Source: Angels name Braves’ Minasian new GM

Perry Minasian, an assistant general manager with the Atlanta Braves, is the new GM of the Los Angeles Angels, a source confirmed to ESPN on Thursday.

Minasian, who will replace Billy Eppler, was among five candidates who advanced into the second round of interviews this week and was seen as the clear front-runner as of Wednesday night.

Minasian, 40, comes from a deep-rooted baseball family and has spent more than three-quarters of his life in the major leagues, beginning as a bat boy for the Texas Rangers when he was 8 years old. Minasian, whose father, Zack, was the Rangers’ longtime clubhouse manager, served as a bat boy and a clubhouse attendant for 15 years, then spent the next six years as an advanced scout and a staff assistant for former Rangers manager Buck Showalter.

From there, Minasian spent nine seasons with the Toronto Blue Jays, six of which came as director of pro scouting. In the last two years of that run, from 2015 to 2016, the Blue Jays made back-to-back trips to the American League Championship Series.

Minasian was initially hired as a top aide for former Braves GM John Coppolella in September 2017, about a month before Coppolella was forced to resign amid rules violations in the international market. When Alex Anthopoulos took over as the new president of baseball operations, one of his first tasks was elevating Minasian to vice president of baseball operations and assistant GM. Minasian spent the next three seasons working closely with Anthopoulos, his former boss with the Blue Jays, helping to build the Braves into a perennial contender that has an abundance of young talent.

With the Angels, Minasian is expected to augment a scouting department that was hit especially hard by furloughs, an industry source told ESPN’s Kiley McDaniel.

Seattle Mariners assistant GM Justin Hollander, Chicago Cubs senior vice president Jason McLeod and Arizona Diamondbacks assistant GMs Jared Porter and Amiel Sawdaye joined Minasian in advancing into the second round of interviews for the Angels’ GM vacancy. The initial wave included nearly 20 applicants, including former GMs such as Michael Hill, Dan Jennings, Bobby Evans and Ruben Amaro Jr. Throughout the process, the Angels also spoke to longtime scouting director Eddie Bane and longtime broadcaster Victor Rojas.

The Angels, who fired Eppler after a five-year run as GM at the end of the 2020 season, have qualified for the postseason only once since 2009 and are trying to get back into contention with Mike Trout approaching his age-29 season.

Minasian, whose hiring was first reported by The Athletic, has a brother, Calvin, who is the clubhouse coordinator for the Washington Nationals and another brother, Zack Jr., who is the pro scouting director for the San Francisco Giants.