Our long wait is over, Arte Moreno has finally made his decision. Mike Scioscia and Jerry Dipoto will return for the 2014 season.
Mike Sciscoa and Jerry Dipoto both returning to jobs next season. Only changes: Hitting coach Jim Eppard and bench coach Rob Picciolo
— Jeff Fletcher (@JeffFletcherOCR) October 9, 2013
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Picciolo and Eppard weren't quite so lucky, however. Both will be repalced in a development that only adds to the mystery of what the status of the Scioscia-Dipoto power struggle really is.
On one hand, Scioscia was originally rumored to be demanding that all of his coaches be retained. Losing Picciolo and Eppard certainly suggests that Scioscia lost that round, but it was never totally clear how attached he was to either man, Eppard in particular. Suffice it to say, it will be interesting to see if Scioscia gets to make his own hires or if he has new coaches foisted upon him by Dipoto. As I write this, it is being announced that Dino Ebel has been promoted to bench coach, so that solves half the equation, but the hitting coach hire should remain a point of intrigue.
Even if Dipoto wins the coaching staff battle, Scioscia still has an edge on him in that he has five years remaining on his contract while Dipoto is heading into the final year of his pact. Unless the team subsequently announces that Jerry is getting an extension or has his club options picked up, that places him firmly on the chopping block, which is never a good thing as it can lead to a GM making reckless moves in order to save their job.
What this announcement won't change is the overall pressure for both Scioscia and Dipoto to turn this club back into a winner. The second the 2014 Angels struggle even a tiny bit, speculation about one or both getting fired will crop up once again. In other words, this is less of a vote of confidence for either man and more of a stay of execution.
The fun times in Anaheim, they never stop.
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