The Angels officially introduced interim general manager John Mozeliak before their 5-2 win over the Athletics on Saturday, and he outlined why he joined the organization and his vision for building the franchise into a consistent winner. Mozeliak -- joined by club president Molly Jolly, who hired him on Friday after firing GM Perry Minasian \-\- said he has short-term goals such as helping the club get ready for the upcoming Draft and Trade Deadline, but also long-term aspirations to bring back a sustainable winning culture. He’s essentially a consultant with his contract up in December, but Mozeliak wouldn’t rule out a longer stay with the organization -- though he didn’t seem interested in naming himself GM after spending 18 years in that position with the Cardinals before stepping down after last season. “Over the course of the next couple months, I'm going to spend a lot of energy just trying to understand what's happening down below and work our way up,” Mozeliak said. “Obviously, winning still matters. We still care about that, and that's going to be something that we will never lose focus on. But there's a short view and a long view. And our short view is going to be coming through the Draft, addressing the Trade Deadline, finding our new general manager, and then, ultimately, hopefully, we lead to that foundation and structure that provides perpetual winning for the Angels.” Mozeliak said the process started several weeks ago after connecting with Jolly through a mutual friend in agent Steve Hilliard. He said owner Arte Moreno was not involved in the process, but that he’ll meet with him soon. The plan is to keep manager Kurt Suzuki, the front office, training staff and coaching staff on through the rest of the season, but they’ll be evaluated by Mozeliak. Mozeliak brings a wealth of experience, as he first joined the Cardinals prior to the 1995 season before becoming GM ahead of the ’08 campaign. He helped lead St. Louis to 15 straight winning seasons from ’08-22 and won the World Series in 2011.
