When Will the Angels Hire a New GM? One Factor Looms Large in Executive Search

The Angels aren't sitting out the GM Meetings, but their biggest decision is a couple months away.

Los Angeles Angels interim general manager John Mozeliak looks on before the game against the Pittsburgh Pirates at PNC Park on Sept. 6, 2026. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Trade Zach Neto or Reid Detmers?

Sign Tarik Skubal?

The roster-related questions facing 29 MLB teams this month are almost a moot point for the Angels, whose front office is locked in a unique holding pattern.

A permanent head of baseball operations will eventually succeed interim GM John Mozeliak, whose contract expires in December. He or she figures to inherit whatever roster Mozeliak freezes in place on Dec. 1, when the Collective Bargaining Agreement between MLB and the MLB Players Association expires and a lockout commences.

Not surprisingly, there were no substantive updates from the MLB GM Meetings on Monday in Las Vegas about who the Angels' next GM might be. However, one bit of news emerged about who is leading the search — which suggests when the new hire might be in place.

Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reported Tuesday that Kroenke Sports and Entertainment, which agreed in August to purchase the team from Arte Moreno, is "casting a very wide net."

Citing an unnamed source, Rosenthal added that the expansive search is a result, in part, of the fact that KS&E has limited experience in baseball. Ostensibly, most if not all of the executives the new ownership group will meet with during the hiring process are unfamiliar to them today.

That suggests the Angels are in no rush to appoint a successor to Mozeliak. Since the lockout has no end date in sight, there's no need to hurry.

When will the Angels appoint a permanent GM?

While it makes sense for the incoming majority owner, rather than Moreno, to direct the search process, it's a bit unusual in one regard: MLB hasn't approved the transfer of ownership yet.

The sale, which reportedly values the Angels at $4 billion, isn't expected to close until the first quarter of 2027. Stan Kroenke's group can't announce a new executive leadership team until it actually owns the Angels, so any announcement of a new GM figures to be at least two months away.

As Rosenthal notes: "Moreno will remain a minority owner under Kroenke and possibly could proceed with a hire at KSE’s instruction. But if KSE somehow was not approved, the Angels would be stuck with a candidate they did not choose. The safer and expected strategy is to wait for approval."

The Collective Bargaining Agreement between MLB and the MLB Players Association doesn't cover team executives — or Kroenke's group, until the transfer is approved.

In theory, the Angels' executive search process should be able to proceed independently of labor negotiations. It just might take a while.