Rating MLB general managers for 2021: AL West

4. AL West GM rankings:  Perry Minasian, Los Angeles Angels

-11.3 WAA

The initiation process into the fraternity of general managers is an imposing one. Six GMs debuted in 2021, only one of whom – Sam Fuld in Philadelphia – actually improved his team short-term. The GM’s average first-year hit was -6.1 games.

Minasian only wishes his season went that well. Driven in part by the loss to injury of Mike Trout, he made 52 personnel decisions impacting the major league roster, of which 34 – 65 percent – worked out to the team’s short-term detriment.

The sole highlight was Minasian’s trade with the Cincinnati Reds that obtained Raisel Iglesias for the bullpen in exchange for Noe Ramirez and a minor leaguer. Iglesias was a breath of fresh air in a bad pen: he had a 2.57 ERA and 34 saves in 65 appearances.  That translated to 1.6 WAA.

Now for the rest of the story. In a separate deal, Minasian picked up shortstop Jose Iglesias from Baltimore for a couple of minor leaguers.   Iglesias was so bad that Minasian released him in September, but by then his lack of on-base ability and power, combined with sub-par defense, translated to -2.5 WAA.

The free agent market proved just as challenging for the new guy. He signed or extended 17 players, a remarkable five of whom ran up WAAs of -1.0 or worse. The indictable five were Phil Gosselin (-1.6), Juan Lagares (-1.4), Jose Quintana (-1.3), Kurt Suzuki (-1.3) and Junior Guerra (-1.0).

Minasian’s bottom line regarding free agent signings was -8.9 WAA, the worst in the majors.

The only upside was that since the Angels were never in contention in the first place, none of that substantial harm really mattered in the short-term.