Angels make front office changes, now have four AGMs
Jack Janes
Host · Writer
ANAHEIM — The year of change continues for the Angels.
Interim general manager John Mozeliak has been awfully busy since taking the reins in late June. In two months, Mozeliak has overseen a draft that saw the Angels select a high schooler in the first round for the first time in eight years, the first true fire-sale trade deadline in the Arte Moreno era and the firing of pitching coach Mike Maddux, as well as other members of the pitching side of the coaching staff.
And on Monday, the franchise's revitalization continued as the Angels promoted Michael Lord and Matt Swanson to assistant general managers, according to Orange County Register’s Jeff Fletcher, ahead of the Angels’ series opener against the Yankees.
“Part of the reason for all of this is to really get an alignment of how we think about our player acquisition,” Mozeliak said.
Along with the promotions, the team also fired five area scouts, two crosscheckers and didn’t renew the contract of special assistant Ray Montgomery.
Lord and Swanson join Joey Prebynski and David Haynes as the Angels’ four assistant general managers.
Swanson will oversee professional scouting. He’s been with the Angels for the last 10 years and previously worked under Mozeliak with the Cardinals.
“We promoted Matt Swanson to be the assistant GM and oversee all player acquisitions,” Mozeliak said. “I really wanted a more vertical approach on how we think about player acquisitions. Ultimately, he'll have the international department reporting to him from a player acquisition standpoint, pro department, as well as the amateur side. Really, it was just sort of an organization of communication.”
Lord has spent the last six seasons as the director of research and development (R&D) for the Angels.
“The importance of that is really the understanding that how we're going to be making decisions and what we're anchoring to,” Mozeliak said. Elevating someone that's overseeing our R&D department to this level, I think, screams that it is important. We need to be using these resources, and I want that to be seen across all the baseball operations.”
Although Mozeliak said he hasn’t done a deep dive into how the Angels’ research and development department stacks up relative to the rest of the league, he does recognize it’s a small head count. He said time will tell if they feel the need to continue to add personnel to the research and development department.
That being said, Mozeliak continues to seek out any areas where the Angels can improve within their infrastructure.
“We have to get a stronger player development system. We have to have a strong player acquisition system.”
As for the general manager search, Mozeliak said they haven’t pushed for a replacement yet, as the focus has been on improving internally.
Mozeliak also said he hasn’t thought about his future yet.
