Not too long ago, the Los Angeles Angels fired general manager Tony Reagins. It was a move made for a variety of reasons, although the easiest to latch on to was the Vernon Wells trade. That trade was so bad! Who would make that trade!
Andrew Friedman Atop Angels’ GM Wish List, According To Report
The vacant GM spot meant that the Angels were in the market for a new GM. A number of candidates came up, including Kim Ng, Jerry Dipoto, and Damon Oppenheimer, among others. But recently, another candidate has emerged: current Tampa Bay Rays GM Andrew Friedman. A report on SB Nation's DRays Bay placed Friedman at a dinner with two top Angels executives, and Ken Rosenthal has confirmed what many have speculated:
So, yeah. When you think “Angels”, you don’t think “Andrew Friedman, or a guy like Andrew Friedman”, but here we are. And it’s not like it doesn’t make sense - the Angels want a new direction, and Friedman has obviously had outstanding success in Tampa Bay, working on a nothing budget. The Rays are probably baseball’s best-run organization, and Friedman has played a central role, so he’s a desirable name.
Would Friedman leave Tampa Bay? Would Tampa Bay let him? I’ve no clue. I suspect that the purpose of the dinner was the exchange of ideas. Maybe Friedman would be excited by the prospect of having a lot of money. Maybe he prefers the challenge of a small market. He probably has some concerns over the level of influence that Mike Scioscia wields within the Angels’ organization, and I imagine that came up. Of course, Friedman has been working closely with Joe Maddon, who worked with Scioscia before moving to Florida.
It’s very interesting. There’s no guarantee that Friedman bolts for southern California, but it’s interesting that the Angels have made him their top priority, and a switch could rather dramatically affect two different organizations.
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