Prospect Insider - Angels new GM was M's No. 2 choice

Angels new GM was M's No. 2 choice

By Jason A. Churchill

By 10-28-2011

The Los Angeles Angels are reportedly set to hire Jerry DiPoto as their new general manager. This is not good news for the Seattle Mariners. I figured the Halos would botch this, but they didn't. DiPoto was one of the very top candidates out there -- from what I can gather, probably in the top 3 if not No. 1.

DiPoto's track record includes significant experience in both the scouting and player development departments, and he was a big league pitcher, to boot.

ESPN Insider's Keith Law chimed in with his thoughts on the newest GM in the American League West:

"DiPoto is a tremendous hire for the Angels -- he brings a complete resume with experience in scouting and player development, a brief but successful tenure as Arizona's interim GM in 2010, and a progressive, curious mindset that has made him one of the most research-oriented people I've come across on the scouting/PD side of the business. He has great presence in a room, and will benefit from the credibility that is automatically conferred on anyone who played in the big leagues. Of all of the names the Angels interviewed, he would have been my choice for the job."

You can make the argument that Logan White is equally as good a candidate, and Damon Oppenheimer, too, at least in my opinion. DiPoto made a mark as interim GM, however, during the second half of 2010 when Josh Byrnes was fired. DiPoto made two big trades that summer, acquiring David Holmberg, Tyler Skaggs, Daniel Hudson, Joe Saunders and Pat Corbin for Dan Haren and Edwin Jackson.

DiPoto, my sources have told me all along, was the M's No. 2 choice, and I have also heard he was right there with Jack Zduriencik until someone in the M's ownership group broke the tie.

The Angels are in good hands and their farm system, one which I believe was vastly overrated by many to start the season, will be whipped into shape by what is likely to be many new additions to the player development staff.

M's expected to hire Chris Gwynn
The M's are expected to name Chris Gwynn their new Player Development Director, replacing Pedro Grifol, whom many believe prefers to manage.

Gwynn has been serving in the same role with the San Diego Padres for the past two years.

Grifol could remain in the organization to do his field work, which brings up another thought...

New staff in High Desert?
There have been no announcements and I have no inside information there will be changes, but the coaching staff in High Desert could be on the move. Whether or not Grifol plays a role in this at all remains to be seen, but the organization appears to like the staffs they have in Everett, Clinton, Jackson and Tacoma -- and, of course, Seattle, where they announced all would be returning for 2012.

I don't get the same vibe about the staff in High Desert. One possibility is to simply move everyone up a level and hire/reassign coaches to take over in Everett or in one of the rookie clubs.

The Everett staff could skip Clinton like a hot prospect a yar out of the draft, though, too. That would make Scott Steinmann the manager, Andrew Lorraine the pitching coach and Mike Kinkade the hitting coach. Not sure I see all of the above moving up that quickly, however.

It was Kinkade's first season as a professional hitting coach, and Rich Dorman, the pitching coach in Clinton, is also very highly thought of by the organization.

One thing to keep in mind is that where certain prospects are expected to be assigned does impact where coaches are sent for the season. Dorman, having worked with right-hander Taijuan Walker all season, could go wherever Walker goes to stay in Walker's ear.

The same can be said for Jose Campos. If he heads to Clinton, perhaps Lorraine is headed there, too. I can tell you from personal experience that Lorraine is terrific communicator and very, very bright.

In 2005, I wrote an extensive piece on arm injuries; why they happen, how they happen, who they happen to most, the recovery time, things of that nature. Lorraine and Roger McDowell, then the pitching coach of the Las Vegas 51s and now the pitching guru in Atlanta for the Braves, were easily the most helpful and knowledgeable for that story.

No hard slotting for the draft
The new CBA is expected to be completed before the current one expires in December, and it sounds like there will be no hard slotting, as I have been writing all along.

Buster Olney wrote earlier this week that hard slotting wasn't likely to be something the owners "had the stomach" to fight for, according to sources.

I was told last summer that the MLBPA would view it as a bridge to a salary cap, so the players would never OK it. Olney tweeted Friday that GMs are discussing a potential draft tax that would penalize clubs that exceeded it on any one draft class.

I don't like it, and I don't know if the players will, either. We'll see, but one thing is for sure, it seems. Nothing is going to stop the new CBA from getting done.

Long live baseball.

angels-new-gm-was-m\'s-no.-2-choice

Comments
The following 4 comment(s) for this article are shown below:

1. By: maqman on 10-29-2011 13:32:29
DiPoto was a good get for the Angels. He's going to cause us more headaches in the coming years. I know hard slotting was Selig's big personal goal, it's good to see The Commish wiff once in a while. It will be interesting to see what if any changes are made to signing international free agents and free agent picks being tradeable or picks for relievers being changed.

2. By: Jason A. Churchill on 10-29-2011 14:29:42
maqman,

I think the slotting issue and the IFA signing bonus issues are at least somewhat tied together. I wouldn't bet on any caps there for the time being.

As for the trading of draft picks, that isn't even being discussed.

What do you mean "picks for relievers?"

3. By: maqman on 10-30-2011 13:44:04
I was referring to free agent relievers being typed as A or B, who cost their old team a draft pick if they are a type A. Not many teams want to give up a first or second round pick for an "A" designated reliever, which in turn reduces their value. The "B" designation doesn't cost their prior team a pick as the acquiring team get a pick between the first and second rounds. The have been some who see this as being unfair to high level relievers. I don't know if the new CBA will do anything in this regard or not.

4. By: dawgncarolina on 11-01-2011 02:24:59
Better DiPoto than Andrew Friedman. Thank God those rumors didn't turn into anything.

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