Congratulations, Angel fans. The Angels got one right. According to Ken Rosenthal on Twitter, the Angels are set to name Arizona Diamondbacks executive Jerry DiPoto as their brand new general manager:
@Ken_Rosenthal Ken Rosenthal Sources: DiPoto to be named #Angels GM. #MLB
This news makes me very, very happy. OK, so DiPoto isn’t Andrew Friedman, but this is probabaly the next best hire the Angels could have made. DiPoto is a former player, spent half a season as the interim GM of the D’Backs, currently serves as their senior VP of scouting and player development and is known to be at least open to sabermetric ways of thinking. In other words, he has experience in just about every facet of the game and a track record that proves he knows what he is doing, making him one of the most qualified and arguably safest hires out there.
The big questions he’ll have to answer now is what his plan to fix the Angels roster will be as well as how he will collaborate with Mike Scioscia. That first question we can only speculate on. What we do know is that he is not afraid to make bold moves, as he demonstrated when he traded Dan Haren to the Angels. As for the Scioscia question, that’s something that will take time to work out, but I definitely think it helps that DiPoto played in the big leagues and isn’t some Ivy League nerd. I have to think that will buy him instant credibility with Sosh.
Finally, if I can offer DiPoto one piece of advice if he wants to win fans over on his hire, then this should be the first statement he utters at his introductory press conference, “Hi, my name is Jerry DiPoto. I am proud to be the new Angels general manager and I am even more proud to announce that Jeff Mathis has been non-tendered.”
Welcome to the Halos, Jerry. Please try to not suck.