October 16, 2007

Youngman column: Scioscia will have a say
Moreno confirms that the manager will have greater input in the team's personnel decisions in the post-Stoneman era.

RANDY YOUNGMAN
Register columnist

ANAHEIM -- It somehow seemed appropriate that nine Angels executives with long faces occupied a long table during a strangely somber news conference Tuesday in which a choked-up Bill Stoneman announced he was stepping down as general manager and a subdued Tony Reagins was introduced as his replacement.

From left to right, the management team picture on one side of the lectern featured assistant general manager Ken Forsch, who was passed over for Stoneman's job; Reagins, who was promoted from director of player development to succeed Stoneman; owner Arte Moreno, who looked and sounded uncomfortable answering questions from the media; and Stoneman, who sounded more like someone saying goodbye than someone appointed a senior advisor.

On the other side of the lectern were Gary Sutherland, special assistant to the former and new GM; Eddie Bane, director of scouting; Abe Flores, who was promoted from manager of baseball relations to replace Reagins; Tory Hernandez, who was promoted from player performance analyst to replace Flores; and Tim Mead, vice president for communications.

No disrespect intended to Reagins, but the person who perhaps will have the most say on the team's first post-Stoneman era player personnel moves was not in attendance.

That would be Manager Mike Scioscia.

Don't take my word for it, though. Moreno conceded as much when asked directly if Scioscia's input will be greater now when it comes to personnel decisions.

"Yes, I guess," Moreno said, mentioning Scioscia's eight-year tenure as Angels manager. "It's very important ... to give Mike more responsibility in making sure we're delivering what he needs."

Interesting.

So all Scioscia has to do is tell Moreno he needs Yankees slugger Alex Rodriguez, if he opts out of his contract in the next month, and the manager's wish will be granted?

Well, not exactly.

"We can afford to do, within reason, what needs to be done," Moreno said when asked about acquiring a middle-of-the-order power bat he has openly coveted in recent years but Stoneman failed to deliver.

If reason is involved, the Angels probably wouldn't pursue Rodriguez, a Scott Boras client who likely will command a $30 million-a-year contract if he decides to void the final three years of his 10-year, $252 million Yankees contract and join the open market.

But if Scioscia suddenly has more clout in the Angels' newly reconfigured front-office regime, it's important to find out what tops his offseason wish list.

First, however, he had to be told about Moreno's intention to give him "more responsibility."

"I think Arte and Bill (Stoneman) have always given that to us," Scioscia said, talking via speaker-phone from South Bend, Ind., where he is visiting his son on the Notre Dame campus this week. "I don't think that's going to be any big change. … To say I'm going to have a larger role, I don't think I could have had a larger role without moving into the general manager's seat.

"Our opinions have always carried a lot of weight with Bill and Arte."

Because Reagins, 40, doesn't have background as a baseball player — he graduated from Cal State Fullerton in 1991 with a degree in marketing and was initially hired by the Angels as a baseball operations intern in 1992 — someone asked Scioscia if he had been approached about a dual role of manager-GM.

"Are you kidding me? I've barely got enough time to eat," Scioscia said, laughing. (Even funnier, Scioscia confessed during the media conference call that he was eating pretzels on the other end of the line.)

"To be honest with you, I know I would not be able ... it would be a disservice to our organization to have someone try to do both roles. It's two different job descriptions and the role I'm in is the one I'm very comfortable in and the only one I would ever consider."

Fair enough. Scioscia said he expects nothing will change the way he communicates with front-office colleagues, except now he'll be dealing primarily with Reagins instead of Stoneman, who presumably will be consulted when the Angels need to hear a voice of caution on proposed trades.

If Moreno says he would like to give Scioscia what he needs, what will the manager ask for this holiday season?

"Some things on the offensive end I know are being looked at very closely," he said, intentionally remaining vague about offseason targets. "I don't think there's any question that, although we've made the most out of the offense that we've had, (we need) a little more batter's box offense, particularly slugging percentage. ...

"Right now, if you're going to try to get something done for next year, you're going to have to go outside our organization to see a dramatic improvement in that."

If it hasn't happened already, Tony Reagins should soon look for an envelope under his door with a few big-name suggestions.

Alex, Miguel, Aramis ...