Over the last 24 hours the list of candidates for the Angels General Manager has shrunk from five to two. And, according to Jeff Fletcher, the Angels will announce their new General Manager today.
The two finalists named are Seattle Mariners assistant GM Justin Hollander, who got his start here under Bill Stoneman, and Braves assistant GM Perry Minasian who has been mentored by Alex Anthopolous.
Both men cut their teeth in scouting and player development and would be first time General Managers. The search for the new GM has been extensive, with former executives Michael Hill and Ruben Amaro Jr. being interviewed, as well as some out-of-the-box candidates such as Angels broadcaster Victor Rojas.
Per the bowtie, Minasian is considered the front runner for the job. We should know if that is the case today. Minasian has worked with current Braves GM/President of Baseball Operations in both Atlanta and Toronto, primarily handling scouting and player development duties. Both teams are bursting with exciting, young talent.
Hollander was hired by former Angels GM Bill Stoneman as a scout and worked his way up to scouting direct. Jerry Dipoto kept him on staff then poached him when he moved up to Seattle. Hollander has worked his way up to Vice President/Assistant GM with the Mariners, who currently boast a highly rated farm system of their own.
CtPG will have full coverage of the announcement when it comes later today. Who do you think will be named our next GM? Who do you want?
The comparisons to Eppler may have some validity. But they fail in that they assume that all individuals are fungible and retain the same results from the same experience. Some individuals are simply better than others at what they do, even if both have the same experience. The comments about the new hire are encouraging in that it is said he is a “stud evaluator.” I do not recall such a description ever being made of Eppler, who while he may have made a few good calls, they were primarily about position players, more so than pitchers. It sounds as thought this new guy has worked his way up from the bottom in other successful organizations. Hopefully that means he knows how things are supposed to be run throughout an entire organization, enabling him to correct any deficiencies in the Angels. If Arte and the others in leadership’s prior statements are to be believed they are open and receptive to reconfiguring the whole organization. So any input along those lines should be credibly received from Minassian since he worked at those positions previously.
The hire is the equivalent. What Minasian might do with the opportunity might differentiate him from Eppler. But on paper the hire is essentially the same.
I think the frustration you see is coming from those of us who were hoping Arte would take the Organization in an entirely different direction- splitting marketing from Baseball Ops and creating an entirely new and vibrant hierarchy within Baseball Operations. Instead it’s the same-ole with a different guy (who is on-paper similar to the last guy).
Arte couldn’t bring himself to hire two senior execs. The whole process was designed to comply with MLB diversity standards and at least create an appearance of reconciliation with the invitations to Bane and Hollander. Wouldn’t be surprised to learn that a few candidates dropped out when they learned there wouldn’t be a PoBO. Won’t hold my breath that the team gives the new hire the resources needed to succeed.
I have a full-season credit for my 2021 season tickets. After that, after 35 years of investing in them, I’m done giving money to this joke of an Organization. Had the opportunity to truly get on the right path and build something here. Instead it’s the same-ole-shit. A first year GM controllable by the ego-centric owner. No thanks. You’ll get no more of my money.
Are you blaming Eppler’s failure solely on Arte? We seemed to be pretty competitive organization before Billy came along.
Really? I mean certainly ‘14 was a “successful” year from a W-L perspective but an Organization who decided to give Josh Hamilton $100 million with no drug use conditions is not what I would consider to be extremely healthy. Add in the trading away of the farm under DiPoto (which was evaluated as the worst in baseball in 2016) and I am not sure that rosy picture is correct.
While I certainly place a certain amount of blame on Eppler and his apparent lack of focus on pitching, I think a huge dollop of blame can be heaped on Arte for his meddling and the failure to build an Organization. Eppler was not set up for success.
Unfortunately while Eppler is gone, Arte remains and today’s hiring tells me that he certainly is not accepting any blame and that he has learned nothing over the last 5 years. He continues to believe marketing guys should chime in on baseball operations. As long as that is the case, I feel sorry for Minasian as he, like Eppler, is set up for failure and not success.
I, more than anyone, hope I am wrong.
Yawn. I guess we can look forward to his first draft and try and see what his strategy seems to be for the future.
Make Maitan and Soto great again.
Very stoked by the hire. Like his pedigree. Looking forward to seeing the FO he is allowed to assemble and his subsequent moves this offseason.
Angels new FO
Arte Moreno
Arte Moreno
Arte Moteno
Arte Moreno
Dennis Kuhl
John Carpino
Perry Minasian
Farte Moreanal.
Agree with you Warfarin. This guy speaks and communicates very well. He is well rounded in different facets within the baseball operations. Baseball rat. Grew up in a clubhouse and has many, many connections to players, GMs, Ops, scouts, veterans, clubhouse/equipment guys (where his dad worked and brothers as well) and he works to communicate with everyone in the organization down to the minimum wagers. He is big on soliciting ideas and inputs to arrive at decisions. Now, for the first time, his name will be attached to the final call but I am confident and stoked he can do it. Very personable guy. Very happy.
Went back to 2018 and listened to an in-depth interview when he was promoted with the Braves to Asst. GM. Google Spotify, Behind the Braves and add his name.
Fired up!
Your reaction is nearly identical to the reaction most had to Eppler’s hire. Baseball guy, trained by the best, experienced in scouting blah blah blah. I don’t mean to rain on anyone’s parade but this is nearly an identical hiring to Eppler 5 years ago.
Yes, I liked Billy. I still do. Won’t kid you there. He was not as bad as folks make him out to be. Pitching development did him in and inheriting a flat-footed Puljos.
ZERO problem with first time GM, that is the way to go. This is not a result of being cheap Need a tireless, all-in mentality, working the bottom part of the organization vs a Dombrowski who only signs and trades for players. Look at the past few years of the Blue Jays and Braves pipeline. I like this move.
Give him a chance, I have zero problem with Arte wanting a winner even if that comes with a meddling price. Minasian is not a puppet. That puppet stuff is way overblown.
Play ball!
Definition of a fool- someone that does the same thing expecting different results.
Arte Moreno is a fool. But who is more foolish – he or the fans who give him their hard earned money expecting a different result?
I think everything is the matter with a first time GM. The trouble with Angels is a lack of direction, with the top leadership without expertise and “interest” in baseball bumbling into baseball operations on matters of consequence. (I realize that I’m using the term “interested” differently from others. I don’t think people who want “results” but wilfully and insistently ignore the process are all that “interested.”). The biggest “sign” that we’d need is an indication that Arte and his gang would leave baseball alone. We are not seeing it if we get, again, a bright but young person who doesn’t seem to be able to talk back to Arte.
Only time will tell. The first thing we’ll be able to see is how much Arte lets Minasian build out the FO.
Minasian has a great pedigree, so let’s hope he brings the knowledge he gained by working alongside Anthropolous to this team. All we can do is hope. This is a positive move, IMO.
Yeah. We’ll see. The exp with DiPoto and Eppler does not inspire confidence, but the Stoneman era (now, older than the Burgess Shale) does suggest that, under some circumstances, Arte will let baseball ppl do their thing.
A first time GM……where have we seen this low budget movie before? I know I’ve seen it but I just can’t put my finger on it. How will it end…..5 years of losing records or a GM walking out mid season because of a meddling owner and a stubborn field manager? The ending is predictable and very frustrating.
You’d prefer someone who was fired for sucking as a GM somewhere else?
Actually yes – a GM with experience and gravitas who refuses to be Arte’s pawn. I’d prefer a Head of Baseball Operations actually and a rebuilt Organization rather than just the same thing we have seen for a decade.
A GM who refuses to be Arte’s pawn? Oh, so you want somebody who got fired for sucking AND who will quit/be fired by the start of the season because he refuses to follow the directions of his boss.
Let me guess, you also want to cut Pujols and Upton, go over the luxury tax to replace them, give Bauer the highest AAV contract ever for a pitcher, and time travel into the past to extend Simmons before the season ends?
I get that you want Moreno to back off and let a qualified person be in charge. That’s a fine wish. The point is hiring an experienced GM will not make Moreno back off. Moreno doesn’t interfere because his GM’s lack gravitas, and no GM can tell Moreno to back off no matter how much gravitas he or she has.
Thus, your choices are a new guy trained by some of the best, or a washout willing to work with Moreno for the chance to stay a baseball GM.
Can I choose ‘none of the above’ to those choices.
Go back 5 years. We were all ‘stoked’ about Eppler for the exact same reasons as Minasian. The Angels organization is where promising baseball careers go to die.
No you can’t. Not as long as Arte owns the team.
Then all I can do is vote with my wallet
I wonder what is the deadline on Arte’s “take it or leave it” offer to Minasian.
So in reality, Minasian will just be an assistant GM under Arte. And this is what frustrates the hell out of people.
Exactly! Nailed it Steel. It’s also why experienced guys don’t want the job in Anaheim.
Interesting takes you have there.
So basically you’re saying guys like Logan White and Jared Porter who are also well respected throughout the entire game would have had (and who interviewed) the same reaction from you just because they don’t have the elusive “GM experience” title
Odd imho
It’s the same thing unless an Organization is built. Guys like White and Porter have success because the Organizations give them their best opportunity for success. The same could have been (and was) said about Eppler. Young baseball minds benefit from being part of an organization of baseball minds – where the collective whole is successful- rather than being basically an island with a micromanaging owner.
What the Angels needed was to begin to build an Organization where marketing guys like Moreno, Kuhl and Carpino handed the baseball reigns over to a team of baseball people with a broad range of experience and allowed them to succeed on the baseball side of things. That is how young baseball minds are fostered and grow.
To simply pluck these young guys from successful organizations and expect them to succeed as a GM under a meddling owner is far-fetched in my opinion.
Odd in a bubble, maybe. In reality unless there is a President of Baseball Operations AND a new GM, with the three amigos concentrating on the development of the land around the stadium, then whomever takes the poorly described “GM” position, is in all reality just a glorified assistant GM. The individual can have all the respect across the entire MLB baseball world, but once he steps into The Angels GM role, he is stepping into the billboard world.
You guys are also missing the fact that its all a title as jeff fletcher pointed out. There are senior advisors that basically do the same thing as Vice PoBO.
You guys are also assuming that Minasian won’t surround himself with baseball minds. He is just gonna do this all himself which is far from reality. He already has Stoneman which is steady as they come.
See you in either 4 years when he leaves the team mid season or 5 years when he is fired.
I realize that’s a little dark and I apologize but this is extremely frustrating. It’s deja vu all over again – particularly by comparison to Eppler.
We heard a lot same thing when DiPoto came in, too, lest we forget.
The fact he already has Stoneman speaks to the lack of autonomy Angels execs face. he should be free to decide if he wants Stoneman or not. Stoneman is clearly Arte’s guy.
Years ago the Raiders would hire new head coaches all of the time but not change the position coaches. This feels like that.
Totally agree Jeff. This job comes with a set of baggage.
Calling Stoneman “baggage” isn’t really fair. He did build the team that won the Angels only WS how soon we forget
It’s funny how we had this great run of success under Arte from 2004 until 2014 but that is despite Arte, while our run of being terrible under Eppler is now due to Arte.
I guess only time will tell with the new GM.
Key question: will he be given the budget to build an organization? I hope this question was addressed in the interview. If so, he stands a fighting chance.
Getting Pujols off the books the year after next will help