Angels Announce Front Office Promotions and Hires

Today the Angels have announced front office promotions and hires from the office of General Manager Billy Eppler.
 
                                    Bud Black - Special Assistant to the General Manager
                                    Mike Gallego - Director of Baseball Development
                                    Justin Hollander - Director of Player Personnel
                                    Mike LaCassa - Director of Minor League Operations
                                    Steve Martone - Assistant General Manager
                                    Bobby Scales - Special Assistant to the General Manager
                                    Jonathan Strangio - Assistant General Manager

Black, 58, returns to the Angels organization after spending the past nine years as the manager of the San Diego Padres. He compiled a 649-713 (.477) record at the helm of the Padres and his 649 victories rank second to Bruce Bochy (951) in San Diego history. In 2010, he was named by the BBWAA as the National League Manager of the Year after leading the Padres to 90 wins, marking San Diego's highest win total since their N.L. Championship season in 1998. During his time with the Padres, he was twice named to the National League All-Star coaching staff after being selected to join Clint Hurdle on the bench in 2008 and Charlie Manual in 2010. Additionally, he is one of three men to tally 500 wins as a manager and 100 wins as a pitcher, joining Hall-of-Famers Clark Griffith and Walter Johnson.
 
A native of Longview, WA, Black was a member of the Angels coaching staff under manager Mike Scioscia for seven seasons as pitching coach from 2000-06. During his tenure, the Halos made three playoff appearances and were the 2002 World Series Champions. Under his direction, the Angels team ERA ranked among in the top five in the American League in five of his seven campaigns and saw Bartolo Colon win the 2005 American League Cy Young Award.

Prior to his time with the Angels, Black spent four seasons in the Cleveland organization as Special Assistant to General Manager John Hart (1996-97, '99) and pitching coach at Triple-A Buffalo (1998). Black also pitched 15 Major League seasons with Seattle (1981), Kansas City (1982-88), Cleveland (1988-90, '95), Toronto (1990) and San Francisco (1991-94). He compiled a 121-116 record and 3.84 ERA (2053.1 IP - 876 ER) in 398 games (296 starts) and was a member of the Royals 1985 World Series winning team. Black was originally drafted by Seattle in the 17th round of the 1979 First-Year Player Draft out of San Diego State University where he was a college teammate of Hall-of-Famer Tony Gwynn.

Gallego, 55, joins the Angels after spending the previous seven seasons with Oakland as third base coach. Prior to joining the A's in the 2008 offseason, he worked in the Colorado Rockies organization for nine seasons, including four on Clint Hurdle's Major League staff as third base and infield coach. In 2007, the Rockies set a Major League record for fielding percentage with a mark of .989 en route to winning the franchise's first National League championship. Gallego (guy-yay-go) began his coaching career in 1999 with Boston as a minor league infield instructor.
 
A native of Whittier, CA, he attended St. Paul HS (Santa Fe Springs, CA) and UCLA before being drafted by Oakland in the second round of the 1981 First-Year Player Draft. In 13 Major League seasons, he compiled a career .239 batting average (700/2931) with 111 doubles, 42 home runs and 282 RBI in 1111 games with the A's (1985-91, '95), Yankees (1992-94) and Cardinals (1996-97). He played in three consecutive postseasons with Oakland and was a member of the 1989 World Series Champion club.
 
Hollander, 37, enters his ninth year with the Angels in 2016, serving as Director of Baseball Operations the last four campaigns. In his new role, Hollander will focus on player procurement, negotiations of Major League contracts, arbitration, 40-man roster composition and baseball research & information. The Dayton, OH native previously served as a player development & scouting assistant with the Club for four seasons (2008-2011) prior to his promotion to Director of Baseball Operations. He joined the Halos in January of 2008 working closely with department heads in several aspects of baseball operations, including arbitration, statistical research and advance scouting. 

Hollander received a B.S. in business administration and marketing from Ohio State University in 2001 and a law degree from the University of San Diego in 2004.
 
LaCassa, 29, began his baseball career in 2008 as an intern in with the Milwaukee Brewers in sales and then in scouting. He then moved on to the Texas Rangers in January of 2009 as an intern in player development. From 2010-11 with Texas, he served as a player development/Arizona operations assistant in which he ran the Club's Spring Training complex in Surprise, AZ. 

In 2011, LaCassa joined the Angels a manager of minor league operations focusing on administrative duties pertaining to player development. He was promoted to Angels Assistant Director of Player Development before his current appointment. A native of Glenview, IL, LaCassa graduated from the University of Illinois.

Martone, 35, comes to the Angels following nine years in baseball operations with the New York Yankees, including the 2009 World Championship campaign. Over the last two seasons, he has served as Manager, Professional Scouting. Originally hired by the Yankees in April of 2006 as a baseball operations intern, Martone was promoted to Assistant, Baseball Operations in December that same year. In that capacity, he focused on player tracking & data collection, research for arbitration & grievances as well as technology initiatives (iPad integration for players & coaches).

In March of 2014, Martone (mar-TONE) was promoted to Manager, Professional Scouting where he dealt with 40-man roster composition, departmental budget, MLB depth charts and targeting of players. The Houston, TX native graduated from the University of Houston in 2005. 
 
Scales, 38, enters his fourth season in the Angels organization, serving as the Club's Director of Player Development the last three campaigns. In his new role, Scales will work closely with Eppler and the baseball operations staff focusing on player evaluation throughout Major League and Minor League levels.
 
A native of Southfield, MI, Scales came to the Angels front office straight from the playing field in 2012. His professional career spanned 14 years in five MLB organizations (Padres, Cubs, Phillies, Red Sox & Mets). He also played with Nippon-Ham Fighters and Orix Buffaloes of the Japanese Pacific League. He was originally drafted by the San Diego Padres in the 14th round of the 1999 draft and made his Major League debut on May 5, 2009 with the Chicago Cubs. 
 
Strangio, 27, will enter his fifth year with the Halos in 2016. He joined the Club as a baseball operations intern in 2012 before a promotion to Coordinator, Baseball Operations after the 2012 campaign. Following the 2014 season, Strangio moved up to Manager, Major League Operations where his responsibilities included 40-man roster construction, rules and CBA compliance, baseball analytics, salary arbitration, and contract negotiation. 
 
A native of Long Island, NY, Strangio graduated from Harvard University in 2010 where he was a four-year varsity pitcher on the Crimson's baseball team. Upon graduation, he was hired by the New York Mets as a baseball operations intern.