Los Angeles Angels GM John Mozeliak talked at his end-of-season presser, and some of what came out was stunning.
Los Angeles Angels interim GM John Mozeliak did his end-of-season press conference on Monday, and the biggest takeaway was that we may have our updated version of former GM Perry Minasian, as Mozeliak delivered a stunner when he said he’d “like to keep” Kurt Suzuki as manager.
It’s a jaw-dropper, but thankfully it’s not finalized. Mozeliak also said he needs to gather more information and meet with new owner Stan Kroenke and the leaders of his Kroenke Sports Entertainment group, so hopefully the new owners will show some sanity and not do this.
The sale agreement was announced on Sept. 1, and the Angels are currently in transition, as the sale won’t become official until the owners vote on the transaction. In this case, though, that vote will largely be a pro forma exercise given that Kroenke owns multiple other championship teams in a wide array of sports.
Mozeliak also added that he’s “not focused on my contract” right now, and he tried to bury possible follow-up questions about that by talking about how he’s focused on internal restructuring, player development and creating a “positive environment for the entire group.”
That bowl full of nothing was followed by the whopper that Mozeliak thinks that “Mr. Suzuki, in my opinion, he's done a great job,” although he did acknowledge the 100-loss elephant of a season perched in the corner of the room.
The interim GM did address his contract status indirectly, as he noted that the search for a new GM is “still paused” until he receivers more information from ownership, per Rhett Bollinger of MLB.com. He hasn’t ruled staying on past the end of his contract past December, but Mozeliak just did a pretty good job of ruling himself out as a viable long-term candidate, hopefully.
Mozeliak also offered more gobbledygook about liking the Angels prospects and young core, but he did add some substance by saying the Angels intend to add a new farm director from outside the organization.
Another move that’s coming will be the move of outfielder Mike Trout from center to left, which is another stunner. Trout played well in center this season despite the extra wear and tear that comes with the position, but per Bollinger his range was well below average with a -5 Outs Above Average (OAA).
The GM added that Trout is “open minded to [the move],” which was good to hear given that the superstar has resisted this kind of move vehemently in the past.
It’s hard to know what to make of all this — it’s possible Mozeliak is doing Suzuki a solid by not firing him right away, and a lot of this has outbound owner Arte Moreno's fingerprints all over it. But hopefully there will be plenty of adults in the room when Kroenke and his group take over to at least stop the Suzuki part of this in its tracks.
