OC Register: Source: Braves assistant GM Perry Minasian is ‘front-runner’ to be named Angels GM

[AngelsWin.com]

Atlanta Braves assistant general manager Perry Minasian is the “front-runner” to be named the Angels’ next general manager, perhaps as soon as Thursday, a source said on Wednesday night.

The search is down to Minasian and Seattle Mariners assistant GM Justin Hollander, who spent nine previous years working in the Angels’ front office.

Either Minasian or Hollander will replace Billy Eppler, who was fired just after the Angels completed their fifth consecutive losing season.

The new GM will be the third first-time general manager hired under owner Arte Moreno, joining Tony Reagins and Eppler. Jerry Dipoto had served as an interim GM with the Arizona Diamondbacks before being hired by the Angels.

The Angels interviewed at least 16 candidates by video conference, with five advancing to the second round. The other three were Arizona Diamondbacks assistant GM’s Amiel Sawdaye and Jared Porter, and Chicago Cubs vice president of player personnel Jason McLeod.

Minasian, 40, has been around major league baseball since he was 8 years old because his father Zack was the Texas Rangers’ home clubhouse manager.

Minasian worked for his father as a batboy and also helped around the clubhouse until he was 22, before moving into a scouting role with the Rangers.

Minasian, who also attended the University of Texas-Arlington, worked as an advance scout and major league assistant to Rangers manager Buck Showalter from 2003 to 2006.

He spent nine years with the Toronto Blue Jays, working as a major league scout and then the director of professional scouting. In his last season in Toronto, he was a special assistant to the general manager.

In 2017, he was hired by the Braves. He was promoted to assistant general manager months after he was hired, as the front office was shuffled when General Manager John Coppolella resigned in the wake of international signing rules violations.

Minasian had vice president of baseball operations added to his title before the 2019 season.

Hollander spent nine years with the Angels, under Reagins, Dipoto and Eppler, before leaving to work under Dipoto in Seattle in September of 2016.

Hollander, 42, grew up in Ohio and graduated from Ohio State in 2001, before getting a law degree from the University of San Diego.

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He began his career in baseball with the Angels in 2008, as a player development and scouting assistant. In 2012, he was promoted to director of baseball operations under Dipoto.

In 2016, his only season under Eppler, Hollander served as director of player personnel.

Hollander had a similar job with the Mariners in his first two seasons, but for the past two years he had held the assistant general manager title, assisting Dipoto in all areas.

“Justin is very deserving of this promotion, having been an excellent leader within our group since arriving in 2016,” Dipoto said in a release announcing the new job title. “His experience, creativity and diverse skills make him an integral part of all that we do in baseball operations.”

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