Angels' refusal to clarify John Mozeliak's role is becoming impossible to ignore

By all accounts, John Mozeliak's brief tenure as the Los Angeles Angels' interim general manager is going smoothly. He was lauded for his draft strategy and trade deadline haul, both of which finally infused the Halos' farm system with some much-needed upside after years of wading in the waters of mediocrity under Perry Minasian.

Yet, despite that success, there's been no clear indication whether or not the former leading man of the St. Louis Cardinals plans to stick around in Anaheim beyond this year. When he first took the interim job, he sounded ready to pass the torch, but after this summer's flurry of activity, he suggested that he'd talk to Arte Moreno about the club's future before deciding his own.

Now, we have club president Molly Jolly weighing in on the matter. Though she spoke highly of the work Mozeliak's done thus far, it's clear that she wants to expedite the process of finding a new front office in advance of the impending lockout.

“Originally we were talking about trying to have that in place going into the offseason, so we are well-positioned,” Jolly said. “This is my preference, to give us the full amount of time in the offseason with the right person in place.”

Impending lockout puts pressure on Angels to make perfect front office hire if John Mozeliak doesn't take permanent GM job

Jolly wouldn't commit to Mozeliak in her press conference, which is telling since his current deal expires in December, right around the start of the lockout. That's not to say he won't end up earning the permanent job running the baseball operations department, but neither side has given any promising update suggesting that will be the case.

The urgency is also important to note here, since the Dec. 1 expiration of the Collective Bargaining Agreement means there will be roughly one month between the end of the World Series and the start of the lockout. That gives front offices mere weeks to acquire, retain, and cut loose players under the current rules, hence why the Angels want their braintrust aligned before the offseason even begins.

For what it's worth, Mozeliak is being given the green light on a lot of decisions that would suggest that Angels ownership wants him to stick around. Beyond trading controllable talent (e.g., José Soriano and Ryan Zeferjahn) at the deadline, he also just dismantled the coaching staff's pitching infrastructure, highlighted by firing pitching coach Mike Maddux.

There's even more important decisions on the horizon, including the fate of manager Kurt Suzuki and potential trades involving Zach Neto and Reid Detmers. Hopefully Mozeliak and Jolly/Moreno will come to an agreement that keeps him around for years to come, but if not, the Angels will have to nail their next major front office hire in order to best prepare for what's to come over the offseason.

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