Mike Scioscia is Going Nowhere

According to Alden Gonzalez, The Angels MLB beat writer, Arte Moreno delivered a concise answer on the subject of skipper Mike Scioscia and General Manager Jerry Dipoto‘s employment status.

September 21, 2012; Anaheim, CA, USA; Los Angeles Angels manager Mike Scioscia (14) watches game action in the third inning against the Chicago White Sox at Angel Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-US PRESSWIRE

"“Regardless of what happens the next 11 games, Mike Scioscia will 100 percent return,” Angels owner Arte Moreno said in a phone interview with MLB.com on Saturday. “I have told him. He wants to come back, I want him to come back. He’s been the manager of the Angels for 13 years. He will be the manager of the Angels for a 14th year. Period.Moreno’s decision isn’t a recent one. “I’ve known all along that I am not changing my manager,” he said.The same applies to first-year general manager Jerry Dipoto.“Jerry Dipoto will be back,” said Moreno, who in January 2009 signed Scioscia to a 10-year contract that runs through 2018 and last offseason hired Dipoto to replace Tony Reagins. “I think we’re learning a lot about ourselves, but [Dipoto] will be back.””"

And to be perfectly honest, it’s not as if Moreno has a lot of available options out there had he decided to can Scioscia. Monkey With a Halo ran a poll a week ago asking fans to pick which manager among the 30 current Major League managers they would want to replace Papa Mike with. Here are the results.

Supreme Leader Moreno was answering these questions as a rebuttal to reports released by Jon Heyman and Ken Rosenthal.

Arte’s answer to these reports?

"“These reports,” Moreno said, “wherever they’re coming from, are [false].”"

Thank you Mr. Moreno.

Here’s another way of looking at it. Last year, The Red Sox failed miserably in September and had a knee jerk reaction firing Terry Francona. The then ended up with Bobby Valentine.

The common answer from the anti Scioscia fan is that “The Angels should get Terry Francona.” But there is no guarantee that Tito wants to come back to managing yet. There are a slew of manager hopefuls all across the baseball landscape, waiting for their shot (Mike Maddux, Ryne Sandberg), but they are still just hopefuls who could be either the Mike Trout equivalent to managing, or the Brandon Wood equivalent.

I’m in the keep Scioscia camp, he spent 12 years running the show and this is the first season where he’s had to stick to the field, let him adjust. Because if Arte does fire him, I’ve heard that Bobby Valentine will be available at the end of the year.