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The Los Angeles Angels have an important draft coming up, and they have a new GM running it. Perry Minasian has been fired, and John Mozeliak will be leading the draft as he heads the search to find Minasian’s successor.
It’s an odd situation to say the least, because Mozeliak won’t be around to see through whatever winds up happening. All he can do is provide his thoughts about his philosophy, and he tried to indicate that he’s going to rely heavily on others.
“My philosophy on the Draft is let the scouting director and his team do their jobs,” Mozeliak said in a piece written by Rhett Bollinger of MLB.com. “Even when I sat in that seat for 18 years as a general manager, I never scouted amateur players. I felt that was their responsibility, so they're going to have a lot of autonomy to do it.”
According to Bollinger, the Angels often selected “players considered close to reaching the majors,” and he mentioned the lines of right-hander Sam Bachman in 2021, shortstop Zach Neto in '22, first baseman Nolan Schanuel in '23, infielder/outfielder Christian Moore in '24 and Tyloer Bremner last year.
All of those first-round selections were college players and they’re all on the current roster, outside of Moore -- who was recently optioned to Triple-A Salt Lake after a brief stint in the Majors -- and Bremner, who could join the rotation as soon as next year.
But high school players will no longer be off limits, according to Mozeliak’s recent comments. He’s going to be walking into a situatoin he knows nothing about, and in a year they will still have the No. 45, the No. 81 and the No. 109 selections on Day 1. They could look to add to their position player mix, as their farm system is considered heavy on arms, but lighter on bats, Bollinger added.
“The only real input I'm going to have is, first off, understanding their process,” Mozeliak said. “With the Cardinals, we proved that we had a very good one over time and we’ll try to mirror that if we can.”
The Angels have had some decent drafts, but they’ve ruined a lot of prospects, too. He also mentioned another important decision that will play a role, and no one knows how that will go, either.
“And then if there are some financial decisions that are being baked into who we pick and why, but otherwise, it’s going to be their job to do it,” Mozeliak added. “And I'm excited to learn from them and see how they do it. But in the end, you have to get the Draft right.”
Continue reading...
It’s an odd situation to say the least, because Mozeliak won’t be around to see through whatever winds up happening. All he can do is provide his thoughts about his philosophy, and he tried to indicate that he’s going to rely heavily on others.
“My philosophy on the Draft is let the scouting director and his team do their jobs,” Mozeliak said in a piece written by Rhett Bollinger of MLB.com. “Even when I sat in that seat for 18 years as a general manager, I never scouted amateur players. I felt that was their responsibility, so they're going to have a lot of autonomy to do it.”
According to Bollinger, the Angels often selected “players considered close to reaching the majors,” and he mentioned the lines of right-hander Sam Bachman in 2021, shortstop Zach Neto in '22, first baseman Nolan Schanuel in '23, infielder/outfielder Christian Moore in '24 and Tyloer Bremner last year.
All of those first-round selections were college players and they’re all on the current roster, outside of Moore -- who was recently optioned to Triple-A Salt Lake after a brief stint in the Majors -- and Bremner, who could join the rotation as soon as next year.
But high school players will no longer be off limits, according to Mozeliak’s recent comments. He’s going to be walking into a situatoin he knows nothing about, and in a year they will still have the No. 45, the No. 81 and the No. 109 selections on Day 1. They could look to add to their position player mix, as their farm system is considered heavy on arms, but lighter on bats, Bollinger added.
“The only real input I'm going to have is, first off, understanding their process,” Mozeliak said. “With the Cardinals, we proved that we had a very good one over time and we’ll try to mirror that if we can.”
The Angels have had some decent drafts, but they’ve ruined a lot of prospects, too. He also mentioned another important decision that will play a role, and no one knows how that will go, either.
“And then if there are some financial decisions that are being baked into who we pick and why, but otherwise, it’s going to be their job to do it,” Mozeliak added. “And I'm excited to learn from them and see how they do it. But in the end, you have to get the Draft right.”
Continue reading...
