LAS VEGAS — Jerry Dipoto knows better than most people what the situation under Angels ownership has been like over the past couple of decades.
Dipoto was the Angels’ general manager from 2011 to 2015, when he abruptly quit when he found himself squeezed between owner Arte Moreno and Manager Mike Scioscia.
Now, as the Angels approach the Stan Kroenke era, with Dipoto running the division rival Seattle Mariners, he knows what a drastic change that could be. Kroenke’s other teams have won championships in the NFL, NBA, NHL and Premier League.
“Obviously, the potential new ownership, his reputation as an owner in sports in general is pretty awesome,” Dipoto said on Tuesday at MLB’s annual GM Meetings. “What he’s been able to accomplish in multiple other leagues, building championship organizations is good for Angels fans. I really have no opinion other than I hope they take their time.”
In the short term, Dipoto is getting his wish.
The Angels are sacrificing a large portion of what figures to be a lockout-shortened winter by waiting to hire a new head of baseball operations until after the transfer from Moreno to Kroenke is approved by MLB owners. There’s still no timeline for that to happen, but the Angels are hoping it’s sometime before the end of December, when interim GM John Mozeliak’s contract expires.
This week, Kevin Demoff of Kroenke Sports & Entertainment is here in Las Vegas meeting with what seems to be a long, preliminary list of candidates. Mozeliak said KSE could ask permission directly from the other clubs to speak to the candidates, so he’s not entirely in the loop on which ones made the cut for the first round of meetings here in Las Vegas.
Word around the industry is that there’s plenty of interest, despite the Angels having a 10-year streak of losing seasons and a playoff drought that began in 2015.
One high ranking executive from another team said he’d “love to” hear from the Angels, but he hadn’t gotten a call.
Minnesota Twins GM Jeremy Zoll, who worked in the Angels’ front office under Dipoto, acknowledged the Kroenke-run Angels are poised to be on the upswing.
“Anytime that there’s ownership transition, it creates a bunch of unknowns and how things are going to operate,” Zoll said. “Obviously I’m familiar with (Kroenke’s) history in other sports. I don’t know exactly what it’s all going to look like from a baseball perspective, but obviously having a team in Orange County, it makes it a premium destination for where players want to go. A lot of players are from that area. It just seems like it’s a really good opportunity for someone to move that organization forward.”
Mozeliak said his colleagues across the sport aren’t campaigning to him for an opportunity with the Angels, but he nonetheless did his part to sell the job.
“It’s an exciting place, right,” Mozeliak said. “Obviously the Angels can be a special market, so I certainly would recommend anybody that has interest in that job to get it and run with it.”
For now, the only running Mozeliak is doing is on a treadmill, so to speak. Mozeliak said that, as planned, he’s been meeting with teams and agents about possibilities, so whoever takes over will be in position to act quickly. He isn’t expecting to make any significant moves before then.
“Over the next few days, really it’s my responsibility just to get an understanding of what teams have, who they have interest in, and maybe what they’re willing to do in a trade type of discussion,” Mozeliak said. “In terms of free agency, still just trying to understand what that looks like in terms of who we think we might target and when new leadership gets in place, share our notes and allow them to hit the ground running.”
A good portion of the free agent market might be unavailable by then, though.
There was speculation that the free agent market would move more quickly this season because of teams and players wanting to get deals done before the Dec. 1 lockout.
“I do think people want to move a little quicker right now,” Mozeliak said. “Then from my standpoint, I need to move a little slower.”
COMING BACK
The Angels engineered a marked improvement on the mound after Tim Leveque became pitching coach and Michael Wuertz became bullpen coach in August.
As a result, both have been hired back in the organization. Leveque has accepted a role as minor league pitching coordinator and Wuertz is set to be the Triple-A pitching coach, Mozeliak said on Tuesday.
Both of them could still wind up back on the major league staff, though.
Mozeliak said they offered them jobs to keep them in the organization, in case the new regime wants to bring them back to the big leagues next season.
“I’m actually shocked more people haven’t come after them for a big league job,” Mozeliak said. “It was quite striking what they were able to accomplish in such a short time. So you have to admire that.”
The Angels had a 4.51 ERA on the day they fired pitching coach Mike Maddux in August. Over the rest of the season under Leveque, they had a 3.69 ERA.
The Angels also retained hitting coach Jobel Jimenez to work at Class-A Rancho Cucamonga. Keith Johnson, who was the third base coach, was retained as the minor league baserunning and outfield coordinator.
SUZUKI TOO
Kurt Suzuki will return to his role as a special assistant after one season as the manager.
When the Angels announced that Suzuki would not manage the team in 2027, he said he had some interest in big league jobs with other organizations.
Suzuki had been a special assistant with the Angels in the first three years after his retirement, before he was hired as manager for 2026.
NOTES
Besides getting more good players, the Angels have plenty of work to do in terms of upgrading their facilities and technology throughout the system. Mozeliak said he’s started to have discussions with KSE “about what that might look like,” but they will dig into it in more detail down the road. …
Mozeliak said injured players will still have full access to work with the medical staff and use team facilities during the lockout, so there will be no impact on pitcher Jack Kochanowicz, who is rehabbing from Tommy John surgery.