Angels fire GM Minasian, bring in Mozeliak as consultant
The Los Angeles Angels, barreling toward their 11th consecutive losing season, fired general manager Perry Minasian on Friday, while also announcing that longtime executive John Mozeliak will be brought in as a consultant to the baseball operations department.
In a release, the Angels said Mozeliak, who served as GM of the St. Louis Cardinals from 2008 to 2025, will "oversee the day-to-day baseball operations for the Angels while refining a baseball operations strategy and assisting the organization in its search for a new general manager." Mozeliak is expected to stay with the organization through the end of this calendar year.
Minasian, 46, was in his sixth season as Angels GM and in the final year of his contract. Whoever succeeds him will be the Angels' fourth full-time GM since 2012, following Jerry Dipoto and Billy Eppler.
Minasian replaced Eppler following the COVID-19-shortened 2020 season, and the Angels never finished with more than 77 wins under his watch. The team lost a franchise-record 99 games in 2024, then made a nine-win improvement in 2025. This year, though, they sit 34-48, tied for the worst record in the American League.
"Perry has been a valued leader who worked tirelessly over the last six years to strengthen our baseball-operations department," first-year Angels president Molly Jolly said in a statement. "I am grateful for his dedication, insight and many contributions to our organization."
Minasian made bold moves shortly after taking over the Angels' baseball operations department, starting with the release of future Hall of Fame first baseman Albert Pujols in 2021 and the firing of World Series-winning manager Joe Maddon in 2022. But he was often handcuffed. Given the influence of longtime owner Arte Moreno -- on a payroll that has become more restrictive and a continued reluctance to institute a proper rebuild -- Minasian's tenure has long been difficult for people on the outside to truly analyze.
The most prominent example occurred in the summer of 2023, when Moreno opted against trading two-way superstar Shohei Ohtani in his final season before free agency. Instead, Minasian made an aggressive, win-now move to acquire pitchers Lucas Giolito and Reynaldo Lopez from the Chicago White Sox and watched the team collapse in August. Ohtani signed with the crosstown-rival Los Angeles Dodgers the ensuing offseason. Not trading him set the franchise back several years, according to rival evaluators.
As his tenure endured, and injuries to high-priced playersMike Trout and Anthony Rendonmounted, Minasian continually talked up a young group of position players headlined by Zach Neto, Nolan Schanuel, Logan O'Hoppe, Christian Moore and, though he was drafted by Eppler, Jo Adell. But perhaps outside of Neto, that group has not developed as expected. And Minasian was never able to put enough pieces around them to lift the Angels into contention, either through free agency or the minor leagues.
Since Minasian took over at the start of 2021, the Angels sport the sixth-lowest winning percentage, have scored the eighth-fewest runs and have put up the fifth-highest ERA in the major leagues, all while possessing a farm system that has consistently been rated among the worst in the industry. This year has seen some young starting pitchers emerge -- namely Reid Detmers, Jose Soriano and Walbert Urena -- but it has not been nearly enough to keep the Angels competitive.
In his 18-year run leading Cardinals baseball operations, Mozeliak, 57, oversaw 10 postseason appearances, six division titles, two pennants and a World Series championship in 2011. At the conclusion of the 2025 regular season, Mozeliak announced he would step down as president of baseball operations, making way for Chaim Bloom. He now joins an Angels organization that has Pujols and Chris Carpenter, two central figures in the Cardinals' dominant run of the 2010s, as special assistants in the front office.
His manager, Kurt Suzuki, is a rookie on a one-year contract -- and represents the Angels' fifth since Mike Scioscia's contract expired after the 2018 season.
"John is one of the most accomplished and respected baseball executives with a proven track record of building a winning organization," Jolly, who replaced longtime president John Carpino in April, said in a statement. "For three decades, he constructed one of baseball's most respected organizations, combining strong leadership with a commitment to player development and organizational excellence. We are thrilled to welcome him to the Angels and look forward to benefiting from his experience and perspective as we continue to shape the future of our organization."
