After a lot of confusion about whether or not Jerry Dipoto had resigned, and if Angels' owner Arte Moreno was attempting to retain him after his failed ultimatum, we now have answers, and the team is ready to move on. Dipoto is no longer in charge of the team, and Anaheim is expected to announce his successor soon.
Angels president John Carpino is meeting with the team shortly. Presumably then they will announce a successor to Dipoto.
— Jeff Fletcher (@JeffFletcherOCR) July 1, 2015
The most likely candidates are the assistant GM Matt Klentak, or their pro scouting director Hal Morris, as they already have intimate knowledge of the Angels' system. With the trade deadline approaching, it's imperative that whoever they install as their new leader is able to take over as seamlessly as possible.
When Scioscia was asked about the chain of command and who had ultimate authority, he responded with an intriguing answer.
Angels Mike Scioscia said the GM has always had authority over him: "Do you know how many times I was told no? A lot more than yes."
— Jeff Fletcher (@JeffFletcherOCR) July 1, 2015
This naturally leads to the question of what was Scioscia being overruled on? Could it have been potential trade targets in years past? The way that the lineup was constructed? The use or sabermetics, or something else entirely? Until more details leak out, which seems unlikely given that Scioscia is still tight lipped about his working relationship with the former GM, we can't know for sure.
Angels Mike Scioscia essentially said he had no issues working with Dipoto and the team did use lots of analytics. "They made us better."
— Jeff Fletcher (@JeffFletcherOCR) July 1, 2015
Scioscia understands that there's no reason to throw anyone under the bus at this point, but we can't be expected to take his answers at face value. Dipoto is gone because of their strained relationship, and considering that this can be traced back to 2012, there's absolutely no reason to think otherwise.