Minisian Brothers Strike MLB’s First-Ever Sibling Trade

On Sunday, the Minisian brothers took “family business” to another level. 

The Angels acquired veteran first baseman LaMonte Wade Jr. for cash considerations or a player to be named later days after the Giants, days after he was designated for assignment. It’s a minor trade, but also an unprecedented one: Two brothers executed the deal.

Angels general manager Perry Minasian, 44 has run the team’s front office since 2020, while his younger brother Zack, 41, became the Giants general manager in November. It’s the first time in MLB history that two brothers have been general managers at the same time. 

The brothers hail from a baseball family, as their father Zack Sr. was a clubhouse manager for the Rangers 1988 to 2009. A third Minsian brother, Calvin, 43, works as the Braves’ director of clubhouse and equipment. Rudy, their oldest sibling, practices law in Chicago. 

Both brothers got their start as scouts and have never worked for the same team at the same time. Perry was a scout for the Rangers and Blue Jays for 14 years before becoming the Braves assistant general manager in 2020. Zack scouted for the Brewers and Giants before becoming the general manager under new president of baseball operations Buster Posey. 

“We’re just very direct with each other, so it is a little refreshing when I talk to him,” Zack Minasian told NBC Sports Bay Area this offseason. “We can sense that there’s something there for us to work at or there’s nothing there and we’re just going to move on.”

Baseball families are common—both among players like the Boones, Bells, and Griffeys and executives like the MacPhails—but even the MacPhails never had siblings do a trade with each other.