ANAHEIM, Calif. — After the 2025 season, and after the Los Angeles Angels made their fourth managerial change in as many losing seasons, general manager Perry Minasian was asked to evaluate his performance.
Like many simple questions asked during his five-plus-year tenure, it was not one he would answer.
“That would be a question for somebody else,” Minasian replied.
And on Friday, that question was answered by somebody else.
The Angels — at the direction of owner Arte Moreno and president Molly Jolly — fired Minasian. The club also said it brought on longtime St. Louis Cardinals executive John Mozeliak as interim GM. His charge will be to oversee the draft, the trade deadline and the transition to permanent leadership at the conclusion of the long-anticipated lockout.
Minasian’s final day — his firing announced 78 minutes before the first pitch of a blowout 9-3 loss to the Athletics — was one final chaos in a five-plus-year tenure filled with them. His 392-500 record only tells part of the story.
The mayhem ranged from firing a mohawked Joe Maddon in the middle of a 14-game losing streak, to Anthony Rendon fighting a fan, to putting six players on waivers a month after a failed all-in trade deadline in Shohei Ohtani’s final contract year. There were brawls, copious failed free-agent signings, spats over lack of air conditioning and minor leaguers complaining about poor living conditions.
The 2021 all-pitcher draft produced many headlines but minimal big leaguers. The Angels set the franchise record for losses in 2024 and might eclipse that 99 mark in 2026. Minasian continually mortgaged the future by rushing prospects to the big leagues — starting the clock on players who were seldom ready for their roles.
Many of the Angels’ failures can be traced back to Moreno. However, Minasian struggled to execute Moreno’s flawed vision.
“I really like Perry,” Moreno told The Orange County Register in February. “At the end of the day, you have to start adding up wins and losses.”
When announcing Minasian’s contract extension in August 2024, Moreno added: “Perry and his baseball operations staff have begun to lay the foundation for a bright future of Angels baseball.”
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There were many times that the Angels could have fired Minasian, but Moreno publicly backed him. There was no legitimate foundation being laid. Minasian inherited a bad organization and left it a disastrous one.
It was another case of the team’s executive leadership patting themselves on the back for a job well done. Another example of internal perception not supported by facts or reality.
Minasian’s loyalty to Moreno was what kept him employed so long. It wasn’t the prospect of a better future.
On May 3, Minasian promised that “our best baseball is ahead of us.” On May 15, manager Kurt Suzuki referred to the losing as a “cold stretch,” and said he believed in what the team was building. So why, then, did it not work out?
“It’s a tough day. It’s part of the job,” Suzuki said after Minasian’s firing, declining to answer the question. “And really no explanation right now.”
It started as a normal Friday at the ballpark. Suzuki did his pregame news conference in the dugout. Assistant general manager David Haynes hung out at the top step of the dugout, chatting with coaches.
Players took batting practice with the music blasting. The Angels, celebrating their annual Christmas in June weekend, played holiday cheer.
Shortly afterward, about two hours before the game, Jolly met with Suzuki, and then the two of them met with the team. It was brief, outfielder Jo Adell said.
“I was surprised,” catcher Logan O’Hoppe said. “You play the game long enough, and things that are unexpected happen. That was one of them.”
Shortly after that, Jolly assembled all of the team-employed broadcasters in the back of the television booth for a meeting that ended just moments before the Angels announced Minasian’s dismissal.
The club declined to make Jolly or Mozeliak available for comment, opting instead for a Friday night news dump and forcing Suzuki to answer for the organization after the game.
Suzuki might be next on the chopping block. He was hired, largely without precedent, on a one-year deal as a first-year skipper. Minasian said the two were “tied in” with each other.
“Until told otherwise, I’m here today to help lead the team to win as many games as we can,” Suzuki said.
Friday’s game, even without Minasian, was a carbon copy of so many of the 500 losses that mark his ledger.
A seven-run fifth-inning meltdown by the pitching staff. Eleven strikeouts by the offense. And Suzuki getting ejected for arguing a correct call.
For the 20th consecutive home game, hundreds of shirtless fans chanted for the team to be sold. In between the chants were boos, groans and the build-up to yet another loss. In the ninth inning, only a smattering of fans remained.
Friday marked the first day of the Angels’ future, but it will take a lot of work for it to look anything different than the recent past.