Angels' John Mozeliak mystery suddenly makes sense after Arte Moreno farewell

It suddenly makes sense why the Los Angeles Angels haven't been in a hurry to remove John Mozeliak's interim label. He's been the temporary general manager since Perry Minasian was ousted before the MLB Draft, and nearly everyone expected that it wouldn't be long before the Angels made Mozeliak the permanent boss.

Then, out of nowhere, news broke earlier this week that Arte Moreno was selling the Angels to Stan Kroenke. The sale is not expected to be completed until early 2027, but the timing provides important context as to why the Angels haven't fully handed over baseball operations over to Mozeliak.

While there may have been speculation that Mozeliak was aware of a potential sale, and that is why he took the job, it sounds like he was kept out of the loop from the particulars. Mozeliak has since revealed that Moreno, at the time of his hiring, mentioned there was a possibility of a sale but the indication was that one wasn't in the works.

Along those lines, Mozeliak confirmed that he learned of the sale the morning it was reported.

“This was news to me. When I first came here, I spoke with Arte and he had mentioned that this was a possibility. But to learn it this morning from Molly [Jolly], I was definitely surprised. But it wasn't a shocker. I think it's exciting news for everybody.”

Even if John Mozeliak wants to stay with the Angels, it's no longer his call to make

Had Moreno remained in place, chances are that if Mozeliak wanted to stick around, there wouldn't have been any objections. After all, Moreno green-lit a shift in LA's draft approach, and also gave approval for Mozeliak to move pieces under team control beyond this season. Of course, the Angels kept Reid Detmers and Zach Neto, but that appears to be due to the asking price Mozeliak had, not because Moreno nixed potential deals.

That's not to say that Mozeliak won't be a candidate to run baseball operations once Kroenke takes over, but it's no longer the foregone conclusion it once seemed. Kroenke wouldn't have gone through with this purchase if he didn't already have a plan in place for how to make the Angels relevant again. It's possible that plans includes the new owner bringing in his own people.

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