ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — Perry Minasian has been named the Los Angeles Angels' general manager. The Angels announced the hiring of the Atlanta Braves' assistant general manager Thursday to replace Billy Eppler. Minasian got a four-year contract. “His background in scouting and player development along with his unique understanding of roster construction were the leading factors in our decision," Angels owner Arte Moreno said in a statement. Minasian spent the past three years in the Braves' front office with GM Alex Anthopoulos, including the past two seasons as their vice president of baseball operations. Minasian also worked for Anthopoulos during his previous nine seasons with the Toronto Blue Jays, where Minasian became the club's director of pro scouting. The 40-year-old Minasian has been in baseball since he was an 8-year-old batboy for the Texas Rangers, where his father, Zack, was the team's clubhouse manager. He became a clubhouse attendant and eventually an advance scout for the Rangers before serving as an assistant to manager Buck Showalter. Minasian won an extensive competition to replace Eppler, who was fired Sept. 27 by Moreno after Los Angeles finished its fifth consecutive losing season in his tenure. The Angels also made deep cuts in their scouting department earlier this year with furloughs during the coronavirus pandemic. The big-budget Angels have endured five straight losing seasons for the first time since 1977, and their winning percentage over the past two seasons is their worst two-year run since 1992-93. Los Angeles hasn’t won a playoff game since 2009, reaching the postseason just once in that 11-year span. The Halos went 26-34 in the pandemic-shortened season, failing to make even the eight-team AL playoff field despite the presence of Mike Trout, Anthony Rendon, Shohei Ohtani and Albert Pujols. While Eppler made significant strides in rebuilding the Angels' farm system and supplementing the big-league roster with talent, he never secured enough quality starting pitchers to win. Eppler's efforts were financially hamstrung by the lavish free-agent contracts handed out by Moreno — none more problematic than the 10-year, $240 million deal Moreno gave to Pujols, who is finally in the last season of that contract in 2021. Minasian emerged as one of five finalists for the job earlier this week after a lengthy Zoom interview process. The other top contenders were Seattle Mariners assistant general manager Justin Hollander, a former Angels front-office employee under Eppler and ex-Angels GM Jerry Dipoto; Chicago Cubs senior vice president of player personnel Jason McLeod; and Arizona Diamondbacks assistant general managers Amiel Sawdaye and Jared Porter. Minasian's brother, Zack Jr., is the pro scouting director for the San Francisco Giants. Another brother, Calvin, is the Washington Nationals' clubhouse coordinator. ___ More AP MLB: https://apnews.com/MLB and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports