October 17, 2007

Changing of the guard
Reagins takes over as GM for Stoneman
Doug Padilla, Staff Writer

ANAHEIM - Bill Stoneman offered tears in his farewell, while his successor, Tony Reagins, volunteered optimism and a vow to stay the course.

During an emotional passing of the baton at Angel Stadium on Tuesday, Stoneman stepped down as general manager to take a consultant position with the team. Reagins, 40, was promoted from director of player development into the hot seat Stoneman occupied the past eight seasons.

In a ripple effect, Abe Flores was promoted from manager of baseball operations into Reagins' former role as head of minor-league operations, and Tory Hernandez will move to manager of baseball operations from his spot as player performance analyst.

The usually-guarded Stoneman, whose standing line to the media is: "When we have something to announce, we'll announce it," broke down multiple times while saying he no longer had the necessary energy to give to the GM job.

"It was really time, and really for the betterment of the Angels, to step aside and let somebody who is a lot more energetic and who knew the Angels as well as I, to really come in and take over," Stoneman said. "I came to the realization I'm 63 years old now, and time has been moving by."

Reagins' ascent from team intern to the marketing and sales side before heading to the minor-league operations staff and ultimately to general manager, took 16 years. The Indio native and current Fullerton resident graduated from Cal State Fullerton in 1991 with a degree in marketing.

Reagins first joined the Angels when a friend told him that the Angels had internships.

"I've loved baseball and I've always been a baseball fan," said Reagins, who played American Legion baseball as a teenager in Indio and boasted of a decent high-school football career. "This was an opportunity to get involved on this side of it.

"I couldn't play professionally. I wasn't good enough. Just to get involved on this side of it was the attraction."

The African-American Reagins becomes the fourth minority general manager, joining Ken Williams of the Chicago White Sox, Omar Minaya of the New York Mets and Michael Hill of the Florida Marlins, who was named to his post just over two weeks ago.

Reagins elected to downplay the significance of being one of the few minorities with a high-level job in baseball.

"You just try to position yourself to see that your talents are recognized," Reagins said. "I'm proud of my heritage, I'm proud of where I came from, and hopefully I can do as good of a job as some of the general managers that are in this game. Kenny and Omar and Mike Hill, they have done a good job. I just want to be as good as they are."

Reagins inherits a club that is coming off its third American League West title in four seasons, only adding to the pressure of being a first-time GM. In the playoffs, the Angels were trounced by the Boston Red Sox, giving the organization a sense of urgency to make improvements.

"I think that offense is a priority; we will address it; and in the right situation also some pitching depth," Reagins said. "We'll look at all of that."

Reagins was the head of a minor-league system that has had a huge impact at the major-league level. A total of 24 players on the current 40-man roster are homegrown, and the Angels' farm system has continually been ranked in the top five by Baseball America.

"Tony has a lot of similarities to Bill as far as his sense of duty and his diligence," manager Mike Scioscia said via conference call from South Bend, Ind., where he is visiting his son Matt, a freshman at Notre Dame. "He's a great communicator, he's great with people and he has a terrific talent of being a great evaluator. I think those are some great components you need to be in the position he is."

Said owner Arte Moreno: "Under (Reagins') direction, the Angels' farm system has developed a core of major-league talent.

"We believe that he has acquired the respect of players both on the major- and minor-league levels. For me, I believe it's very important for us to continue to build from within."

Reagins' transition will be made easier since Stoneman, as consultant, is only a phone call away. But that closeness only begs the question if things will still be run in Stoneman's vision, or if Reagins will be allowed to blaze his own trail.

"Bill is going to be around," Reagins said. "He has a tremendous baseball mind and it would be naive and ignorant for me to not lean on it."

Before making additions and subtractions to the roster, Reagins said his first priority is to get the coaching staff under contract.

"We're happy with who we have in place here, and if they want to come back here and be with us, we will welcome them back," he said.

After that, the four-headed decision-making monster of Reagins, Scioscia, Moreno and Stoneman will work on the 40-man roster.

"The evaluation process ... I don't think it's going to change much," Scioscia said. "We've already been working the last couple of weeks toward some stuff for next year. So we're looking forward and moving forward. I know Bill still has a voice in that as he stays on to consult."

During his 14 minutes at the podium Tuesday, Stoneman first fought back tears and then broke down on a few occasions.

While addressing his wife, Diane, Stoneman jokingly compared his time-consuming job to having a mistress.

"Right now I'm leaving my mistress," Stoneman said. "I want to thank (Diane). She's been supportive, and I hope with the more time I have to spend with you I don't get in your way too much."

Reagins was asked if Stoneman's assessment of having to be married to the job was a concern.

"I don't know if he scared me, but he probably scared my wife," he said.