Reagins joined the Angels as an intern in the club's marketing department in 1991, and moved permanently to the team's baseball staff in 1998 as manager of baseball operations. He is a member of the
Buck O'Neil Scout Association and an active supporter of Major League Baseball's Urban Youth Academy. Reagins began his career as an intern in baseball operations in the Angels' organization 1992. He then held an internship in marketing/advertising sales in 1993 before being named marketing assistant in 1994. He moved to sponsorship services representative from 1996 until returning to baseball operations in April 1998. He served six seasons as the Angels' Director of Player Development, a position he held until becoming general manager of the Angels. As director of player development, Reagins was responsible for overseeing the Angel
farm system, with seven affiliates that include a
Dominican Summer League club and developmental academy in
San Pedro de Macoris, Dominican Republic. The Angels' farm system posted winning records in four of the six seasons (2003-05-06-07) and was named "Minor League Organization of the Year" in 2003 by
The Sporting News. It produced players such as
Howie Kendrick,
Reggie Willits,
Robb Quinlan,
Kendry Morales,
Erick Aybar,
Jeff Mathis,
Mike Napoli,
Jered Weaver and
Joe Saunders – all of whom made significant impacts on the 2007
American League West Division champion team. Minor League News named the Angels "2007 Farm System of the Year." Currently, Reagins maintains his competitive spirit by coaching his son's youth basketball team in Mamaroneck, New York.
Tenure as general manager As general manager of the Angels, Reagins was quick to make immediate changes to the Angels' roster. A little more than a month after taking over for
Bill Stoneman as GM, Reagins traded
Gold Glove shortstop Orlando Cabrera to the
Chicago White Sox for
starting pitcher Jon Garland. Two days later, Reagins signed
free agent outfielder Torii Hunter to a 5-year, $90 million contract. At the 2008 trade deadline, Reagins dealt first baseman
Casey Kotchman to the Atlanta Braves for
Mark Teixeira. Reagins' tenure with the Angels has been in contrast to that of Stoneman, whose time as general manager involved relatively few major trades or other transactions. During the 2009 season, Reagins and his front office selected
Mike Trout with the 25th pick in
that year's draft. After the 2009 season, in which the Angels were the AL West Division Champions, the Angels gave Reagins a contract extension.
Conflict with Moreno and resignation Before the 2011 season, Angels' owner
Arte Moreno insisted on acquiring
Vernon Wells from the
Toronto Blue Jays, and reportedly told Reagins that he would be fired if he did not acquire Wells within 24 hours. On September 30, 2011, Reagins resigned as GM. While many point to the Angels not making the playoffs in consecutive years since 2000–01 as the reason, others identified his trade of
Mike Napoli and
Juan Rivera for Wells being a significant factor. Many widely respected baseball analysts considered the Wells trade one of the worst trades in the modern era of Major League Baseball. Reagins remained with the organization as special assistant to team chairman Dennis Kuhl. ==Notes==