Angels GM Dipoto wraps up meetings with look at Kendrys Morales
After leading 2 1/2 days of organizational meetings at the Angels’ spring-training complex in Tempe, Ariz., General Manager Jerry Dipoto closed his week with a firsthand look at rehabilitating slugger Kendrys Morales on Friday.
Dipoto watched Morales run, hit in the cage from both sides of the plate and throw long-toss. Morales, who has missed a year and a half because of a broken left ankle but would be a candidate to bat cleanup behind Albert Pujols if he’s healthy, will begin taking batting practice on the field next week.
“He’s in good shape, he looks strong, and all signs are positive,” Dipoto said of Morales, who in 2009 hit .306 with 34 home runs and 108 runs batted in. “I can’t say there’s anything he did today that led you to believe he’s not moving in the right direction.”
Dipoto, who took over as GM in late October, gathered more than 100 members of the organization, including front-office personnel, major league and minor league managers and coaches, scouts and trainers, this week to outline his philosophical foundation, his scouting system and the types of players he’ll be looking for.
“This organization has had a great deal of success—we want to build on that and put people in position to understand the way our front office emanates outward, if that makes sense,” Dipoto said. “Every organization does things a little different, and the language changes. Some teams qualify a pitcher as a No. 1 or a No. 5, some as an A or a B. We want to make sure everyone is on the same page.”
The Society for American Baseball Research also announced Friday that Dipoto, a strong proponent of using statistics to analyze players, will be one of the featured speakers at its March 15-17 conference in Phoenix.
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-- Mike DiGiovanna
Photo: Angels first baseman/designated hitter Kendrys Morales in 2010. Credit: Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times
