How the Los Angeles Angels have become the Colorado Rockies of the American League

On Saturday, we reported how the Colorado Rockies have promoted Sterling Monfort to the director of professional scouting. Monfort is the youngest son of Rockies owner, Dick Monfort. Monfort does have experience in the department but he has been with the Rockies since 2013 and, usually, people aren’t promoted to that level of a position until they have had much more experience.

On Thursday, the Los Angeles Angels reportedly demoted their bench coach, Mike Gallego, to their defensive coach. So who will be their new bench coach? Ray Montgomery. Montgomery, 52, was their director of player personnel in 2021. While he wasn’t for the Angels, most teams’ “director of player personnel” is an assistant GM.

For example, the Rockies director of player personnel entering the 2021 season was Jon Weil. Sterling Monfort, with his promotion, will assume some of Weil’s duties.

Prior to being with the Angels, he was the VP of the Brewers where he spent six seasons in his role, serving as “a lead evaluator across the entire spectrum of baseball operations, including professional, international and amateur scouting.”

Montgomery did play a few years in the majors but demoting a coach like Gallego, who has 15 years of time as a coach in the majors, including parts of five seasons with the Rockies, for Montgomery, who has no major league or minor league coaching experience is unheard of.

They haven’t been able to name their coaching staff because, reportedly, the Angels want to hire MLB outfielder Adam Eaton as their first base coach but since he played in the majors in 2021, they can’t hire him because of the lockout.

Both teams continue to make baffling moves when both teams have/used to have a good nucleus of position players around them. But as long as baffling moves continue for both franchises, they will continue to be the punching bags of the NL and AL West.