year deal), Tyler Anderson, and Robert Stephenson.
The challenge will now fall to Mozeliak, at least in the short term. The 57-year-old had a long and generally successful baseball career with the Cardinals. Mozeliak spent more than a decade in the St. Louis inspection department. Louis before stepping up to the GM role as a 38-year-old in 2008. The Cards returned to the postseason within two years and won the World Series in 2011. They had the ability to develop mid-round draft picks into productive big leaguers for most of the next 200 playoffs.
St. Louis was a little slow to break out of their traditional success relying on ground-ball pitchers in front of an excellent infield defense. They have lagged behind in terms of developing swing arms and misses as most of the league has emphasized working in the zone with four-seam fastballs. That caught up to them the last few seasons, as they missed the playoffs each year from 2023-25. Amid the collapse of their local broadcasting deal, cardholders have also tightened payment limits and entered a period of restructuring focused on building their landing pipeline.
Mozeliak announced during the 2024-25 offseason that next year would be his last professional baseball career. He actually turned over the reins to Chaim Bloom, who had spent the previous few seasons in their player development department, right after the ’25 season ended. It was unclear at the time whether Mozeliak would seek other opportunities to lead the office.
He’ll do that in Anaheim, though he has a clear end goal of returning to the top job and turning over day-to-day responsibilities to the next general manager. Assuming that doesn’t happen before the August 3 trade deadline, it will be Mozeliak’s responsibility to handle a potential trade situation. He will also be in charge of next month’s draft, where the Angels will pick 12th and 45th overall. They have the sixth highest pick in every round after that.
Top people who may trade with the group (eg Neto, José Soriano, Reid Detmers) are all subject to multi-season arbitration. Bob Nightengale of USA Today reported over the weekend that Moreno is not interested in trading those players or an outfielder. Jo Adell. Continuing their usual course wouldn’t leave them with much to hang on to at the deadline. Kirby Yates again Brent Suter they are future free agent pitchers who can bring back a low-level prospect. They will have to decide on Suzuki’s future as manager this season.
It’s unclear whether the Angels will provide a public timeline for GM’s hiring. Sam Blum and Katie Woo of The Athletic wrote that the team declined to make Jolly available to reporters tonight but has scheduled an introductory press conference for Mozeliak tomorrow.
The following images are courtesy of William Liang/Jeff Curry – Imagn Images.
