List Of Possible Los Angeles Angels' GM Candidates Beginning To Form
· Yahoo Sports
As far as malfunctioning experiments go, the Los Angeles Angels' 2026 season ended up being akin to one that results in an explosion that destroys the science lab.
Coming off a 72-90 2025 season in which Ray Montgomery managed the final 88 games after replacing Ron Washington, the Angels and general manager Perry Minasian settled on an outside-the-box choice to lead the team in 2026.
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Last October, Minasian tied the Angels' managerial future to former MLB catcher Kurt Suzuki, who came to the job with zero managerial experience, though he had been a special assistant to the GM for three seasons after wrapping up his 16-year playing career in 2022.
"I never thought I would be comfortable hiring a manager who wasn't a manager before, but this is a different person," Minasian said when Suzuki was hired. "I know he didn't have a coaching title, but even when he played, he coached-slash-managed for different places. He managed a game for a long time. I believe he's the right person for the job."
It can be inferred that Minasian may not have entirely believed his own statement from the fact that he inked Suzuki to a highly unusual one-year contract to take the helm of the Angels.
As it turned out, the first year (possible second year still pending) of the Suzuki experiment turned out even less successful than expected, with the Angels finishing 62-100 to post the first 100-loss season in the franchise's 66 seasons of existence.
Technically, Suzuki still sits in the Angels' manager's chair, but they bid adios to Minasian in late June when he was replaced on an interim basis by longtime MLB front-office executive John Mozeliak. Since becoming GM in November 2020, Minasian had overseen a baseball product that had lost more than 500 games in five-and-a-half seasons.
For his part, in a postseason meeting with reporters on Sept. 28, Mozeliak said a decision on Suzuki's future was "pending," though he "would like to see" Suzuki return.
Whether or not Mozeliak's opinion even matters is another topic that is open for discussion. On Sept. 1, Stan Kroenke and his Kroenke Sports & Entertainment (KSE) announced that it had reached an agreement to purchase the Angels from Arte Moreno for $4 billion. That leaves Mozeliak's status for 2027 and beyond in limbo as the new KSE management team decides how the Angels' front office will ultimately be structured.
Mozeliak acknowledged as much in the end-of-season press conference when he said the potential search for a new GM was "still paused" pending how the new owners wish to proceed; formal approval of the sale to KSE is expected to come from the 29 other MLB owners sometime early in the new year.
So, if the tea leaves seem to indicate that Mozeliak likely won't return, who are some possible replacements?
On Oct. 5, Alex Sukyas, writing for Inside Halos, took out his crystal ball and listed three names who could be in the running to be the Angels' next GM. One of those three may be familiar to Angels' fans: Matt Swanson, who Mozeliak announced in August had been promoted to assistant general manager. Swanson was a scouting director for the Angels from 2016-21 and had also worked under Mozeliak when he was with the St. Louis Cardinals.
A second name to remember, according to Sukyas, is Amiel Sawdaye, who spent 15 years working in various capacities for the Boston Red Sox before spending the last 10 as an assistant GM for the Arizona Diamondbacks. Sukyas said Sawdaye is "highly respected" among baseball executives and had interviewed with the Angels in the past, but that was with an obviously different regime than what he would encounter currently.
Finally, Matt Forman may be a name to remember. He is currently an assistant GM for the Cleveland Guardians. He began as an intern with Cleveland in 2013 and has steadily climbed the organizational ladder to the point where many baseball executives view him as a cinch to land a GM job at some point.
Whether it's one of these three or another candidate who ends up in the GM's office - and don't totally discount that it might not still be Mozeliak on a full-time basis - the new occupant will have to do a lot of heavy lifting in order to lead the Angels' franchise to the promised land after a decade-plus of wandering in the wilderness.