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Angels broaden their search for a new general manager

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The Angels broadened their search for a general manager this week, with team president John Carpino traveling to New York, Boston, Toronto and Cleveland to interview Yankees assistant GM Billy Eppler, Red Sox assistant GM Mike Hazen, Blue Jays assistant GM Tony LaCava and Indians vice president of player personnel Ross Atkins.

Carpino has also interviewed Angels pro scouting director Hal Morris, bringing to seven the number of known candidates for a job that opened when Jerry Dipoto resigned in the wake of renewed friction with Manager Mike Scioscia on July 1. Angels assistant GMs Matt Klentak and Scott Servais also interviewed.

Hazen, 39, was promoted to assistant GM after 2011 and he is expected to be a candidate for the GM job in Boston after Ben Cherington’s August resignation.

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The Princeton graduate previously served as Boston’s player development director for five years. He was a finalist for the San Diego GM job that went to A.J. Preller and the Dodgers GM job that went to Farhan Zaid.

Atkins, 42, was promoted to to his current position last October. The former minor league pitcher spent the previous eight years in charge of player development and is in his 16th year with the Indians. He is fluent in Spanish and ran Cleveland’s Latin American operations from 2004-2006.

Morris, 49, has been with the Angels since 2011 and was one of Dipoto’s first hires. A former big league player, he oversees the club’s major league scouts.

LaCava, 53, was an Angels scout from 1989-1999 before moving on to Atlanta, Montreal, Cleveland and Toronto in 2002. He turned down the Baltimore GM job in 2011. Eppler, considered by many to be the front-runner, was a finalist when Dipoto got the job in 2011.

Short hops

Matt Shoemaker (forearm strain) felt good about his two-inning, 35-pitch simulated game on Tuesday and is confident he will return to the rotation Sunday in Minnesota.

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Second baseman Johnny Giavotella, out since Aug. 21 by a condition that causes double-vision, said he “saw the ball pretty good” in his first day of batting practice Tuesday, but his vision is still not quite 100%.

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Utility player Grant Green is rehabilitating a sore left Achilles in Arizona and is expected to rejoin the team in Minnesota.

Follow Mike DiGiovanna on Twitter @MikeDiGiovanna

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