Angels shockingly may have the most attractive AL West general manager vacancy

There's about to be a sea of change in the American League West. The Los Angeles Angels kicked things off when they fired Perry Minasian, but since then, the Athletics fired David Forst, and then the Houston Astros followed suit, agreeing to mutually part ways with Dana Brown.

It's not a surprise to see so much turnover. The division is arguably the worst in baseball, and even the teams at the top, like the Astros and the Texas Rangers, are thoroughly mediocre. Past experience tells us that the Angels are the least attractive general manager job opening, but that might not actually be the case.

In fact, if John Mozeliak doesn't stick around, there's a strong case to be made for Los Angeles actually being the most appealing post for three specific reasons.

Three strong reasons why the Angels have the most attractive AL West general manager vacancy

The Angels are the only one of the three to have a legitimate young cornerstone on either side of the ball already on their big league roster. Reid Detmers is emerging as a true frontline starter, while Zach Neto is a key lineup building block.

In comparison, the Athletics have an impressive collection of young hitters, but are devoid of quality big league arms with true potential. The Astros have Hunter Brown and Jeremy Peña to fill the Detmers and Neto roles, but Peña is a free agent after next year, while Neto is under team control through 2029.

The presence of Detmers and Neto would give an executive a plethora of options that neither of these rivals can compete with. He could choose to build around the pair, or he could capitalize on their trade value to further strengthen the farm system for a future run. Either way, both paths are open, and who wouldn't want to execute their own vision rather than be forced down one path or another based on roster construction?

That moves us to the second point, which is the farm. Shockingly, the Angels have a decent one for the first time in ages. Los Angeles checks in at No. 14 on Baseball America's updated rankings, and No. 17 on MLB Pipeline's list.

Houston comes in ranked 25th by BA and 29th by MLB Pipeline, while the A's are more highly regarded, placing 12th and 14th, respectively, but there are two caveats. First, much of their system's value is tied up in one prospect, Leo De Vries, who is the No. 3 prospect in baseball per Baseball America and No. 2 according to MLB Pipeline. The second part of this comes down to how their shoestring budget essentially takes these prospects off the table as trade chips, leading to more volatility in their future outcomes.

And that brings us to the third and final advantage that the Angels have. The Angels actually might have the best ownership situation of the three. Yes, Arte Moreno was a very real problem, but the shocking news that he was selling the team to Stan Kroenke changed everything. We don't know exactly what Kroenke's plans are, but he doesn't buy the Angels unless he is willing to do what it takes to make them a bigger draw.

Looking a little closer at this, Fisher may try and claim that pay roll will open up once the team moves to Las Vegas, but we'll believe it when we see it. His actions currently have his club playing in a minor league stadium, and his has no willingness to authorize spending at a level that allows for meaningful external contributors to be brought in.

As for Crane's meddling, this is the guy who ran James Click out of Houston immediately after winning the 2022 World Series, ran the subsequent offseason himself, which led to Jose Abreu's horrendous contract that he had to throw away over $30 million to get rid of, and then allowed Dana Brown to run the Astros' draft and trade deadline before ditching him.

Houston's books are also saddled with several long-term, big-money contracts for aging and declining players. Crane refuses to exceed the luxury tax, creating a flexibility problem that has caused them issues this season and will only make things worse in the near future.

With all of that considered, the Angels are essentially a blank canvas for a general manager to work with. The farm system is up and coming, the big league roster has young stars to either build around or trade, and ownership is likely to spend a decent amount of money. That'll work.

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