It's clear that John Mozeliak thinks he has blueprint to get Arte Moreno out of Angels’ way

While Los Angeles Angels fans were probably relieved to see general manager Perry Minasian be ousted, everyone knew that his hands were somewhat tied due to owner Arte Moreno. That doesn’t excuse Minasian’s decisions, but it seemed clear to all that he did not exactly have the most autonomy to do what he thought was best for the team and had some strict parameters in which he had to work.

Interim GM John Mozeliak does not seem to think that he will be constrained by Moreno in the same way. It’s remarkable that he took over as interim GM without even meeting Moreno which does suggest that team president Molly Jolly may be the one more in charge of trying to get things back on track.

Mozeliak has met with Moreno since he was initially introduced, and has said the conversation he had with him was productive. Maybe Mozeliak is just being bullish and is in for a rude awakening when Moreno decides to pull rank, or maybe this is the dawn of a new era in which Moreno takes a bit of a step back and allows an executive to run things.

Arte Moreno's influence with Angels might dim thanks to John Mozeliak

In a recent interview with The Athletic, Mozeliak dropped some very interesting quotes about Moreno. When asked about Moreno’s vision, he said, “I think he’s going to rely a lot on what I think the vision needs to be. I definitely think there is going to be opportunity to have some autonomy in how we do it.”

That would certainly be a breath of fresh air for Angels fans who are likely sick and tired of Moreno sticking his fingers in the cake. Mozeliak also seemed somewhat confident that the team would more adequately deploy its resources to make improvements to the facilities in Anaheim as well as the ones in Arizona for spring training. Perhaps this is finally the time when a lot of things that were past due will get done. It’s better late than never and clearly there are a lot of areas in which the organization can improve.

Mozeliak does bring more of a reputation with him based on the success he had with the St. Louis Cardinals so that pedigree, combined with the Halos’ brutal stretch of non-winning baseball, may be what finally convinces Moreno he needs to step back a bit.

Of course, that could also just be wishful thinking. Maybe Arte will be on his best behavior for now but whenever the Angels hire a new executive or if things start to go the wrong way then he will want to put his chef’s hat on and get back in the kitchen.

That’s why it’s important that the Angels show some positive signs early under new leadership to prove they are moving in the right direction. That should keep Moreno at bay and give Mozeliak more leash to work with.

Add us as a preferred source on Google

Follow