Former Angels manager lauds the organization for hiring Kurt Suzuki

The Los Angeles Angels shocked the world by hiring Kurt Suzuki over Albert Pujols and Torii Hunter to be the team's next manager. They continued to shock the world, maybe not Angels fans though, by hiring Suzuki to just a one-year deal instead of a standard multi-year contract. Despite the negative presence that is Arte Moreno, Suzuki should be able to carve out some success and serious credentials as the team's manager. Everybody who has ever spent time around Suzuki says he is a bona fide winner and fantastic person (including current MLB managers in Stephen Vogt and Mark Kotsay), including a man who used to hold the title of Los Angeles Angels manager.

Former Angels manager lauds the organization for hiring Kurt Suzuki

Phil Nevin, who might be a stealth candidate to win the San Diego Padres managerial role, fully supports the Angels hiring his former catcher to fill his old position...

“I think he’s gonna be great,” Phil Nevin said about Suzuki. “He’s good with his teammates. He’s good with the staff members. He respects everybody in that building, which is important. The second you pull into the parking lot, he’s saying hello to the parking attendants, the security, the medical staff, the media. He just respects people. It’s going to make him really good in this position.”

Jeff Fletcher wrote about how Nevin would allow Suzuki to sit in his sidecar during games and allow him to assist in managerial decision-making. Much has been said about the candidates to win the Angels manager job not having actual experience being a skipper, but Suzuki's playing and leadership chops seriously check out. Between Suzuki being Nevin's de facto on-field manager in the dugout, and being a catcher with the best perspective of what's happening on the diamond, Suzuki is positioned to be one of the best young skippers in baseball.

Phil Nevin was the Angels interim manager in 2022 and full-time skipper in 2023, so he overlapped with Suzuki as a player in 2022 and when Zuk was special assistant to the GM in 2023. Nevin might not have the most special memories of his time with the Angels, given how everything transpired, so him coming out of the woodwork to praise the hire means something. It's not just eye-wash comments, the vote of confidence feels real and authentic.