It Will Take More Than John Mozeliak To Make The Angels Good Again

John Mozeliak has come aboard the Los Angeles Angels as interim general manager after firing General Manager Perry Minasian. (Photo by Mindy Schauer/MediaNewsGroup/Orange County Register via Getty Images)

MediaNews Group via Getty Images

The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim are the worst team in Major League Baseball. As to be expected, they are in last place in the American League West, and they are a game and half behind the lowly Colorado Rockies (the Rockies do have a considerably worse run differential (-63 vs. -79)).

This past weekend the Boston Red Sox swept through Anaheim, taking all three games pretty handily. On Friday night, the BoSox won 5-2, with the Angels getting two meaningless runs in the eighth inning. On Saturday, Boston scored three in the first and never looked back on their way to an 8-1 victory.

The Red Sox did not take batting practice on the field prior to Sunday evening’s tilt. When Forbes.com asked an Angels beat writer why, the tongue-in-cheek response was that the last two games have been enough batting practice for the club, so they didn’t feel the need to do more.

Anaheim did jump out to a 2-0 lead on Sunday behind a 66-mph single to right, a 71-mph single to center, a 70-mph ground ball to third, and an 84-mph single to center. But the Red Sox bounced right back with five runs over the next two innings to take a lead that they would not relinquish.

The third inning may have been a microcosm of the Angels franchise today. They simply cannot have nice things or get out of their own way. With Mike Trout on the injured list – and maybe even when he is healthy – the best player on the club is shortstop Zach Neto. He is currently slashing .229/.323/.458, for a 119 OPS+, and his 2.5 bWAR is second on the team only to Trout, who has 2.8.

But in a “that so Angels” way, with two out in the top of the third Sunday night, Neto booted a harder grounder off the bat of Red Sox right fielder Wilyer Abreu. Had Neto fielded the ball cleanly, he could have stepped on second or thrown to first to end the inning with the Angels leading 3-2. But, as I am sure you have guessed, Neto did not do that. He booted the ball twice and then threw late to first, allowing Abreu to reach safely and the inning to continue. On the very next pitch, first baseman Willson Contreras rocketed a ball over the left field wall for a three-run homer, giving the Red Sox a 5-3 lead. That was Neto’s 14^th miscue on the season. He did try to atone for his error with a solo home run (his 19^th) with two outs in the bottom of the ninth, but it was too little, too late. Denzer Guzman struck out to end the threat, the game, and the sweep.

When your best player cannot do the pedestrian things that are required to be even an average team, what hope do you have? Prior to the game, when discussing the future of the club with someone who covers the team every day, their response was that it would be “X+3” for the team to get back into contention, with “X” being the day owner Arte Moreno sells the team and “3” being the number of years after. That may be an optimistic view.

Last month the Angels fired general manager Perry Minasian after more than five unsuccessful seasons. He accrued a record of 392-500 during his tenure, but dealt with countless controversies on and off the field, many of which questioned his ability to run the team. And yet, Moreno kept him until team president Molly Jolly decide enough was enough. In Minasian’s place she brought in former St. Louis Cardinals executive John Mozeliak. In his initial press conference, Mozeliak laid out his plans for his new position:

“Over the course of the next couple months, I’m going to spend a lot of energy just trying to understand what’s happening down below and work our way up. Obviously, winning still matters. We still care about that, and that’s going to be something that we will never lose focus on. But there’s a short view and a long view. And our short view is going to be coming through the Draft, addressing the Trade Deadline, finding our new general manager, and then, ultimately, hopefully, we lead to that foundation and structure that provides perpetual winning for the Angels.”

“Mo,” as he is known around baseball, brings a track record of success. He led the Cardinals to 15 straight winning seasons from 2008 through 2022, and won a World Series in 2011, compiling a .533 winning percentage over his 18 years tenure. Interestingly, Mozeliak’s contract with the Angels runs only through December of this year. The executive did not rule out the possibility of staying with the organization beyond 2026, but did state that he is not interested in becoming a general manager. That, of course, leaves open the possibility of him becoming the president of baseball operations with a general manager below him. In fact, there are three candidates from St. Louis who could fit the bill.

Regardless of what Mozeliak does over the next six months, and regardless of who the team hires in his place or under him, there is really only one change – at the very top of the organization – that could make a lasting difference. And like their counterparts in Oakland (and lately in Boston as well), the Angels’ adoring fans have started chanting their wants and desires, hoping that a change at the top will make this franchise relevant again.