Alden GonzalezOct 21, 2025, 01:16 PM ET
- ESPN baseball reporter. Covered the L.A. Rams for ESPN from 2016 to 2018 and the L.A. Angels for MLB.com from 2012 to 2016.
The Los Angeles Angels have hired Kurt Suzuki as their new manager, turning to the longtime major league catcher with no professional coaching experience to help turn around a franchise navigating the longest playoff drought in the major leagues.
Suzuki, 42, spent 16 years playing for five franchises and won the 2019 World Series with the Washington Nationals. He had spent the past three years as a special assistant to Angels general manager Perry Minasian.
Former Angels stars Albert Pujols and Torii Hunter were also in consideration for the job to replace Ron Washington, who missed nearly half the 2025 season after undergoing quadruple bypass surgery.
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Ray Montgomery, the interim manager during Washington’s absence, was offered a different role with the organization but was not considered for the full-time manager role.
Suzuki inherits a team with plenty of offensive thump and questionable pitching. Shortstop Zach Neto is one of the game’s most well-rounded players, and outfielders Jo Adell and Taylor Ward combined to hit 73 home runs in 2025. Mike Trout is signed through 2030, and catcher Logan O’Hoppe, first baseman Nolan Schanuel and second baseman Christian Moore round out their young core.
Beyond Yusei Kikuchi and Jose Soriano, the Angels’ rotation is in flux, and their bullpen is filled with question marks that hamper their prospects in a division that includes the Seattle Mariners, who fell one game shy of representing the American League in the World Series.
Suzuki spent his last two seasons, 2021 and 2022, as a backup catcher with the Angels and drew rave reviews for his handling of the pitching staff. He now becomes the organization’s fifth manager since Mike Scioscia ended a 19-year run in 2018, following Brad Ausmus, Joe Maddon, Phil Nevin and Washington.
Under Scioscia, the Angels won the franchise’s first World Series championship in 2002 and claimed five AL West titles in a six-year period from 2004 to 2009. That 2009 season marked the last time the organization has won a playoff game. The Angels have made it back to the postseason only once, in 2014, getting swept out of the AL Division Series by the Kansas City Royals. The 2025 season, which finished with a 72-90 record, marked their 10th consecutive losing seasons.
Fans have long been displeased by the ownership tenure of Arte Moreno, who has been chided for getting too involved in baseball operations, not investing enough in player development and a long string of short-sided decisions, most notably not trading Shohei Ohtani before he became a free agent and then deciding not to match his contract offer from the rival Los Angeles Dodgers.
Moreno was seen to be fixed on Pujols as a manager early in the offseason, sources said, but opted to go in another direction after a breakdown in talks.
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