Angels reportedly steal elite pitching coach from AL West rival

Two of the biggest questions on the Angels' player development front have been answered so far this offseason-- Perry Minasian will return as general manager, and Kurt Suzuki will be the new manager. The big question surrounding the 2026 Angels right now is who will round out Suzuki's coaching staff after many existing members were let go recently. Pitching coach Barry Enright and hitting coach Johnny Washington were confirmed to be leaving their posts, and the Angels just replaced Enright with the best possible candidate.

Angels reportedly steal elite pitching coach from AL West rival

Per Jeff Wilson: "Mike Maddux won't be back with #Rangers in 2026. Team confirms. Sources say he's headed to Angels." Per Evan Grant: "Mike Maddux is leaving the Rangers. The club tried to retain him as pitching coach."

As an Angels fan, I hope you wanted the team's new pitching coach to have experience (especially given that Suzuki has zero as a manager)! Maddux has been a major league pitching coach since 2003. He has been a pitching coach for 3,622 games, which is by far the most in baseball in that span (Carl Willis has the second-most games as a pitching coach with 3,320). Since 2003, Maddux's pitching staffs have posted a 4.07 ERA, 4.18 FIP, 4.30 xFIP and 1.31 WHIP. Opposing hitters have slashed .250/.319/.403/.723 in that time.

Crucially, Maddux, who is 64-years-old, is coming over to Anahiem from Texas. Maddux helped the Angels' division rival win a World Series in 2023 and the Rangers' pitching staff this season was among the best in the sport. Conversely, Angels pitchers under Enright the past couple of seasons have posted a 4.72 ERA, 4.75 FIP, 4.55 xFIP, and 1.39 WHIP -- all bottom marks in the sport.

Maddux's reputation has been that he shows up to a team and their pitching immediately improves. It cannot be stated enough that turning the Rangers into a pitching factory is no easy feat. Sure, the ballpark skews pitcher friendly and they roster all-time greats in Jacob deGrom and Nathan Eovaldi...but Rangers pitchers have been atrocious throughout entire history of the franchise. Then, all of a sudden, Maddux shows up and fixed everything in his first season that culminated in a World Series victory.

Maddux currently has three locks to work with in the rotation -- Yusei Kikuchi, José Soriano and Reid Detmers. The bullpen is incredibly fluid, but right now Maddux has Robert Stephenson, Ben Joyce and Brock Burke as locks to make the Opening Day roster. More importantly, Maddux will be tasked with the development of keys to the franchise in Caden Dana and Ryan Johnson. It remains unclear whether either of those two will make the Angels roster, but in spring training Maddux needs to make his influence felt on those two and also George Klassen, Tyler Bremner, Sam Aldegheri, Sam Bachman, Chase Silseth and José Fermin.