John Mozeliak's Angels introduction included wild Arte Moreno nugget that's beyond belief

While most Los Angeles Angels fans suspected that Perry Minasian would not be leading the front office in 2027, it still came as a shock that he was fired so suddenly last week. Perhaps even more shocking was that the Angels had already lined up John Mozeliak to serve as a temporary GM to replace him.

There are real arguments about whether or not Mozeliak's organization-building philosophy served the Cardinals well in his final years leading their front office, but he is still very well-respected across baseball, and the initial reviews of his hiring have largely been positive.

However, during Mozeliak's introduction over the weekend, a very curious detail emerged. According to Mozeliak himself, not only has his hiring been in the works for weeks, but apparently owner Arte Moreno wasn't involved at all.

Arte Moreno sitting out John Mozeliak's hiring may be for the best for the Angels in the present and future

That the Angels have been preparing for Minasian's departure for a while isn't all that surprising. He felt like a lame-duck executive for a long time, and there was certainly logic in making a change now so that a new pair of eyes can handle the draft and trade deadline. That the Angels put the effort in to try and make that transition with intent is something to be applauded.

However, for an owner with as meddlesome a reputation as Moreno has, that Mozeliak bluntly said that Moreno wasn't involved and that he hadn't even really met with him yet is wild. Apparently, it was new Angels president Molly Jolly that was calling the shots from the get-go. As to whether this is a short-term situation or will extend to the Angels' new GM as well is very much to be determined.

For Angels fans, the hope here is that not only is Moreno finally being more hands-off, but that Jolly is a capable executive who is looking to bring in even more capable baseball people to make decisions for the organization. It's possible that Moreno was more involved behind the scenes than Mozeliak realizes or that Jolly ends up being as needlessly heavy-handed as John Carpino was. However, for the moment, this is a welcome surprise.

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