Angels hire Perry Minasian as new CEO – Orange County Register

The Angels on Thursday hired Perry Minasian, who has spent the past three years as assistant general manager of the Atlanta Braves, to be their new general manager, according to a source.

Minasian replaces Billy Eppler, who was fired from his role as general manager after the Angels’ fifth consecutive losing season. The team then opened a massive search that allowed them to interview at least 16 candidates before deciding on Minasian.

Although Minasian was identified as a “favorite” on Wednesday night, his hiring on Thursday was first reported by Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal.

Minasian, 40, started his life in baseball helping his father, who was the manager of the Texas Rangers club. Minasian then became a scout and assistant coach with the Rangers, working under manager Buck Showalter. He then spent nine years receiving the Toronto Blue Jays and the last three with the Braves.

Minasian worked under Alex Anthopoulos with the Blue Jays and Braves.

Minasian was the director of professional scouting for the Blue Jays when they reached the American League championship series in 2015 and 2016.

The Braves finished first in his three seasons in Atlanta. This season, the Braves have lost to the Dodgers in the NLCS.

Under Minasian’s watch, the Blue Jays selected Joe Biagini in the rule 5 draft, before posting a 3.06 average in 60 games. The Blue Jays also acquired Teoscar Hernandez from the Houston Astros during Minasian’s tenure. Hernandez has hit 76 home runs in less than two and a half seasons and this year he has broken out with a .919 OPS.

According to former managing director Jim Bowden, now an analyst for MLB Network Radio, Minasian is best known in recognition circles for Noah Syndergaard ID as his first choice when he was with the Blue Jays, even though Syndergaard was “unknown at the time”.

Along with the Braves, Minasian helped with the acquisitions that took the Braves from a 90-game losing side in 2017 to a 90-game winning, first-place team in 2018. One of the main pickups was Anibal Sanchez, who signed a minor league contract. months after Minasian arrived. Sanchez had a 2.83 ERA in 25 starts in 2018, helping the Braves win an unlikely division title.

The Braves were active by the trading deadline in 2018 and 2019, benefiting from acquisitions like starter Kevin Gausman, outfielder Adam Duvall and reliever Chris Martin.

Minasian was selected from a pool of six finalists, which included Seattle Mariners assistant general manager Justin Hollander, Dodgers assistant general manager Jeff Kingston, Arizona Diamondbacks assistant general managers Jared Porter and Amiel Sawdaye and Chicago Cubs vice president of player personnel Jason McLeod. Kingston had not been identified as one of the candidates until Minasian was hired.