Mike Scioscia won the battle in Anaheim, but tumult not over for Angels
It was a shotgun marriage that was doomed before the honeymoon.
When Jerry Dipoto got his first general manager's gig with the Los Angeles Angels back in 2011, he was thrust into the role of being Mike Scioscia's boss.
The trouble, Dipoto quickly discovered, is that Scioscia was the most powerful manager in the game.
You're talking about a guy who has been the face and voice of the franchise, baseball's longest-tenured manager, who led the Angels to the 2002 World Series championship and seven playoff berths.
Dipoto may have been the boss in theory, but this was Scioscia's show, and Scioscia was going to do things his way.
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The tumultuous relationship somehow lasted 3 1/2 years, but not even the counseling by owner Arte Moreno and president John Carpino, or the loss of income, could keep this marriage intact.
Dipoto abruptly resigned Tuesday, cleaned out his office, and his pride wasn't about to let him walk through those doors Wednesday and take his job back.
Scioscia won the battle.
The Angels lost the war.
The Angels still are in the playoff hunt, just four games behind the Houston Astros in the American League West, but there will be so much unrest these next three months, the distractions are bound to trickle into the clubhouse.
This, after all, is baseball.
"Distractions come in all forms for players, for staff members, for front-office members,'' Scioscia said. "And the one thing about this game is it doesn't stop. You still have to go out there and perform.''
Yet, while they're on that field, 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.
Remember, this is a front office that Dipoto, 47, built mostly by himself. 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've already picked sides, and when several members of the front office staff were reached Wednesday by USA TODAY Sports, they were devastated by the news.
And, oh yeah, if you hear of any good job openings, please feel free to pass them along.
This has a chance to get ugly.
Really, it's been unsightly ever since they got together. They almost split up in 2012 when Dipoto fired hitting coach Mickey Hatcher one month into the season. Hatcher just so happens to be one of Scioscia's closest friends. Moreno intervened throughout the year and told the two they better work it out, or else.
It was only the winning that covered up the flaws of their relationship. When the Angels won 98 games last year, Scioscia and Dipoto were seen hugging one another and pouring champagne atop their heads when they clinched the American League West.
Now that they've been hovering around .500 this year, that Band-Aid has been ripped off.
Dipoto has been livid at Scioscia, believing he's a stubborn bully, refusing to embrace all of the front office's analytics and scouting reports. Scioscia believes Dipoto was nothing but a nuisance who always interfered. And if they had the slightest bit of respect for one another, they sure had a funny way of showing it.
The Angels, in a wise move, have now turned to Bill Stoneman to be their interim GM. Stoneman, who originally hired Scioscia in 1999, moved into an advisory role in 2007, is highly regarded in the industry and should calm the waters in a fashion Moreno could not.
Still, it will only delay the fascinating machinations and dynamics that will take place when the Angels look to hire a full-time GM.
Matt Klentak, 34, who originally was considered the favorite to be the interim GM, will now be the No. 2 man. It probably wouldn't have worked, anyways, considering he was one of Dipoto's first hires, just another suit to Scioscia, someone who specialized in analytics and worked in MLB's labor relations department.
Scioscia, 57, got his degree from the Tommy Lasorda School of Baseball with the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Klentak, who didn't play a day of professional baseball, got his degree from Dartmouth, majoring in Economics.
Klentak's stay could be short, anyway. It's quite possible that he could be joining his former boss, Andy MacPhail, this winter, with the Philadelphia Phillies.
Hal Morris, the Angels' director of pro scouting, who also was hired by Dipoto, is really Scioscia's type of guy. Morris, 49, won a World Series with the Cincinnati Reds in 1990, and is widely considered GM material in the scouting fraternity.
Maybe that will work much better.
Maybe it really doesn't matter.
It's rare to have a great harmony and sincere personal relationships between a GM and manager, anyways. The managers never think they have enough talent. The GMs never think the managers are getting the most of their talent.
You just don't see managers and their bosses going out to dinner and sharing bottles of wine after games like manager Bruce Bochy and president of baseball operations Brian Sabean in San Francisco.
The norm is heated debates behind closed doors, plenty of private second-guessing, and rifts that stay within the confines of the organization.
But baseball's version of the Housewives of Orange County became so toxic that Dipoto ultimately forced owner Arte Moreno to choose between him and Scioscia.
Moreno stuck with his manager.
And Scioscia just got all of his power completely restored.
Scioscia may be calling all of the critical shots again in the organization. The next time Moreno wants to blow $125 million on another Josh Hamilton, Scioscia may try to stop him. The next time a GM wants to trade away a power-hitting infielder like Howie Kendrick to save $9.5 million while acquire a young pitcher, Andrew Heaney, maybe Scioscia vetoes the move.
This is Scioscia's team again.
He's got the clout.
And, oh, how he has the leverage.
Scioscia, who still has three years and $18 million left in his contract, has the right to opt out of his contract after this season. He's already the highest-paid manager in the game, so it's not as if he'd leave for the money, but rest assured there'd be a whole lot of teams willing to fire their manager on the spot for a chance to hire Scioscia.
Just ask Rick Renteria, the man who took the fall last November in Chicago when Joe Maddon suddenly became available.
Who knows, maybe, Dipoto's resignation brings a cohesiveness in the Angels' clubhouse. After all, it was a coach and veteran first baseman Albert Pujols, according to Fox Sports, who stepped up and chided Dipoto during a clubhouse meeting on Sunday, telling Dipoto that this wasn't Scioscia or the coaches' fault. If there was any blame, he should be the one to look in the mirror.
Don't think for a minute that Scioscia won't be forever indebted, but just in case anyone needed a reminder, this is Pujols' clubhouse as long as he wears that uniform. He's still owed $177 million the next 6 ½ years, not counting the $10 million personal services contract after he retires, and goes into the Hall of Fame.
"Whatever happens between the front office and coaching staff,'' Pujols said Wednesday, "it's not my business. My job is to get myself ready to play.''
Yet, the Angels can't insulate themselves from the chaos either, with pitcher Hector Santiago saying: "All around, weird year.''
Hate to break it to you boys, but you ain't seen nothin' yet.