MLB insider makes John Mozeliak's long term future with Angels crystal clear

Even though John Mozeliak was mostly kept out of the loop of Arte Moreno planning to sell the Los Angeles Angels to Stan Kroenke in a deal that should be finalized early next year, all the logic in the world points to Mozeliak remaining the face of the Halos' baseball operations for at least the next year.

First and foremost, there's how Mozeliak has acted since becoming the interim general manager. The Angels had a different approach to the draft from the one they previously relied on under Perry Minasian, and their draft class has drawn praise. Mozeliak then made bold moves at the trade deadline, trading cotrollable pitchers Jose Soriano and Ryan Zeferjahn.

In the weeks since, Mozeliak overturned the coaching staff with new pitcing coaches, and he restructured the front office. Those simply aren't moves one makes if they were viewed as nothing more than a placeholder. Along those lines, Mozeliak probably wouldn't have come out of retirement if he was going to be nothing more than a placeholder.

Chaotic offseason outlook is only further reason why John Mozeliak should remain with Angels

Nonetheless, even after reports of the sale, the expectation remains that Mozeliak will remain in place with the Angels. USA Today's Bob Nightengale spoke with rival executives, who expect Mozeliak to remain in place as the Angels' president of baseball operations.

Such an outcome would match what Mozeliak said at the time of his hiring. He wasn't looking to be the point of contact in daily operations, but might be willing to consider an over-arching role in the front office. In other words, the likely path forward for the Angels is Mozeliak getting bump up to the president title while a general manager is hired underneath him. That way, Mozeliak still gets final say of things, but doesn't have to go through the day-to-day grind of running a front office.

There's also the timing of everything. The expectation is that things will be hot-and-heavy during the month of November. With the CBA expiring on December 1 and a potential work stoppage to follow, the Angels will need to have their ducks in a row as soon as the offseason starts. Count that as point for why Mozeliak should remain in place.

The other is that the sale to Kroenke won't be finalized until January at the earliest. Likely later, considering MLB owners will need to approve the sale and that may not happen until after there's a new CBA in place. Even if Kroenke wants to bring in his own people, it won't be happening this offseason.

This all points to Mozeliak continuing to run things as the simplest, and right decision for the Angels to make. Ideally, they make that move official soon, instead of letting it linger.

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