The LA Angels Firing Brad Ausmus Was Wrong On Every Level

As you’ve surely heard, the LA Angels have fired Brad Ausmus less than a year after announcing he will be their manager for the next three years.

So for the second straight year, the LA Angels will go into the offseason looking for a new manager. This article isn’t about who the team will target (it’s literally Joe Maddon), it’s about how, in every way imaginable, this is the wrong move for the Angels moving forward.

Let’s start with blaming this season on Brad Ausmus…what? Like, literally, what? The Angels had an awful season, losing 90 games is never good. But context is important here.

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The Angels lost Tyler Skaggs, their age and clubhouse leader, shockingly on July 1st. In the middle of the season, they went through the worst possible event. The team rallied around each other, and moved forward as a group. Ausmus included.

Firing Ausmus is one of the coldest things Arte Moreno could have done, but as usual, the big-money name is too tempting for him to resist. It was Josh Hamilton in 2012, and now it’s Joe Maddon.

Furthermore, the Angels had five regular players this season who didn’t spend time on the Injured List. They were hampered by injuries from Game 1 until Game 162. Last time I checked, the health of players is not dependent on the manager. Ausmus, competing against two playoff teams in his own division, didn’t stand a chance to competes against the likes of Houston and Oakland.

This team, to put it simply, wasn’t very talented. And the players who do have above-average talent missed a huge portion of their games.

The fact remains though, a team doesn’t have to fire someone for a bad season. The Angels went through a season from Hell, and it’s a huge mistake firing Ausmus for that.