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Angels choose Braves' Perry Minasian as next GM

The Los Angeles Angels have decided on their next general manager — it’s Perry Minasian, the current assistant GM of the Atlanta Braves.

The Angels had reportedly narrowed their search down to Minasian and Seattle Mariners assistant GM Justin Hollander, with word coming down Thursday that Minasian is the choice. The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal broke the news, which was confirmed by Yahoo Sports’ Tim Brown.

Minasian, 40, has been the assistant GM in Atlanta for three seasons now, as the Braves have ascended to a perennial playoff team again. Before serving as Alex Anthopoulos’ right-hand man, Minasian worked nine years for the Toronto Blue Jays as a scout and later the director of scouting.

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He has truly led a baseball life. Minasian’s father, Zack, was the longtime clubhouse manager for the Texas Rangers. In his youth, Perry Minasian was a batboy for the Rangers and helped in the clubhouse since he was 8. After college, he worked as a Rangers scout and as an assistant to Buck Showalter when he was Rangers manager. Now Minasian the GM will be a division rival of those same Rangers.

Minasian becomes the fifth Angels GM under owner Arte Moreno, and the third who was a first-time GM. Billy Eppler had the job most recently, from 2016 until the end of the 2020 season. Before that, it was Jerry Dipoto, who now is with the Seattle Mariners. Tony Reagins was the first GM Moreno hired himself in 2007.

The Angels are heading into the 2021 season with a new GM. (Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images)
The Angels are heading into the 2021 season with a new GM. (Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images)

The job also comes with a very clear mission that will be watched closely — build a winner around the best player in the game. Despite having Mike Trout win three MVPs and finish second four times since 2012, the Angels have played in a grand total of three playoff games.

They’re coming off a disappointing 26-34 season in 2020, their first year with Joe Maddon as manager. The Angels appeared to be heading in the right direction before this season, with a healthy Shohei Ohtani, a prime Trout and big free agent acquisition Anthony Rendon. Even Dylan Bundy, who they traded for last year, turned out to be a good move.

But the Angels continued to otherwise fail at pitching. They finished with the fifth-worst ERA in the league. A factoid that perfectly summed up their longtime pitching woes: When Bundy got a Cy Young vote on Wednesday night, he was the first Angels pitcher to even get a vote since 2012.

Pretty clear that Minasian has his work cut out for him in Anaheim. And it starts with pitching.

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