Former MLB Executive Has Surprising Take on Angels' Front Office Job

The Angels' permanent GM will inherit MLB's longest postseason drought — and a world of opportunity

Colorado Rockies manager Bud Black (10) talks to Los Angeles Angels owner Arte Moreno before a game at Tempe Diablo Stadium on March 8, 2023. | USA TODAY Sports

The Milwaukee Brewers have won division titles in four of the last five seasons. The Angels, in a mild understatement, have not.

Yet one Brewers special advisor believes that whoever succeeds interim general manager John Mozeliak will inherit an enviable situation. Thad Levine, who spent eight seasons as the Minnesota Twins' general manager (2017-24) before joining the Brewers, said on his "Rosters to Rings" podcast that the problems facing the Angels' baseball operations department are dwarfed by the opportunities.

"There's a world of opportunity here," Levine said. "It's a tremendous market. They have been willing to spend to try to win. ... They may be a little bit behind in some of the resources they've been deploying. All I see that as an opportunity to vault forward because if they get up to speed, they don't have to spend to be number one in some of those resources.

"But if you're in the Top 10, it will be a demonstrative step forward," Levine continued. "Lord knows what gains you can make in a short period of time there based upon the resources that you would then have, and knowing full well that the payroll will be there to support a championship organization, and the fan base is dying to come out and support this team as it surges towards prominence once again."

What happened to the Angels? Thad and @SCWIII1 break down how a franchise that once dominated the AL West has fallen into a decade-long struggle, and what it would take to turn things around. ⚾️

Apple: https://t.co/VxQ5OcpNi5 pic.twitter.com/aRua9KnIGT

— Rosters to Rings (@RostersToRings) July 9, 2026

For a small-market executive who is accustomed to doing more with less, it's an understandable sentiment. Before he joined the Twins, Levine spent 11 seasons as an assistant general manager for the Texas Rangers. Before that, he spent six seasons (1999-2004) in the Colorado Rockies' baseball operations department.

Mozeliak's Cardinals teams also played in one of the sport's smallest media markets, but were in a similar position when the team was winning. Attendance was relatively high. Television viewership was strong, at least before the RSN bubble burst. The Angels' situation is no different.

Mozeliak will run the Angels' baseball operations department until at least Dec. 1. That's not enough time to turn the team into a perennial winner, but it's at least enough to diagnose where the Angels' player development engine is backfiring under the hood.

Maybe it's enough time to set the franchise on the correct course, to where the permanent GM — whether that's Mozeliak, Levine, or someone else — isn't forced to rely only on free agency and trades to acquire quality major league players.

Regardless, it's a task Levine believes a good executive should be willing to take on.