Angels hopefully won't regret passing on 2 Perry Minasian successors after extension

Whether you think general manager Perry Minasian deserved to be fired this season or be sent packing after his contract expired, you know Arte Moreno was going to do whatever was best for himself and not for the Los Angeles Angels.

On Thursday, the Angels reportedly extended Minasian, which surprised fans even with the team's solid play over the last couple of months as their younger players have emerged.

The decision has been made. Minasian will oversee the Angels for the foreseeable future, but we'd be lying to ourselves if we said there weren't other viable options out there that could've replaced him after 2024.

If Moreno wanted to win and stay on a budget, these candidates would've been suitable.

Angels hopefully won't regret passing on 2 Perry Minasian successors after extension

Scott Sharp (Kansas City Royals)

Scott Sharp would've beeen one target because he has helped rebuild the Kansas City Royals into a power house when they have had no business being one.

His top prospects back in 2022, a farm system ranked eighth in MLB back that year, featured players like Bobby Witt Jr. The Royals are known for having a tight budget, just like the Angels supposedly have right now. Even though Sharp's farm system in near the bottom of the league in 2024 after all his top prospects got promoted to the bigs, he's looking at a group of playoff performers at the moment.

Any organization would take that fast of a trade-off.

Amiel Sawdeye (Arizona Diamondbacks)

Another connection between the Arizona Diamondbacks and the Los Angeles Angels wouldn't have been surprising.

Amiel Sawdeye, the assistant GM of the Arizona Diamondbacks since 2016, could've been another fit. According to MLB Pipeline, the Diamondbacks have been in the top half (if not in the top 10) for the past few seasons with their prospect rankings. Emerging stars like Corbin Carroll and soon-to-be star Druw Jones and Jordan Lawlar were drafted under his watch.

Sawdeye was also was hired under Theo Epstein back during the Boston Red Sox's return to dominance. He had a hand in drafting Mookie Betts. His background is full of scouting. That's the type of GM the Angels sorely need to rebuild with.

The Angels have to get with the new age of scouting. There's a chance Minasian is on the forefront of that movement thanks to his work with Zach Neto, Nolan Schanuel and Caden Dana (among others) in addition to the Logan O'Hoppe trade. But they better hope they didn't pass on better candidates after putting their faith in Minasian.