Get to know a baseball lifer: Angels GM Perry Minasian

Few executives in baseball -- or anybody in the game, for that matter -- have the same type of background as Perry Minasian.

The Angels’ general manager since November 2020, Minasian has been around the game since he was a kid thanks to his dad, Zack Minasian Sr., who worked as a clubhouse manager for the Rangers for more than three decades.

MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand sat down with Minasian this spring to discuss his early entry into the game, his affection for managers, his ascent to the GM chair and much more in the latest edition of Executive Access.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

MLB.com: You were born in Chicago but grew up in Arlington, Texas. Who was your favorite team as a kid?

Minasian: The Dodgers. My grandfather and Tommy Lasorda were best friends. My grandfather ran the Ambassador Hotel in California and they became really, really close. Tommy obviously had a huge impact on my father's career; when Tommy was a manager in Ogden, he took my father out of school and he was the clubhouse man, trainer and travel for the Minor League Ogden team that won the championship three years in a row. Growing up, he was Uncle Tom. He's my younger brother's godfather and somebody we were always really close with; we’re still close with the family.

MLB.com: Your dad, Zack Sr., worked in baseball for more than 30 years, 22 as the Rangers’ clubhouse manager. Was there ever a doubt in your mind that you wanted to pursue a career in baseball to whatever extent that was going to be?

Minasian: I loved it so much. I think you're a product of your environment to a certain extent, and watching how my father would wake up every day and be the first person in the locker room during Spring Training at 4:30 in the morning, we would turn the lights on, fold the towels, do all those things -- he loved being there. He loved the game. It rubs off on you.

I have three brothers, two of them work in baseball, and my oldest brother could if he wanted to; he's a lawyer in Chicago, but easily could work in baseball if he decided to change careers. I think it's in the blood. When you grow up around people that love the game so much like we did, it's hard not to love the game, too. I’m one to ask a lot of questions; even when I was young, I would ask questions to anybody who would give me a minute and listen. I was so hungry to learn as much as I could about all different facets of the game.

I was lucky enough Bobby Valentine was the manager and he allowed me to sit in on advance meetings. I was eight years old; who does that? I've been so lucky to be around the people I've been around. They've opened doors and allowed me to experience different things that people don't experience. I always wanted to work in baseball. I knew how difficult it was to work in baseball because I had seen enough to have an appreciation for everything.

My father ran the visiting side from 1989 to 1995. Seeing the visiting teams come in with the different players and the different managers, I loved managers. I learned a lot from just observing managers. You pick things up. There's a presence; you don't have to be 6-foot-8, you don't have to have a certain type of voice, you don't have to walk in the room and be a tough guy. Sparky Anderson looked like he was 100 years old at the time, but he would walk into a room with Major League players and the presence was unbelievable. He never raised his voice; just spoke with respect to everybody in the room and the presence was amazing. Same thing with Tom Kelly; it was a little louder, a little more brash, but there was a presence to those types of guys. Being able to witness that, it made me want to dive in to how can I affect the game other than playing?

MLB.com: Which executives around the game had an early influence on you?

Minasian: I've been really fortunate to be around some great ones. Tom Grieve in Texas had a huge impact on my career; one of the best people I've ever met in the game. He played, was moved into the front office role, and the way he handled things was just a really good example of what being a good person is and how to lead. Mel Didier was a scout that used to work out of Texas; I had a connection with him and I ended up working with him in a couple places. He took a lot of time to help me develop as a baseball person. John Hart gave me an opportunity to move into the front office in Texas. I was still in the clubhouse dying for an opportunity, and John and Buck Showalter gave me that opportunity. I'll never forget that and I appreciate that to this day.

Obviously, you move and you start working with different people. Alex Anthopoulos is a no-brainer; as good as it gets. When you surround yourself and you're around hard work, if you go through each person I just mentioned, there are no days off for those guys. Being around Alex as long as I was around him, seeing how he operated and the type of person he is, how much he cares and how much he obsesses. There's a certain obsession with this game; you have to have it and it's not always fun, right? You dwell on things that you don't necessarily do well and how do you fix it? What are the things we can change in how we make decisions so we don't have to encounter this again? He’s so good at that.

MLB.com: In 2009, you left Texas for Toronto, where you were eventually promoted to pro scouting director. How did that move come about?

Minasian: That was a really difficult move because I had been in Texas for so long. In my career, I felt like it was important to break away. My father was in Texas; there's nothing more proud for me than being one of Zack’s sons, but when you're trying to establish a career, sometimes you have to take a risk. I talked to a lot of people until I was blue in the face and Toronto at the time was a very daunting place to go to in the sense because the Yankees and Red Sox were both really good -- and that wasn’t going to change anytime soon. The task there was a really difficult one.

I remember having multiple conversations with a lot of different people, but one thing I've always done in my life -- and I'll continue to do -- is take risks. Texas wanted to keep me; I remember talking to Jon Daniels and they made me a nice offer, and I was very flattered, but at the end of the day, I felt like for my career, to branch off and do something else somewhere else was really, really important and the time was right. I ended up taking that jump. I had a chance to work with J.P. [Ricciardi] in Toronto, who I love and who is one of the best guys in the game.

Eventually I had the chance to be a pro scouting director for Alex; it took us some time to put together a good team, but there was no better feeling than being in Toronto in 2015. Going through what we went through the previous years, to get to help turn that club into a division-winning club when the majority of people thought it would be impossible, that was an experience I'll never forget.

MLB.com: The Blue Jays went to the American League Championship Series in back-to-back years and you eventually became a special assistant to Ross Atkins, then in September 2017 you were hired by John Coppolella in Atlanta. What was appealing to you about the Atlanta move?

Minasian: It was appealing in the sense of being something new. I had never worked for a National League team, John Hart was in Atlanta. That was somebody I looked forward to working with and obviously Coppy was somebody that had a passion for the game that I hadn't been around a ton, but was exposed to a little bit. There's something about the Atlanta Braves that was very intriguing, and that’s a credit to Terry McGurk, Bobby Cox and John Schuerholz. Looking at the talent level that they had at the Minor League level, this was not going to be an eight, nine, 10-year rebuild. I still think it's one of the best rebuilds in the history of baseball; it took three years basically to flip it. I was lucky to join the club and some things happened; it was an interesting time, but it all worked out.

MLB.com: The Angels’ GM job was your first run through the interview process. What was it like for you?

Minasian: It was eye-opening in the sense that I didn't necessarily think about having that opportunity. I’m never one to say, ‘I need to do this’ or ‘I need to do that’ to validate my career. I'm not wound like that; I am a day-to-day, do what I need to do to help whoever I'm helping guy. To have this opportunity to interview for this job was an honor. I think a lot of the credit goes to Alex and what he did with Atlanta in putting the teams together that he put together. When you're part of a really successful group, there's recognition for the group and a lot of times people get hired out of those groups.

You’re a little nervous, but I did my homework. I was in a great spot; I was with somebody that I love to work with on a daily basis, so I didn’t need to leave. It had to be the right fit and vice versa. I'll never forget maybe 15 minutes before my first interview, I was talking to my older brother, who is the best guy in the world. He reminded me, ‘Just be yourself. Don't try and sound smart. Don't use bigger words than you normally use. Be yourself. They're either going to like you for who you are, or you're not going to be a fit.’ That put me at ease. I had an interview with [team president] John Carpino; it was supposed to be 45 minutes and it was two and a half hours. One thing I could do is talk. I had a chance to express my feelings on certain things, my vision on team building, so we'll see if they liked it or didn't like it.

I eventually had a chance to meet with [owner] Arte [Moreno] for what was supposed to be 45 minutes; we were there for three and a half hours. It just felt right. Talking to him, understanding how much passion and love he has for the game, how much passion and love he has for the organization; that's somebody I wanted to work for. Same thing with John; his personality, how much he cares about this organization and putting it in a good place, that really stuck out. I said, ‘I want to be a part of this.’ They offered me the job. I was shocked. Trust me, I was more shocked than anybody on the face of the earth.

MLB.com: You had a fascinating Draft two years ago, selecting 20 pitchers in 20 rounds -- 19 of them out of college. How does that decision get made going into the Draft?

Minasian: It's something that happened organically as far as the two weeks of Draft meetings, understanding where we were at as an organization. It's a very simple thing; somebody told me a long time ago, ‘When you have a problem, fix it.’ Doing the work we did and understanding the organization, something I wholeheartedly believe in is you have to develop pitching. It’s really tough to pay for pitching year in and year out, so sitting in the Draft meetings and having a chance to get to know the staff, talking about where we were and what we had from a system standpoint, how do we catch up to some of these other clubs? It started on the mound. That was every conversation.

We feel like we attacked that issue in that Draft. How many are going to end up being really good Major League pitchers? It’s tough to get multiple players out of one Draft. It's not easy. We liked the crop that we ended up acquiring; not just the talent, but the makeup. Finding the right character. You stick two guys in a room and there's a pork chop in the middle of the floor -- who's getting the pork chop? That’s an old scouting term: who is getting the pork chop? We wanted to find the guys that would get the pork chop. We'll see how it all plays out, but it’s something that we felt was needed.

MLB.com: What is your favorite part of the job?

Minasian: All of it. I know these are broad answers, but I love all of it. Going through what you go through on a daily basis, this has not been the easiest two years. There have been some really difficult decisions. There's some good and there's some bad, and being able to experience both, I think is important. It makes you better. You learn from different experiences, and in the two years I've been here in this job, I've had a lot of unique experiences that maybe not a lot of other people have had that hopefully down the road will make me better and I'll be able to look back at and say, ‘Wow, that's why that happened and this is what came out of it and now we're in a better place.’

MLB.com: What is your least favorite part of the job?

Minasian: Not being able to spend as much time with my family as I want to. That’s a real answer, not some canned thing. To do this job, in my opinion, to do it the right way, it's very time-consuming. You have to take away from other things and you have to have a partner that understands that. My wife, Michelle, is the best scouting job I've ever done. She is the perfect person for me to help our family with four kids -- Lola, Minka, Gemma and Cash -- and while I haven't been able to go to everything, I feel a part of everything because of Michelle. She makes me a part of everything. I need to do a better job of becoming more present for them at certain times.

MLB.com: The Angels’ last playoff win came in 2009, while their only title came in 2002. What would a return to the postseason -- let alone a World Series title -- mean to the fan base and the city?

Minasian: It speaks for itself. I think it's important. Being competitive, playing meaningful games and making the postseason would be an unbelievable feeling and something that we hope to accomplish. At the end of the day, we have to play 162 games, and the American League is stacked. There are plenty of teams that feel good about where they are. At the end of the day, you have to play. You have to show up every day, you have to compete, you have to be able to withstand some injuries -- which I think we're better positioned to do now than we were the previous two years -- and you need a little luck. Maybe we deserve a little luck. We'll play the 162 and see where we are.