The Los Angeles Angels made some news at the GM Meetings this week with the hiring of Ron Washington as their newest head coach, locking in their new voice with an entire offseason ahead.
Having a few holes to fill on the roster as general manager Perry Minasian has to navigate both Shohei Ohtani’s free agency, and the handful of players who’ve hit the open market. The Angels are in a position to pave their new path, and this offseason period is usually when a lot of negotiating happens.
Less than two years after Angels owner Arte Moreno announced his desire to sell the team, then re-committed himself as primary owner, the team is in no better of a place than before. However, Scott Boras reinforced the long time owner in his two decade long tenure, per Jeff Fletcher of the Southern California News Group:
Boras said he’s in favor of Arte Moreno continuing to own the Angels. “You want people in the game that are invested in it and in my meetings with Arte, he’s very much into it,” Boras said. “He likes it, likes to talk about the game and sit down and talk to you for four or five hours. So as long as you have passionate owners, and these things aren’t assets and you’re not an absentee owner, then I’m very much for those people being in the game.”
Moreno is known for signing players to lucrative deals, and Boras is the best in the sport at making those deals happen. The possibility that the Angels’ owner selling the team puts another team at risk of being out of the running to offer such ridiculous deals.
Boras represents current Angels third baseman Anthony Rendon, who signed a 7 year / $245,000,000 contract prior to the 2020 season, and has since posted a 3.1 WAR for $129,285,714 with the team.
The support for Moreno as Angels owner isn’t an overwhelmingly popular opinion among fans, but with Boras and owners, his spot is extremely favorable.
Angels could still hire someone above Perry Minasian
With the finalization of Ron Washington as the Angels newest manager, the speculation around whether the club is done with coaching and front office moves is still up and running.
Assistant general manager Alex Tamin was let go last month, and the team could still add on to the front office brass. Ownership bears a chunk of the blame for their recent blunders, with Angels owner Arte Moreno seemingly unwilling to put the financial resources in place to build a prospect pool that rivals other clubs.
As the franchise makes staple moves to hammer in their structure, they could add someone above Minasian, perhaps in a president of baseball operations role.
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