Angels' GM search will reveal if Arte Moreno problem can ever be fixed

The biggest question for the Los Angeles Angels right now has nothing to do with what is happening on the field. Instead, it has everything to do with the future of the front office.

John Mozeliak took over as interim general manager after the long overdue dismissal of Perry Minasian and while Mozeliak has been careful to remind everyone that he is only under contract through the end of this season, everything suggests that the plan is for him to stay on in a long-term capacity.

Until that is set in stone though, the future of the Angels is still very much up in the air. Under normal circumstances, a team would be evaluating an executive during this time and seeing whether they are a fit going forward. This might be a rare instance where the reverse is true and Mozeliak is evaluating the Angels as a franchise and the people he has to work with, determining whether he wants to be around long-term.

The elephant in the room with all of this is owner Arte Moreno. He’s notorious for being controlling and difficult to work with and Mozeliak obviously came into his current situation knowing all of that. While it seems like team president Molly Jolly has been able to keep Moreno at bay so far, how long that lasts remains to be seen.

One would imagine that Mozeliak wants a great deal of autonomy to do the job as he sees fit if he were to stay on in a long-term role as GM or president of baseball operations. It seems he was given that leeway during the MLB Draft and trade deadline but we don’t know for sure what went on behind the scenes. 

There was certainly a lot of change as the team employed a different draft strategy and sold off a number of players at the deadline, so if Mozeliak didn’t get everything he wanted, it certainly seems like he shook things up quite a bit.

But what if Moreno sours on all of this soon and starts dictating what the future should look like? Mozeliak could easily say that he’s done and just walk away from it all and wait for another opening if he wants to run a front office again.

Angels cannot go back to the dark days under Arte Moreno

If that happens, then it would likely just be a return to the way the Angels did business this entire decade with a weak, ineffectual GM taking orders from Moreno without the authority to do what is in the best interest for the club.

In short, it would be a nightmare for the Angels.

But if Moreno understands that the way the team has been operating hasn’t been working and Jolly can keep him at bay, then Mozeliak may feel comfortable sticking around and getting to mold this franchise the way he sees fit.

It will be interesting to see how it all plays out because the ramifications will be huge for the Angels going forward and will likely determine whether they are able to turn this ship around and become a winning franchise again. 

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