The Angels concluded their search for a new general manager yesterday, announcing that former Braves assistant GM Perry Minasian had been signed to a four-year contract to run the Halos’ front office. At least 20 candidates reportedly interviewed for the position, and while several names had already been linked to the Angels, some other previously unknown executives were also on the Angels’ radar.
Dodgers assistant GM Jeff Kingston wasn’t just interviewed, but was also a finalist for the job, Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register reports (via Twitter). Previous reports cited Minasian and Mariners assistant GM Justin Hollander as the last two candidates under consideration, so it seems like Kingston may have one of the next group of finalists that also included Cubs senior VP of player personnel Jason McLeod and Diamondbacks assistant GMs Amiel Sawdaye and Jared Porter.
Perhaps best known for serving as the Mariners’ interim GM for the month between the Jack Zduriencik and Jerry Dipoto eras, Kingston is a familiar face in Southern California baseball. He began his career as an intern in the Padres’ front office and rose to the position to director of baseball operations over nine seasons in San Diego before joining the Mariners in 2009. Kingston remained in Seattle even after Dipoto took over as general manager, with Kingston receiving a promotion to assistant GM and vice president. Kingston has spent the last two years working for the Dodgers.
Kingston fit the mold of many of the Angels’ candidates — well-regarded younger executives who were looking for their first opportunity to run a front office. However, the Angels also explored making a big splash by poaching experienced names, as The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal reports that the Halos asked for permission to speak with Rays GM Erik Neander, Athletics GM David Forst, and Indians president of baseball operations Chris Antonetti. The Rays declined the Angels’ request to talk to Neander, though it may have been a moot point since “Neander does not wish to leave the [Tampa] organization.”
Forst and Antonetti “had personal reasons for not wanting to pursue the Angels’ opening” and are also “happy in their current jobs,” though Rosenthal left open the possibility that either Forst or Antonetti could be receptive if either were approached by the Mets for their vacant president of baseball operations position. Former Marlins GM Michael Hill is the only known person to interview with the Mets thus far, but Forst, Antonetti, and a host of other candidates have been speculated as possibilities for what seems to be one of the most attractive job openings in baseball. As Rosenthal noted, Forst has ties with Mets president Sandy Alderson, who worked as a senior advisor in Oakland for the last two seasons.
How do you not steal from the crosstown Dodgers who have some of the best player development. I wonder how much having baseballs version of Jerry Jones had to do with some of the more experienced GM candidates turning down the job. Until Artesia learns to get out of his own way, the Angels will have problems.
Kingston has only been there since 2019 and it’s unclear what he does. If you want to steal from the Dodgers, you would need to take 5-10 guys from their front office player development side and some of their research analysis
In a way, the Angels DID poach some of the Dodgers proprietary knowledge.
Anthopoulos was with the Dodgers 2016-2017, and I’m sure he was able to get a good look at how Friedman operates.
There is little doubt that Anthopoulos was able to borrow many of the Dodgers ideas and bring them to Atlanta.
There is also little doubt that Minasian, as Anthopoulus’ right-hand man, now knows many of these “secrets’.
Only time will tell if he can actually implement those ideas. That will require support throughout the organization.
Can he pitch
Now they just need some pitching and a new owner.
What’s people’s issue with the owner? Looks like he spends money,on who his GM go after. But not an Angels fan so don’t pay close attention to the owner.
I suspect the problem is that the owner has the habit of interference in mandating certain players be signed if not at all costs, then at a certain exorbitant price. (Not to mention stepping in on trades.)
So it’s like saying I’m going to give you $300 a week for groceries, BUT, then require you buy 2lb of $50/lb cheese and $150 of filet to grind into hamburg for me.
Sounds like I spend a lot, but, really there isn’t enough to go around because of how I insist it be spent. And you either listen or you get fired.
People don’t like him because they think he interferes with the GM doing his job. He spent money on signing guys like Pujols an Josh Hamilton to long term contracts and they didn’t work out. At the same time people are mad the he didn’t overspend on Cole last year, which he almost did. In short, haters are going to hate.
Many people forget, one of the first things that he did when he purchased the team is cut prices concessions, beer, and even tickets. There are surely a lot worse owners in baseball and it’s nice having an owner who actually is a fan rather than a corporation like Disney.
Who won a WS? Moreno or Disney.
He also signed Vladdy and Colon. Terrible owner…
Disney. Arte didn’t take ownership of the Angels til 2003
This is lost over the last few years but angels still have one of the lowest cost per game for families to attend. For a team with a consistent 160-180M payroll that’s awesome.
The owner makes marketing decisions and not baseball decisions. That allows him to generate more money and he puts that money back into the organization.
For many it’s either all good or all bad. Perspective is not as common as it use to be.
Arte does some good things and some bad things. Like most people, he’s a mixed bag.
Duuuuuuuuuude! Well said!
He is the one signing deals, not the gms. He exercises way too much control of the team. He is scared of pitching contracts so he just gives his money to aging hitters and loses it that way
He’s not scared of pitching contracts.
He brought in the number 1 pitcher on the free agent market twice. Colon and Wilson.
He went after Cole and Greinke hard. He went after Sabathia hard. He was just competing with the Yankees and Dodgers. Which pitcher did he not go after?
You guys seem to make this stuff up as you go along.
Arte gets a bad rep because the last decade has been rough. But this is a fair argument. He and his GMs have tried, just have been a little unlucky and had poor timing. But results based business so I understand the criticisms. I just wish they had better knowledge behind their comments.
He spends money very unwisely – and hasn’t kept payroll high enough to compete. He has the best player of our generation locked in and has failed to surround him with a strong enough supporting cast to get to the post season – even in this shortened season, when practically half of baseball made the playoffs.
Pirates fans probably wish they had an owner who spent like Arte.
You mean Ahrrrrrrrte.
Forst’s and Antonetti’s had “personal reasons for not wanting to pursue the Angels opening” but reportedly might be receptive to the Mets job. In other words, they have no interest in working for Moreno.
Or………….. They may prefer the East Coast for their next job. It’s possible.
Not to mention the raise in pay Antonetti would get.
More than half the fan bases in MLB, would take Arte Moreno over their team’s current owner. Yet Angels fans think, we need a new owner. Because they over value, what they think Disney did as owner. Let’s actually look at it, shall we. 1997 was the first season, that Disney had control of the Angels. Only good starting pitcher was Chuck Finley. Which 97 was his last year with the Angels. 98, 99, 00, 01 and 03 the Angels starting pitching was absolute garbage. Which is why the team was under 500. In 2002, the Angels caught Lightning in the bottle and won it all. Look at the starting rotation, was their any elite starting pitchers on the staff? The best starter the Angels had was Jerad Washburn. A effective starter, but far from elite. Starting from 04, the first full year Arte had control of the Angels to 2011, the Angels had one of the best starting rotations in the majors. But couldn’t score enough runs to win in the playoffs. By the way, the Angels signed the top 2 FA starting pitchers, who were FA and Vlad his first off-season as owner. He has done everything he can to try to put a winner on the field.
Finley’s last season with the Angels was ’99. As for the 2002 team, that is a perfect example of not needing a star-studded expensive team to win, you just need the right pieces. After a disappointing ’03 Moreno opend the check book big time adding Vladimir Guerrero, Jose Guillen, Bartolo Colon and Kelvim Escobar. The Angels would make the playoffs and be eliminated in three games. Guillen would be jettisoned off to Washington, Colon would have one more good season before injuries set in. And Escobar would never live up to his contract. He basically tried the same thing years later with Albert Pujols, Josh Hamilton, and C.J. Wilson. Arte will spend, he just doesn’t spend wisely and honestly the Angels have struggled to develop pitching since the days of Washburn, Ortiz, Lackey, Weaver, and Santana. Outside of Trout who was the last Angels prospect to be be excited about?
Um the number 3 prospect in baseball last year? Dumb question.
I can understand not to anting to give up autonomy and an extensive scouting and analytics program to move here. Arte spends, yes, but he spends his way and the Angels have a bare bones budget everywhere else.
I’m reading Minasian will be allowed to increase the head counts in analytics and development. Hopefully a sign Arte is learning.
This is it
Shocked that former Pirates GM Neal Huntingdon wasn’t considered….lol
I respect Neander more than any executive for not wanting to jump ship on Tampa.
I wonder if Arte is impatient because of his own mortality. The WS was won the year before he bought the team, so he has owned the team for 17 seasons and had a few runs in the postseason but no trip to the Series.
I think of Mike Illich who ran up the payroll for the Tigers in a bid to get one more championship before he died. I get a similar sense of impatience from Moreno, and that turns into desperation as the years mount up.
2021 figures to be a season as weird as 2020 was, though perhaps with a different weirdness. Any vaccine for COVID will not roll out fast enough to inoculate all those who want it—which is a different group from those who think this is all a hoax from Bill Gates and that wearing a mask is infringement on personal freedom. We may not get back to fans in the seats next season, and for that reason the budgets will still be tight.
I expect Arte to go deep on Bauer, who may or may not have buried the hatchet with Callaway, dating from their animus from Cleveland days. Otherwise, I don’t know if the team plans to spend much on players in 2021, but rather keep the budget as low as the existing contracts allow, and see what 2022 brings.
I heard a interview with Callaway this week. The interviewer asked Callaway about Bauer. Callaway raved about him. I believe there’s no animosity between the two any longer.
Prediction, the Angels will go after Bauer hard and lose out to the Mets and Angels fans will be upset because Moreno would only go to 30+ million a year versus what he will sign for.
More likely Bauer signs for 6 years with Angel for 240 million dollars and pitches poorly because of injuries.
Some of you need to STOP with the narrative Moreno needs to sell the team.
Moreno is NOT I repeat NOT going anywhere. Unless you’ve been hiding under a rock, I’ll fill you in. Arte bought the Stadium and surrounding land. His plans are to develop the land and possibly build a new ballpark. Some of you like to compare Arte to Jerry Jones. Jerry has a huge ego. Jerry does alot of stupid things. Arte owns the Angels and right or wrong he can have his input. He pays the bills. Give it a rest .
he is not satisfying the source of his income. fans!
Two things are wrong with that statement.
1) Unless he sells the team, his income he makes on this team is not all that much.
2) It’s fully satisfied vs somewhat satisfied.
a) For the most part, the best seasons this team has ever had were under Moreno.
b) He extended the best Angel in history The best previous players on the Angels were Fregosi, Finley and Ryan. All finished their careers elsewhere.
c) He brought in Vlad and Rendon.
I’m somewhat satisfied.
I’m glad they at least tired for a’s and rays gms. I think Perry will be a great hire, in light of these developments.
I’m not a Moreno fan, but I have to admit he’s willing to spend his money. You can make a case that the money could be spent more wisely, but he does spend it.
I agree with that 100%.
I wouldn’t want to leave a GM spot on a small market team to go to the Angels. I love the Angels, but I can’t imagine a GM lasting a long time given how the Angels are run and how much influence Moreno has in it all.
He wont invest in a decent pitching staff. The bullpen in particular is horrible.
La Dodgers trades for Blake Snell angel get no pitchers.
Chances Theo Epstein comes to the Halos?