Yesterday's news that John Mozeliak will step aside when the Kroenke group takes full control of the franchise gives the Angels some clarity about their future. But it does not change much. When Mozeliak took the interim job he stated his plan was to finish out 2026 calendar year and help the Angels find a full time GM.
Back when Mozeliak was hired I speculated he could raid his former organization, the St. Louis Cardinals, for one of three assistant general managers. The most obvious candidate on that list is former pitcher Randy Flores and yesterday's news does nothing to change the fact Flores is an ideal candidate to be the next Angels GM.
The Drafting Genius: Randy Flores’ Track Record of Finding Hidden Gems
Randy Flores took a very unusual route to being a baseball executive. After wrapping up an eight year playing career he founded a sports data startup that used video capture technology, analyed it, and help improve the training paths of amatuer baseball players. The system was so advanced eleven Major League Baseball teams bought the service. While the startup was doing well, Flores went to USC and earned a master's degree focusing on sports administration and worked as a broadcaster.
Then came a very unusual, and unexpected call. John Mozeliak, then head of the Cardinals, offered Flores the job of Director of Scouting in 2015. This was highly unusual for a person without a background in scouting. It is also highly unusual to land an executive level position as a first job in baseball.
But over the years Randy has more than justified Mozeliak's faith in him. Building a true winning in baseball requires finding talent in later rounds and Flores has done that as well as anybody. In his first draft he found Tommy Edman in the 6th round. Two years later he picked Brendan Donovan in the 7th round and Lars Nootbar in the 8th. More recently he added Alec Burleson and Masyn Winn in the 2nd round.
For the Angels to have success they will need to find talent throughout the draft. It has been eons since the Angels found a player in the later rounds who has produced well for the team. With Flores highly educated backround, implementation of data, and track record he will likely continue to find the type of later round gems that truly help a franchise win.
The Mozeliak Mentorship: How Executive Experience Formed a Future GM
The relationship between John Mozeliak and Randy Flores spans over a decade, beginning during Flores’ playing days as a key reliever on the 2006 World Championship team and evolving into a powerful front office partnership when Mozeliak hired him in August 2015. Over a nine year working relationship in the St. Louis front office, Mozeliak carefully groomed Flores by handing him immediate, high level responsibility as Director of Scouting before promoting him to Assistant General Manager in 2018.
Mozeliak’s mentorship did not just teach Flores how to navigate the mechanics of the amateur draft; it was a full immersion in the comprehensive "Cardinals Way" of front-office management. That experience taught him how to maintain a stable, analytically driven development pipeline, manage a scouting department across multiple tiers, and balance immediate Major League needs with long-term organizational health. By trusting Flores' unconventional, tech-driven evaluation tools and giving him a seat at the table for major trade and roster decisions, Mozeliak provided Flores with the exact executive training to ensure Randy would be ready to run his own team some day.
Mozeliak may not ultimately have much say in who lands the permanent general manager position, but the fact he groomed Flores for the position over the course of nearly a decade should be considered in the hiring process.
Maximizing the Clean Slate: Aligning Flores with the Angels' New Financial Reality
An incoming general manager will look at the Angels as a blank canvas on which they can quickly make their mark. Payroll is currently projected to be the lowest seen in Anaheim since 2013. Given the lack of long term commitments on the books and Kroenke's immense wealth, it would appear there will be money to spend. Perhaps not this year but as soon as the rebuild looks to be more complete.
Flores specializes in finding young, cost controlled talent through the draft. The best way to accellerate the Angels rebuild is to continue adding talent to the minor leagues and properly develop that talent. If given the resources to implement a "Cardinals Way" type player development system for the Angels, fans can rest assured that Flores will both add talent and help draw greater development out of Angels prospects.
Last year's draft was solid, including the NCAA batting champion, and chock full of SEC and ACC tested players who have largely gotten off to solid starts as professionals. That class should form a second wave of talent behind the AA Trash Pandas who won their league championship.
Combine the Angels financial might with a team of largely home grown players and you have a scenario in which the team can shoot for top of the market free agents to push the team over the top. Also, key players can be locked up via extensions to keep the window open longer.
The key here is the mostly homegrown team and Flores can help with that. Given his track record as a Director Scouting, consistent hits later in the draft, and extensive experience in the Cardinals executive suite, Randy Flores is the ideal candidate to be the Angels GM.
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