Angels promote Hollander to director of baseball operations

The Angels on Wednesday promoted Justin Hollander from player development and scouting assistant to director of baseball operations, a position in which he will report to new General Manager Jerry Dipoto.

Hollander, 33, has been with the club for four seasons, working closely with department heads in several aspects of baseball operations, including arbitration, statistical research and advance scouting. Before joining the Angels in 2008, he worked for one year as an associate attorney in San Diego.

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-- Mike DiGiovanna in Milwaukee

Report: Houston Astros join Angels in AL West if sale approved

Major League Baseball told Jim Crane it would not approve his purchase of the Houston Astros unless he agreed to move the team to the American League in 2013. Approval of the sale could be announced as early as Thursday at a meeting of baseball executives in Milwaukee. And if they do move, the Astros would move to the AL West, joining the Angels, Texas, Oakland and Seattle.

According to the Associated Press, Crane will receive a $70-million discount off the $680-million purchase price in exchange for moving the Astros to the AL in 2013.

The move would create two 15-team leagues, which would create a more proportionate schedule.

Commissioner Bud Selig addressed a possible Astros move during a Twitter chat on Monday.

"For 15/15 realignment, Houston would be the team moving to AL West. Would create more fairness in baseball," Selig said. He also added that "15 teams in each league would necessitate interleague play every day but it will be better schedule overall."

The Astros currently play in the six-team NL Central. The AL West is the only division in the majors with only four teams.

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Dodgers not likely to add big bat during off-season

Kirk Gibson, Joe Maddon win manager of the year awards

Justin Verlander wins AL Cy Young Award in unanimous vote

-- Houston Mitchell

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

 

Angels GM widens search for relief pitcher

Jerry Dipoto has cast a wide net in his search for relief help, the Angels’ new general manager saying Tuesday that he has contacted the agents for “between five and 10” right-handers.

Among the free agents the Angels are believed to be interested in are Francisco Cordero, 36, who has averaged almost 40 saves a season over the past five years, and Octavio Dotel, 37, who helped St. Louis win the World Series in October.

The Angels are also believed to be interested in Todd Coffey, 31, who went 5-1 with a 3.62 earned-run average in 69 games for Washington last season, and Matt Capps, 28, who went 4-7 with a 4.25 ERA in 69 games for Minnesota.

As of Tuesday afternoon, they had not contacted the agent for Twins closer Joe Nathan, a 37-year-old who returned last season from major elbow surgery.

San Diego’s Heath Bell has expressed an interest in closing for the Angels, and Philadelphia closer Ryan Madson is available.

Marcel Lachemann rejoins Angels as special assistant to GM

Former Angels pitching coach and manager Marcel Lachemann will return to the organization as a special assistant to new General Manager Jerry Dipoto. Additionally, the hiring of Larry Corrigan and Tim Schmidt as major league special assignment scouts was officially announced Tuesday. 

Lachemann, 70, served as the Angels' pitching coach from 1984-92 and was the team's manager from 1994-96. After resigning as manager in early August of a tumultuous 1996 season, Lachemann, who pitched at USC, returned to the team as pitching coach under Terry Collins in 1997-98.   

He has spent 44 years in the game, the last 12 in the Colorado Rockies organization, where he was a pitching coach and a special assistant to the general manager. Lachemann was Dipoto's last pitching coach with the Rockies in 2000, and his brother, Bill, has been a coach and instructor in the Angels' farm system since 1985.

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-- Mike DiGiovanna in Milwaukee

Photo: Former Angels Manager Marcel Lachemann in 1994. Credit: Eric Draper / Associated Press

Angels GM: Better on-base percentage will take time

Among Angels General Manager Jerry Dipoto's priorities this winter is an effort to infuse more on-base percentage, a concept that has seemed foreign to the free-swinging team at times, into the offense. It will not be an overnight process.

"In talking to the Angels people, it was never not a part of the philosophy, it was just something that was never aggressively taught," said Dipoto, who is attending his first GM meetings this week in Milwaukee.

"There are different schools of thought on whether it can be taught or whether it's a skill you're born with. I tend to gravitate toward the latter."

The Angels ranked 11th in the American League with a .313 on-base percentage in 2011. Dipoto plans to target OBP as he looks to upgrade the offense, but much of the work will be done at the grass-roots level, identifying, drafting and developing players who understand plate discipline.

"Do they track the ball. Are they patient? Do they swing at strikes?" Dipoto said. "That's something you try to identify when players are young. And there's a good chance that the guys who are doing that in the big leagues always had that trait."

Veteran outfielder Bobby Abreu had some success mentoring young players such as Erick Aybar and Maicer Izturis in 2010, but Dipoto said he isn't convinced that patience can be taught at the major-league level.

"I don't think you can take a player ... and immediately change the way he approaches an at-bat, because it's a mindset, a physical reaction, and it's a reactionary game," Dipoto said. “Some do it like Albert Pujols, some like Prince Fielder, some like Mark Trumbo and some like Abreu. Each player is going to be different."

-- Mike DiGiovanna in Milwaukee

Angels hire Hal Morris as pro scouting director

In the latest move toward rebuilding a front office decimated by firings, the Angels on Monday announced that former big leaguer Hal Morris has agreed to terms on a multiyear contract to become director of pro scouting. 

“Hal brings a very special set of skills to our organization," General Manager Jerry Dipoto said in a statement.  “His abilities in the areas of player evaluation and qualitative analysis will play a major role in the program we are building here.”      

Morris, 46, began his professional career after his selection by the New York Yankees in the eighth round of the 1986 draft.  He made his big-league debut with the Yankees two years later and during a career that included time with New York (1988-89), Cincinnati (1990-97, 1999-2000), Kansas City (1998) and Detroit (2000), he compiled a career .304 average with 76 home runs and 513 RBI in 1,246 games.

A member of the 1990 World Series champion Reds, Morris’ sacrifice fly in Game 4 turned out to be the game-winning and series-winning RBI.  A year later, he finished second in the National League batting race, one point behind Atlanta’s Terry Pendleton (.319 to .318).

After retiring as a player Morris joined the Pittsburgh Pirates organization and scouted amateur players from 2008-2009 before joining the Boston Red Sox in 2010.  With the Sox, Morris was assigned to evaluate players already in the organization, both on the major and minor league levels.

-- Kevin Baxter

Tory Hernandez out as Angels front-office shake-up continues

Tory Hernandez, who as manager of baseball operations helped run a bare-bones Angels front office while the team searched for a general manager in October, was informed by new GM Jerry Dipoto on Thursday that he will not be offered a contract for 2012.

Hernandez, 33, was with the team for seven years, the first three as a player performance analyst and the last four as manager of baseball operations. Considered one of the team's bright, up-and-coming young executives, Hernandez was mentioned as a possible GM and assistant GM candidate before Dipoto got the job in late October.

Instead, like former Angels GM Tony Reagins, assistant GM Ken Forsch, special assistant Gary Sutherland and farm director Abe Flores, Hernandez, whose loyalty to the organization was reflected in his willingness to work the last 10 days without a contract--a highly unusual practice in Major League Baseball--is no longer with the organization.

"I can't say it's entirely unexpected, but the timing is not good -- it's Nov. 10, and most of the jobs in baseball are filled," Hernandez said. Dipoto "wants to bring in his own guys, which I understand. They didn't see a fit, a role for me, here. I know there are better challenges out there for me. I want to scout more, and they don't have a role that fits that."

New Angels GM lures Rangers executive Scott Servais to Anaheim

If you can't beat them, hire them. That might be part of the motivation for new Angels General Manager Jerry Dipoto, who has lured Scott Servais, the Texas Rangers' player development director, to Anaheim.

Servais, a former major league catcher who in six years helped turn a relatively barren Rangers farm system into one of baseball's best, is expected to be named the Angels assistant general manager.

Servais has overseen the development of numerous young players, such as shortstop Elvis Andrus, closer Neftali Feliz, outfielder Julio Borbon and pitchers Derek Holland and Matt Harrison, who have helped Texas win the last two American League West championships and reach the last two World Series.

The Rangers under Servais have also developed a number of young players -- such as Justin Smoak, Chris Davis, Blake Beaven and Tommy Hunter -- who have been used to acquire key players such as Cliff Lee to fuel their playoff runs.

Servais played 11 big league seasons for four teams -- the Houston Astros, Chicago Cubs, San Francisco Giants and Colorado Rockies -- from 1991-2001 and finished with a career average of .245, 63 home runs and 319 runs batted in.

-- Mike DiGiovanna

Former Angels pitcher Mickey Scott dies

Mickey Scott, a left-hander who pitched for the Angels from 1975 to 1977 and went on to work for the New York Yankees after his playing career, died Wednesday of an apparent heart attack in Binghamton, N.Y. He was 64.

A native of Weimar, Germany, Scott was a 17th-round pick of the Yankees in 1965, and he played for six organizations. In 95 games with the Angels, Scott went 7-4 with four saves and a 3.58 earned run average, giving up 49 earned runs in 123 1/3 innings. 

-- Mike DiGiovanna

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Angels sign pair of Dominican outfield prospects

Jerry Dipoto vowed to be aggressive in Latin America, and one of the Angels' first moves under their new general manager was to sign two outfield prospects from the Dominican Republic, Ranyemi Alberto Mendoza for $70,000 and Ayendi Perez for $25,000.

The speedy Perez, who is 5 feet 10, 160 pounds and bats left-handed, projects as more of a leadoff hitter, while the 6-2, 180-pound Mendoza is more of a power hitter with a good arm.

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-- Mike DiGiovanna

New Angels GM Jerry Dipoto begins to fill front office positions

Larry Corrigan, who has performed a wide variety of roles in his 26-year career as a baseball scout, has been hired by the Angels as a special assistant to new General Manager Jerry Dipoto.

Reached by phone at his home in Fort Myers, Fla., Corrigan said he and Dipoto are still in the process of structuring his job description and that he wasn't necessarily taking the place of long-time special assistant Gary Sutherland, who was the team's director of pro scouting for 12 years until being let go after the season.

Corrigan, 61, worked one year for the Oakland Athletics, 21 years for the Minnesota Twins and the last four years with the Pittsburgh Pirates. He has been an amateur scout, a professional scout, a West Coast supervisor, a scouting director and a special assignment scout and an on-field coordinator.

Dipoto, the former Arizona executive who was officially named GM on Saturday, is in the process of hiring an assistant GM, a farm director and several scouts. Tory Hernandez, the team's manager of baseball operations, could be a candidate for assistant GM.

Among the Diamondbacks scouts Dipoto is believed to be considering for jobs with the Angels are international scouting director Carlos Gomez and pro scouts Joe Bohringer, Tim Schmidt and Mike Brown.

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--Mike DiGiovanna

Photo: Jerry Dipoto. Credit: Jae C. Hong / Associated Press.

Angels pitcher Jerome Williams throwing well in Venezuela

Jerome Williams, the journeyman right-hander who boosted the Angels rotation by going 4-0 with a 3.68 earned run average in 10 starts in August and September, has not allowed an earned run in his first three starts for Magallanes of the Venezuelan winter league.

Williams is 3-0 and has allowed 10 hits in 17 innings, striking out 12, walking eight and limiting opponents to a .175 average. A strong winter would put the 29-year-old pitcher in a strong position to win one of the Angels' final two rotation spots next spring.

The Angels' top winter league offensive performers are outfield prospect Jeremy Moore, who is hitting .333 with two homers, three doubles, 10 runs batted in and three stolen bases in 13 games in Venezuela, and infield prospect Jean Segura, who is hitting .320 with four doubles and eight RBIs in 13 games in the Arizona Fall League.

Outfielder Mike Trout and catcher Hank Conger, who spent significant time with the Angels last season, have struggled in the Arizona Fall League, Trout hitting .273 with no homers and two RBIs in 15 games and Conger hitting .227 with no homers and eight RBIs in 11 games.

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-- Mike DiGiovanna

Photo: Jerome Williams. Credit: Mark J. Terrill / Associated Press.

Angels to hire Jerry Dipoto as general manager

The Angels will hold a news conference Saturday to announce the hiring of Jerry Dipoto as their new general manager, according to people familiar with the search process but who are not authorized to speak publicly about the matter. The hiring was first reported Friday morning by Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports.

Angels vice president of communications Tim Mead, citing Major League Baseball's desire for teams to refrain from making announcements during the World Series, would neither confirm nor deny the news. Game 7 between the Texas Rangers and St. Louis Cardinals is scheduled for Friday night.

"We will be having a press conference Saturday regarding the GM position," Mead said. "But today and tonight, our attention and focus is directed toward the World Series."

Dipoto, who spent the past six seasons in the Arizona Diamondbacks' front office, replaces Tony Reagins, who resigned two days after a season in which the Angels finished 10 games behind the Texas Rangers in the American League West and out of the playoffs for the second straight year.

In being named the Angels’ 11^th GM in franchise history, Dipoto, 43, beat out a list of finalists that included former Dodgers GM Dan Evans, former New York Mets GM Omar Minaya, former Dodgers assistant GM Kim Ng, assistant GMs Rick Hahn (Chicago White Sox) and Thad Levine (Texas) and New York Yankees professional scouting director Billy Eppler.

Dipoto, who also interviewed for the Baltimore Orioles’ GM job, was Arizona’s senior vice president of scouting and player development, a position in which he oversaw all of the club’s scouting efforts, including the evaluation of players at all levels.

After an eight-year big league pitching career that ended in 2001 because of a bulging disc in his neck, Dipoto served two seasons (2003-2004) as a scout for the Boston Red Sox and one (2005) as the Colorado Rockies’ director of player personnel.

Dipoto joined the Diamondbacks as their vice president of player personnel in 2006 and took over as interim GM when Josh Byrnes was fired in 2010.

It was Dipoto's call to trade pitcher Dan Haren to the Angels in July 2010 for a package that included pitcher Joe Saunders and highly regarded pitching prospect Tyler Skaggs.

He also dealt pitcher Edwin Jackson to the Chicago White Sox for pitcher Daniel Hudson, who played a prominent role in Arizona’s surprise run to the National League West title in 2011.

Dipoto interviewed for the permanent GM job and remained with the Diamondbacks even though Kevin Towers was hired instead.

As a pitcher, DiPoto, a right-hander, went 27-24 with a 4.05 earned run average and 49 saves in 390 appearances with the Cleveland Indians, New York Mets and Rockies from 1993-2000.

He was a third-round pick of the Indians out of Virginia Commonwealth University in 1989.

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Photo: Jerry Dipoto. Credit: Ross D. Franklin /Associated Press.

-- Mike DiGiovanna 

Angels begin to narrow field in GM search; Evans added to field

Former Dodgers Assistant General Manager Kim Ng is interviewing for the Angels GM job Wednesday, former Dodgers GM Dan Evans will interview for the position Thursday or Friday, and the Angels are expected to receive permission to interview Texas Rangers assistant GM Thad Levine after the World Series is over.

But the team has already begun to narrow the field for Tony Reagins' replacement. New York Yankees executive Damon Oppenheimer, who was interviewed last week in Florida, has been told he is no longer in the running for the job, according to people familiar with the team's GM search who are not authorized to speak publicly on the topic.

Oppenheimer, a 48-year-old Southern California native, is the Yankees' vice president of amateur scouting and has been credited with turning around the team’s minor-league system, one which was considered among the worst in the majors less than a decade ago. The Angels also interviewed Billy Eppler, the Yankees' 36-year-old senior director of pro personnel. Eppler has reportedly been called back for a second interview.

Tampa Bay GM Andrew Friedman appears to be the leading candidate, and as of Tuesday night, the 34-year-old had not pulled himself out of the running. But Friedman is extremely loyal to Rays owner Stuart Sternberg, and the Angels do not seem to have much confidence that they can lure him to Anaheim.

Angels owner Arte Moreno and team President John Carpino flew to Florida to meet with Friedman last week. In addition to Friedman and Eppler, the Angels have formally interviewed Jerry Dipoto, Arizona's senior vice president for scouting and player development; Chicago White Sox assistant GM Rick Hahn; and former New York Mets GM Omar Minaya.

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-- Mike DiGiovanna

Photo: Kim Ng. Credit: John Raoux / Associated Press.

 

Angels begin to narrow field in GM search

Former Dodgers Assistant General Manager Kim Ng is interviewing for the Angels GM job Wednesday, and the Angels are expected to receive permission to interview Texas Rangers assistant GM Thad Levine for the position after the World Series is over.

But the team has already begun to narrow the field for Tony Reagins' replacement. New York Yankees executive Damon Oppenheimer, who was interviewed last week in Florida, has been told he is no longer in the running for the job, according to people familiar with the team's GM search who are not authorized to speak publicly on the topic.

Oppenheimer, a 48-year-old Southern California native, is the Yankees' vice president of amateur scouting and has been credited with turning around the team’s minor-league system, one which was considered among the worst in the majors less than a decade ago. The Angels also interviewed Billy Eppler, the Yankees' 36-year-old senior director of pro personnel. Eppler has reportedly been called back for a second interview.

Tampa Bay GM Andrew Friedman appears to be the leading candidate, and as of Tuesday night, the 34-year-old had not pulled himself out of the running. But Friedman is extremely loyal to Rays owner Stuart Sternberg, and the Angels do not seem to have much confidence that they can lure him to Anaheim.

Angels owner Arte Moreno and team President John Carpino flew to Florida to meet with Friedman last week. In addition to Friedman and Eppler, the Angels have formally interviewed Jerry Dipoto, Arizona's senior vice president for scouting and player development; Chicago White Sox assistant GM Rick Hahn; and former New York Mets GM Omar Minaya.

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T.J. Simers: Is Arte Moreno the Angels' problem?

Bill Plaschke: Should Mike Scioscia catch hell for trading Mike Napoli?

-- Mike DiGiovanna

Photo: Kim Ng. Credit: John Raoux / Associated Press.

 

Angels may be interested in Omar Minaya for general manager

Add Omar Minaya’s name to the growing list of candidates who will interview for the Angels’ vacant general manager post.

Minaya, the former GM of the Montreal Expos, held the same post with the New York Mets from 2005 to 2010. The Dominican-born Minaya was baseball’s first Latino general manager, and Angels owner Arte Moreno was baseball’s first Latino owner.

An Angels spokesman would neither confirm nor deny the team’s interest in Minaya.

Since former General Manager Tony Reagins resigned at the end of last month, the Angels have reportedly talked with Rick Hahn, the Chicago White Sox's vice president and assistant GM; Kim Ng, former Dodgers assistant GM; Jerry DiPoto, a senior vice president with the Arizona Diamondbacks; and Yankees executives Billy Eppler and Damon Oppenheimer.

-- Kevin Baxter in St. Louis

Photo: Omar Minaya talks about the firing of Willie Randolph as Mets manager during an interleague stop at Anaheim Stadium in 2008. Credit: Jeff Gross / Getty Images

Angels to interview D-Backs executive Jerry Dipoto for GM job

The Angels have received permission from the Arizona Diamondbacks to interview Jerry Dipoto for their general manager's job, a major league source confirmed Friday. Dipoto, who spent parts of eight seasons as a reliever in the big leagues, is Arizona's senior vice president of scouting and player development.

Dipoto, 43, was part of the Boston Red Sox front office during the team's run to the 2004 World Series championship before joining the Colorado Rockies as director of player personnel in 2005.

Dipoto joined the Diamondbacks as their vice president of player personnel in 2006 and took over as interim GM when Josh Byrnes was fired in 2010.

It was Dipoto's call to trade pitcher Dan Haren to the Angels for a package that included pitcher Joe Saunders and highly regarded pitching prospect Tyler Skaggs. He also dealt pitcher Edwin Jackson to the Chicago White Sox for Daniel Hudson.

Dipoto interviewed for the permanent job that eventually went to Kevin Towers, but he remained with the club in the position he currently occupies.

Dipoto brings to at least three the number of candidates the Angels will interview for the job that opened when Tony Reagins was dismissed two days after the season. Two Yankees executives, Damon Oppenheimer, the team's vice president of amateur scouting, and Billy Eppler, the team's director of professional scouting, have confirmed that they will interview.

-- Mike DiGiovanna

Photo: Jerry Dipoto, left, and Kirk Gibson both got big breaks with the Arizona Diamondbacks on an interim basis, DiPoto as GM and Gibson as manager. Each took advantage of their opportunities. Credit: Ross D. Franklin / Associated Press

Angels to interview two Yankees executives for GM job

The Angels have been granted permission by the New York Yankees to interview front-office executives Darren Oppenheimer and Billy Eppler for their vacant general manager position, the New York Daily News reported Wednesday.

An Angels spokesman would neither confirm nor deny the report, saying only that the team "has indeed initiated our search process for a new general manager, which includes reaching out to some organizations." 

Oppenheimer, 49, has been with the Yankees for 11 years, four as director of player personnel and the last seven as vice president of amateur scouting. A former college player at USC, Oppenheimer worked as a scout for the Padres and Rangers before moving to the Yankees.

The Arizona Diamondbacks were interested in Oppenheimer for their vacant GM spot last year but were reportedly denied permission to interview him.

Eppler, 35, has headed the Yankees' pro scouting department since 2005 and has been GM Brian Cashman's right-hand man for several years. He worked as a scout for the Colorado Rockies before joining the Yankees. 

Among the other executives believed to be high on the Angels' list are Jerry Dipoto, the senior vice president of scouting and player development for the Arizona Diamondbacks, Gerry Hunsicker, vice president of baseball operations for the Tampa Bay Rays, and assistant GMs Rick Hahn (Chicago White Sox) and Thad Levine (Texas Rangers).

The Angels are also believed to be interested in San Diego Padres Manager Bud Black, who was on a front-office track with the Cleveland Indians before joining Angels Manager Mike Scioscia's staff as the pitching coach in 2000.

Dipoto, 43, is a former big league reliever who was Arizona's interim GM last season when the team traded pitcher Dan Haren to the Angels for Joe Saunders and three prospects and Edwin Jackson to the White Sox for Daniel Hudson. He interviewed for the permanent job, losing out to Kevin Towers but remaining with the club. Hunsicker, 61, is the former Houston GM.

The new Angels GM is expected to have a huge hand in rebuilding the front office following a major shakeup after the team finished 10 games behind the Rangers in the American League West and missed the playoffs for the second straight year.

In addition to GM Tony Reagins, the team dismissed top special assistant Gary Sutherland, who was the head of pro scouting, assistant GM Ken Forsch and farm director Abe Flores.

-- Mike DiGiovanna from Detroit

Fired farm director Abe Flores offered job as Angels scout

Abe Flores was relieved of his duties as farm director on Friday, part of a front-office purge that has included the dismissal of General Manager Tony Reagins and two of his top assistants, but there is a good chance Flores will remain with the organization.

Flores, who has been with the Angels for 10 years, four as the farm director and six as the manager of baseball operations, has been offered a job with the team as a professional scout.

"I'm grateful for everything the Angels have done for me, and I loved this job," Flores said by phone Sunday morning. "They asked me to step aside so the new GM could hire a new farm director. I get it. If was coming in as a GM, I would want the same thing."

Flores also thanked team President John Carpino for granting him permission to travel to the club's instructional league in Tempe, Ariz., on Sunday so he could thank coaches and staff members there. He will decide by the end of the month whether he will remain with the team.

"I want to step back, catch my breath and evaluate it," said Flores, who spent nine years as an amateur scout for the Colorado Rockies and three seasons as an assistant coach at USC before coming to the Angels. "I'm mulling it over. I need a little time to decide."

--Mike DiGiovanna in Arlington, Texas

Angels purge continues: Abe Flores out as player development director

Last one out of the Angels' front office, turn out the lights. That's how things are beginning to look for the team, which continued its front-office purge by not renewing the contract of player development director Abe Flores, a major league source confirmed Saturday.

With the resignation of General Manager Tony Reagins and the firings of long-time assistant GM Ken Forsch and special assistant Gary Sutherland, the Angels have now parted ways with four key front-office executives since the end of a season in which they failed to make the playoffs for the second consecutive year.

Flores had just completed his fourth season as the team's player development director, in which he oversaw all aspects of the club's minor league system. He had spent the previous six years as the team's manager of baseball operations.

Before joining the Angels in 2001, Flores worked for nine years as an area scout in Southern California and Mexico for the Colorado Rockies and three years as an assistant coach at USC.

The Angels are in the process of compiling candidates for their GM job, a list that is expected to include former Astros GM Gerry Hunsicker, who is now the vice president of baseball operations for the Tampa Bay Rays, as well as Chicago White Sox assistant GM Rick Hahn, and could include former Dodgers GM Dan Evans and Boston Red Sox assistant GM Ben Cherrington.

Detroit assistant GM Al Avila, the father of Tigers catcher Alex Avila, has been mentioned as a possible candidate, but Avila signed a three-year contract extension in August and said he wants to remain in Detroit with GM Dave Dombrowski.

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--Mike DiGiovanna, reporting from Arlington, Texas