Mozeliak shares status of Angels' GM, manager roles -- plus plan for Trout in '27

ANAHEIM -- A day after the Angels suffered their first 100-loss season in franchise history, interim general manager John Mozeliak met with the media at Angel Stadium on Monday and said his future beyond December is undetermined, but that he’d like to keep Kurt Suzuki as manager.

Mozeliak, who joined the organization in late June, said he still needs to gather more information and meet with the brass from Kroenke Sports Entertainment, which agreed to buy the Angels on Sept. 1. The Angels are in a state of transition, as the sale isn’t expected to become official until early next year, so Mozeliak is reporting to both Arte Moreno and KSE. Mozeliak is set to have a conversation on Monday with Kevin Demoff, the president of team and media operations for KSE, and is hopeful to have some clarity soon.

“Regarding my status, I'm not focused on my contract right now,” Mozeliak said. “What I am focused on is the internal restructuring, focusing on our draft, our player development and our international and most importantly, my emphasis is trying to create a positive environment for that entire group. As far as Mr. Suzuki, in my opinion, he's done a great job, and I know many people may doubt that with a 100-loss season.”

Mozeliak did say there could be some changes to the coaching staff but said it would be his preference to retain Suzuki, who signed a one-year deal before the season. He credited Suzuki for the way he handled the clubhouse, the media and for getting better with game management as the season went on.

“I would like to see him be that, but ultimately that's not my decision,” Mozeliak said. “It’s once I get guidance from new ownership.”

Mozeliak also said the search for a general manager is also still paused until he receives more information from ownership. He’ll continue to operate as the acting GM and hasn’t ruled out staying past December when his contract expires, but isn’t focused on that right now.

“I still understand what I signed up for,” Mozeliak said. “But with regards to the future, given the uncertainty with the [CBA negotiations], and now with the new ownership change, if there was some type of bridge that they thought would be valuable, I would definitely be open-minded to that. But in terms of what that future is, I still do not know.”

The Angels are also coming up with their offseason strategy, and Mozeliak said he’ll consult both Moreno and KSE as far as what the payroll will look like and how aggressive they will be in free agency. He said he’s open-minded to making trades but sounded hesitant to trade away any of the club’s prospects or young core in the Majors.

“I haven’t [heard a payroll number], but it's not to say that we haven't begun to think about an offseason strategy,” Mozeliak said. “When you look at our current team, what do we want to do to see ourselves get better? There are ways to do that that will require investments and there might be ways to do that where we could think about trading. But the one thing I don't want to see happen, given what we've already been able to create here, is to start depleting the resources we were building up in the Minor League system.”

The Angels are also expected to invest more in infrastructure and add to the front office. They’re also looking to hire a new farm director from the outside after promoting Joey Prebynski to assistant general manager. Prebynski is one of four assistant GMs, along with David Haynes, Matt Swanson and Michael Lord, who were promoted on Aug. 31.

“What I learned early on was there are a lot of quality people here,” Mozeliak said. “I just don't think they were being used or leveraged properly. That's not to say there won't be some new people brought into this organization over time.”

One change Mozeliak said will happen next season is superstar Mike Trout will move to left field from center and could see more time at designated hitter. Trout played in 142 games, which was his most since 2016, but this move will allow the Angels to improve their defense in center. Among advanced metrics, his range was below average with -5 Outs Above Average (OAA).

“What that could accomplish is getting his bat in there every day, which is a positive,” Mozeliak said. “But then upgrading our outfield defense would help as well. And it’s helpful he’s open-minded to it.”