Mike

Scioscia

In what has been one of the worst kept secrets in baseball, there have been rumblings for the last month that Scioscia planned to step down at season’s end and now it’s official. Scioscia led the Angels for the last 19 seasons, guiding them to the playoffs seven different times and capturing a World Series title in 2002. Eric Chavez has emerged as the favorite to replace Scioscia at the helm in Los Angeles.

Scioscia said in a recent interview with Terry Smith of KLAA that he’d like to continue managing beyond 2018, but his future with the Angels remains unclear. Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reported last month that Scioscia intends to step down at the end of the season, but the manager later refuted that report. His 10-year, $50 million deal with the Angels expires at the end of the season. As for Chavez, he has served as a special assistant to general manager Billy Eppler since October of 2015. He took over as the manager with Triple-A Salt Lake for the final couple of weeks in August. There should be some clarity on the Angels’ situation following the season.

It’s highly possible that Angels owner Arte Moreno will opt to shake things up this winter after another postseason-less campaign. And Rosenthal writes that Dipoto “would appear in greater jeopardy than Scioscia” because it was Dipoto who put together the current roster with a host of aggressive offseason moves. It doesn’t help Dipoto’s odds that he is only under contract through 2014 and Scioscia carries a guaranteed salary through 2018.

He’ll replace Dave Hansen, who served as hitting coach for the past two seasons. The Angels decided to cut ties after the season. Hinske has worked for the Cubs for the past four seasons, including the last three as assistant hitting coach.

Crasnick says Dipoto went to owner Arte Moreno with an ultimatum, “and it backfired.” FOX Sports’ Ken Rosenthal hears that Dipoto “packed up his office and left today,” but it’s not clear whether he “acted out of emotion” or if he’s resigning. Dipoto and manager Mike Scioscia have long had a rocky relationship, and things reached a head after Rosenthal published an article earlier this week about the two’s working relationship getting worse. We should hear something definitive on Dipoto later Wednesday.

Owner Arte Moreno and president John Carpino made a last-ditch effort to try and keep Dipoto around, but it didn’t work. Dipoto’s relationship with manager Mike Scioscia has become frayed enough to this point that it didn’t make sense to stick around. ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick reported previously that assistant general manager Matt Klentak is expected to be promoted to take Dipoto’s vacated spot.

Various earlier reports said the Dipoto was definitely leaving, but Morosi is hearing it’s not a done deal yet. It’s hard to imagine Dipoto and Scioscia repairing their fractured relationship at this point, but we’ll see. The situation should be resolved later Wednesday.

That’s assuming Jerry Dipoto leaves, which is expected even though FOX Sports’ Jon Morosi has reported that owner Arte Moreno and president John Carpino are making a last-ditch effort to keep him. A resolution is expected later Wednesday.

Johnny Giavotella appeared to beat out a close play at first base, but as the Angels were out of challenges, Scioscia was unable to challenge the play and attempted to argue to no avail.

The Halos are clawing it out with the Twins and Astros for the final Wild Card slot. After Tuesday’s action, they had a 57% shot of winning it, but things haven’t gone so hot for them since then. On Wednesday, they lost 8-7 to the A’s while the Astros mounted a dramatic comeback down three runs against the Mariners. The Angels then lost the first game of their final four-game set against the Rangers. And of course, the Twins further muddied the water by winning three of their last four. All of that over and done, the Angels and Twins are both one game back of the Astros for the final spot. It breaks down as follows: Heading into the final weekend, the Angels face the Rangers, the Astros face the Diamondbacks and the Twins play the Royals. If there is a three-way tie at the end of the weekend, it would result in a series of playoff games. Obviously, the Astros still maintain their lead and should be considered the favorite unless the Snakes spring an upset.