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Dipoto's Exit Is Latest Bad PR News For Angels, With Many Assigning Blame To Arte Moreno

The resignation of Angels GM Jerry Dipoto on Wednesday "brought an abrupt end to the tumultuous" tenure for the "forward-thinking executive whose numbers-based approach sometimes clashed with the supposedly set-in-his-ways [Mike Scioscia], baseball's longest-tenured manager," according to Mike DiGiovanna of the L.A. TIMES. Dipoto: "I just felt it was the right thing to do for my own state of mind and my family. I felt like I wasn't able to help the club get better in the way that I wanted to. By no means am I leaving a disgruntled employee throwing stones out the door. ... The front office, the scouting and player development people, every player in that clubhouse, I love them more than they'll know, and I'll pull for their success. I just didn't feel I could help take the next step forward in the position I was in.” Dipoto said a report that he gave Owner Arte Moreno an ultimatum, forcing him to choose between the GM and manager, was “simply untrue.” Asked how he would describe his relationship with Scioscia, Dipoto said, “We had some days that were better than others, but I'll look back over these 31/2 years and believe I'll be better for those experiences.” DiGiovanna notes Scioscia "bristled at the suggestion that there was a power struggle." The Angels announced that former GM Bill Stoneman will serve as interim GM "for the remainder of the season." Stoneman "stepped down" from the GM post in '07 to "spend more time with his wife, but he has served as a senior advisor since." Assistant GM Matt Klentak and Assistant GM/Scouting & Player Development Scott Servais "will remain in their current roles" (L.A. TIMES, 7/2). 

FAMILY FEUD: Angels President John Carpino said despite reports to the contrary, he felt the relationship between Dipoto and Scoscia was "normal" and "healthy." Dipoto on admitted the timing of his resignation "may not be great, and for that I do have some regret." But MLB.com's Alden Gonzalez noted Dipoto "also believed there was no purpose in staying." Dipoto: "This is the only industry I've ever worked in, I feel like I have a lot to offer. I'm not done working" (MLB.com, 7/1). In California, Pedro Moura writes describing Dipoto as a "new-school decision-maker is ... simplistic." He played "almost a decade" in MLB. At the "heart of this must be much more" (ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER, 7/2). ESPN’s Jim Bowden said, “I don’t think it’s a power struggle. I think it’s a philosophical struggle and Jerry Dipoto wanted more power as GM. ... They weren’t on the same page philosophically and somebody had to go. Jerry walked away” (“Baseball Tonight,” ESPN2, 7/1).

BLAME STARTS UP TOP: In L.A., Bill Plaschke writes Angels fans have "paid a steep price for embracing" Moreno, whose tenure "has been marked not by cheaper booze, but by chaos and dysfunction." Moreno "has mostly made his mark with misguided decisions often based on impulsive emotions marked by anger." Now, he has "allowed a cultural rift ... to escalate into Dipoto's departure in the middle of a potential playoff season." Moreno, who has "long supported Scioscia, did nothing substantial to stop" Dipoto from leaving. In a sport of "old-school values and rituals in which warring front-office factions often hunker down for the good of the team, Dipoto's departure was stunning." But then again, this is "how it happens with Moreno's Angels, an organization he runs with such impetuousness it has become the object of national ridicule" (L.A. TIMES, 7/2). In California, Marcia Smith writes the Angels have "already been suffering through some of their own public relations slapstick." Smith: "Sadly this isn’t the first time this season, or even a sequel, but the latest episode in a series of spins-out-of-control." But the series of "public missteps is surprising because the Angels, on so many levels, have been a model franchise" (ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER, 7/2).

STEP UP TO THE MIKE: In California, Jeff Miller writes regardless of how much the Angels "want to deny the perception, there was a way-too-obvious takeaway" from Dipoto’s resignation. Miller: "This is Mike Scioscia’s team -- today, like perhaps never before -- and everything else is mostly just for looks." MLB "doesn’t have a manager who has been on the job longer or possesses more power than Scioscia." Moreno "invited this kind of mess -- no, he guaranteed it -- when he signed Scioscia to a 10-year extension" in the winter of '09. It "empowered Scioscia more than any general manager Moreno could bring in and severely undercut the owner’s flexibility and leverage moving forward" (ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER, 7/2). YAHOO SPORTS' Jeff Passan wrote the Angels for 16 seasons have been "Scioscia’s fiefdom in which he consolidated power to the point of intractability." Moreno has been "enabling and ennobling him the whole way." By choosing Scioscia over Dipoto, Moreno "emboldened the Angels’ place as the last manager-centric organization in baseball." That it took Dipoto this long to "grow frustrated enough to step away was the most shocking part of the story" (SPORTS.YAHOO.com, 7/1). SI.com's Jay Jaffe wrote it is "hard to believe the GM and manager coexisted for so long within an anachronistic hierarchy that failed to replicate the success of the first decade of Scioscia's tenure" (SI.com, 7/1). In N.Y., Billy Witz writes the "imperial manager is alive and well in Southern California." Scioscia is "as much the public face of the team" as CF Mike Trout. Before Dipoto was hired after the '11 season, Scioscia "was viewed as having a stronger voice in the organization" than previous GMs Stoneman and Tony Reagins (N.Y. TIMES, 7/2).

TRICKLE-DOWN EFFECT? USA TODAY's Bob Nightengale writes Dipoto's resignation means Scioscia "won the battle," but the Angels "lost the war." Now, the "distractions are bound to trickle into the clubhouse." Nightengale: "You can be sure there will be plenty of titillating stories circulating these next few months over their private squabbles, which surely will embarrass the organization." This is a front office that Dipoto "built mostly by himself," and those left behind "are his people." They are "loyal to him, thoroughly enjoyed working for him, and want to work for him again wherever he resurfaces." They have "already picked sides," and several members of the front office staff "were devastated by the news." Klentak was "considered the favorite to be the interim GM," but it "probably wouldn't have worked ... considering he was one of Dipoto's first hires." Klentak's stay "could be short, anyway," as it is "quite possible that he could be joining his former boss," Phillies President Andy MacPhail (USA TODAY, 7/2). 

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