More front-office turnover for Angels, who let two pro scouts go

The Angels have informed professional scouts Brad Sloan and Willie Fraser that their contracts will not be renewed for 2013, continuing the transformation of the front office under Jerry Dipoto, who took over as general manager last October.

Sloan has been with the team for the last decade or so, and Fraser, a former Angels reliever, was with the Angels for two years. Dipoto would not go into detail about the decision, which was made during the team’s last road trip, but he said it was “not at all related to what’s going on on the field.”

The Angels, with a $159-million payroll and World Series expectations, entered Wednesday night’s game 7 1/2 games behind Texas in the American League West and 2 1/2 games behind Baltimore and New York for the second wild-card spot.

Most of the team’s top baseball operations executives, as well as several pro and amateur scouts, were dismissed after GM Tony Reagins firing after last season. Dipoto has hired two new assistant GMs, a scouting director, a special assistant and two special-assignment scouts.

By informing the scouts of the decision a month before their contracts expired, Dipoto hoped to improve their chances of getting jobs elsewhere.

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