Angels Rumors: 2 coaches gaining steam as team's 2026 manager

Given the team's recent history, it feels highly unlikely that the Angels will remove Ray Montgomery's interim tag and make him the full-time manager in 2026. Angels general manager Perry Minasian dismissed Joe Maddon midway through the 2022 season, and named Phil Nevin as the team's interim manager. Well, the hitters' rate stats took a dive in 91 games under Nevin following 71 games under Maddon but Minasian decided to retain Nevin for 2023. Every Angels fan knows how 2023 played out with Nevin at the helm.

Montgomery is as asset for the organization, but he might be taking on a position that he is not quite adept at. The team's historically bad month of August completely sunk the team's burgeoning playoff chances after a strong June and solid July, which is enough cause to not retain Montgomery as manager next year. Plus, the Angels have two strong replacement candidates anyway.

Angels Rumors: 2 coaches gaining steam as team's 2026 manager

Jon Heyman of The New York Post discusses the Angels' managerial search in a recent column. He talked about Albert Pujols, who is looming as a hotshot MLB managerial candidate given his success in the Dominican Professional Baseball League (Winter League) and his upcoming role as the DR's manager in the World Baseball Classic. Pujols is upholding his personal services contract with the Angels right now.

Heyman also reported on the Minasian/Arte Moreno's willingness to pick up the third year option on Ron Washington's contract. Washington's tenure both as Angels manager and any MLB coach seemed done for after he needed to step away from the team following a health scare. Well, following his quadruple bypass and subsequent recovery, it turns out Washington may well return to a dugout in 2026.

Shortchanging Washington's time as manager does not feel like a sports move. People who run teams do not often take away a person's position permanently due to an injury, or a health scare in this case. The difference with Wash is he's the oldest manager in baseball and did just have a massive procedure done. So, the circumstances are a little different despite Washington saying on the record he wants to manage again. If the Angels decide to step away from Wash, they could try and sub him into a Torii Hunter-esque "special advisor to the GM" role.

With Pujols, it's not necessarily news that he has a solid relationship with the top brass. He's been around the organization for many years since his retirement, and made many appearances at team events. The Angels do have an upper-hand on any other team trying to poach Pujols, but only time will tell if he's a serious contender to run the team next season.

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