Angels could move more quickly to replace Perry Minasian permanently than people think

The Los Angeles Angels finally did what they probably should have done years ago by firing general manager Perry Minasian. The move was long overdue and he’s been replaced in the interim by John Mozeliak who was a longtime executive for the St. Louis Cardinals. While it would make sense for Mozeliak to finish out the rest of this year and then have a new executive replace him, there’s a chance the Angels could have a new GM on a much faster timeline.

According to reporter Rhett Bollinger, Mozeliak and team president Molly Jolly would like to find a new GM as quickly as possible: “Mozeliak and Jolly said the goal is to have the new GM in place as soon as possible, as Mozeliak already has a short list of candidates. But it’s not expected to happen until after the Trade Deadline and could come during the offseason.”

There’s obviously a lot of wiggle room there, but the fact that Mozeliak already has a short list suggests the process could move fairly quickly. It would make sense to have someone in place ahead of the offseason so they can figure out what direction to take the team, but that’s obviously complicated by the looming lockout which seems all but certain to make it a very unorthodox offseason.

Mozeliak hasn’t ruled out naming himself as GM, but it definitely sounds like he does not want to return to a GM role in a long-term capacity. One can only wonder who Mozeliak has in mind for the job.

GM candidates may be scared away by Angels' reputation (and with good reason)

It’s not exactly the most appetizing job for any candidates out there. The Angels have been a bad team for a while now and anyone who gets hired knows they are going to have to contend with the whims and eccentricities of owner Arte Moreno who can be very hands-on.

If there’s a promising young executive-type who has other options, they’d probably want to take on a different situation if they can help it. The Mets, Red Sox, and Padres could all have leadership changes this offseason so prospective candidates may try to wait and see if they can land one of those jobs.

Perhaps that’s why the Angels decided to fire Minasian when they did. They knew that there will probably be other openings after the season and want to see if they can get someone to take a bird in the hand rather than wait for whatever may or may not be in the bush in the offseason.

That may prove to be a smart move even though it would be a bit unusual for a team to fire its GM and replace them with a new one during the season.

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