ANAHEIM, Calif. \u2014 John Mozeliak has a lengthy to-do list as interim general manager for the Los Angeles Angels, but the hiring of a new manager to replace Kurt Suzuki is not among his priorities.<\/p>\n
Read more Uruguay and Man United midfielder Manuel Ugarte sustains knee ligament damage at the World Cup<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cI met with Kurt and most of (the coaches) this morning, and I told them they\u2019re all fine for this year,\u201d Mozeliak, the former St. Louis Cardinals\u2019 baseball operations head, said at a news conference before a 5-2 victory win over the Athletics<\/a> on Saturday night.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s nothing they have to worry about. \u2026 They all have jobs moving forward. There\u2019s no reason for massive change right away.\u201d<\/p>\n As for the rest of his agenda, which includes transforming into a winner a club that has suffered 10 straight losing seasons and entered Saturday with an American League-worst 34-49 record, Mozeliak plans to dive right in.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s a short view and a long view, and the short view is going to be coming through the draft, addressing the trade deadline, finding another new general manager,\u201d Mozeliak said. \u201cAnd then, ultimately, hopefully, we lead to that foundation and structure that provides perpetual winning for the Angels.\u201d<\/p>\n Mozeliak, who replaced the fired Perry Minasian on Friday<\/a> , said he will have a limited role in the July 11-12 amateur draft in which the Angels have the 12th overall pick, leaving the selections to scouting director Tim McIlvaine.<\/p>\n \u201cMy philosophy on the draft is, let the scouting director and his team do their jobs,\u201d Mozeliak said. \u201cEven when I sat in the GM seat for 18 years, I never scouted amateur players. I felt that was their responsibility. So they\u2019re going to have a lot of autonomy to do it.<\/p>\n \u201cThe only real input I\u2019m gonna have is understanding their process \u2026 and if there are some financial decisions that are being baked into who we pick and why.\u201d<\/p>\n Mozeliak said he has not received any direction from owner Arte Moreno or team president Molly Jolly on whether the Angels should embark on a rebuilding process by trading valuable pieces such as pitchers Reid Detmers and Jose Soriano and outfielder Jo Adell.<\/p>\n USA Today reported last week that Moreno prefers to retain those players.<\/p>\n \u201cIn time, I think we will come up with a trade-deadline strategy that we are all comfortable with, from ownership to Molly,\u201d Mozeliak said. \u201cAnd my job will be to help execute it.\u201d<\/p>\n Mozeliak said he already has formed a list of GM candidates and will begin seeking permission from teams to interview them after the Aug. 3 trade deadline.<\/p>\n He hopes to have a new GM in place well before his contract expires in December, though he didn\u2019t rule out the possibility of remaining with the Angels longer.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen my contract ends, depending on who ends up getting hired, what the team looks like, there could be a position or a role that makes sense for me to stay around. \u2026 But on a personal level, I\u2019m just not ready to give away my life again for, you know, 80 hours a week, 100 hours a week, to just do baseball,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Mozeliak spent 30 years with the Cardinals, including his final 18 seasons leading baseball operations. Under his guidance, St. Louis reached the postseason 10 times, won six NL Central Division titles, captured two NL pennants and won the 2011 World Series.<\/p>\n Read more Guardians activate Chase DeLauter off the injured list<\/a><\/p>\n He joined the Cardinals in 1996 as an assistant in the scouting department and quickly rose through the organization, serving as an assistant scouting director, scouting director, director of baseball operations, assistant GM, GM and president of baseball operations.<\/p>\n He helped build one of baseball\u2019s better farm systems, producing several franchise cornerstones and future Hall of Famers, including three-time NL MVP Albert Pujols, 10-time All-Star Yadier Molina and three-time All-Star Adam Wainwright.<\/p>\n Minasian\u2019s firing, announced before Friday night\u2019s 9-3 loss to the Athletics, ended his 5 1\/2-year run as GM, which included the departure of Shohei Ohtani after 2023, the firing of three managers \u2014 Joe Maddon, Phil Nevin and Ron Washington \u2014 and a number of failed free-agent signings, including David Fletcher (five years, $26 million) and Robert Stephenson (three years, $33 million).<\/p>\n Minasian, 46, was unable to stem a streak of losing seasons or drastically improve a farm system that is considered to be among the majors\u2019 worst.<\/p>\n The Angels went 392-500 under Minasian, the 13th GM in franchise history. They never finished with more than 77 wins or finished higher than third place in the AL West. They lost a franchise-record 99 games in 2024.<\/p>\n Moreno, who often has meddled in baseball decisions and been reluctant to spend aggressively for free agents in recent years, is notoriously difficult to work for. He raised the ire of Angels fans this spring when he claimed that, according to surveys, affordability was more of a priority for fans than winning.<\/p>\n Sections of Angel Stadium have been filled in recent weeks with shirtless fans imploring Moreno to sell the team.<\/p>\n \u201cI know what\u2019s happening. I see it. Mozeliak said he is looking forward to building a relationship with the mercurial owner.<\/p>\n \u201cMy job is to have a healthy relationship with him, and I think the short term focus for me is just, what does that communication line look like, and making sure he understands what our direction is,\u201d Mozeliak said.<\/p>\n \u201cI haven\u2019t met Mr. Moreno (since taking the Angels job) but I can tell you this \u2014 he does care. He does want to win \u2026 I wouldn\u2019t be sitting here if I didn\u2019t think he truly loved this team and cared about this city and wanted this to work.\u201d<\/p>\n ___<\/p>\n This story has been corrected to show that the Angels\u2019 recording entering Saturday was 34-49, not 34-39.<\/p>\n
\nI hear it,\u201d Jolly said. \u201cFans have a right to have their voices be heard. It didn\u2019t influence the decision that I wanted to make, but we all want to win. Our owner wants to win. I do. The fans deserve that, and that\u2019s what we\u2019re going to work toward.\u201d<\/p>\n