Kurt Suzuki’s “flexibility” as Angels manager is depressingly familiar

Most people know the deal with Kurt Suzuki's run as the Los Angeles Angels' manager. Arte Moreno and Co. were likely too cheap to hire an established manager, especially with the growing chance that Perry Minasian is replaced as the team's general manager next offseason. No, no one should fault Suzuki for taking the job, but there are going to be clear pitfalls that he is going to have this season.

Given Suzuki's lack of coaching experience — he spent the last few years as an assistant to the front office — it can be hard to identify what he does well as the team's skipper. That's why the early praise of the 42-year-old being flexible with the team's roster decision is falling flat.

There is a need throughout a 162-game season for a manager to be willing to adapt. Between injuries, roster moves, and player regression, plans often need to be redrawn. But the problem is that leaning on "flexibility" as your calling card often doesn't lead to the best results.

If flexibility truly is what the Angels were seeking out of the managerial post, they would have been better off just bringing back Ron Washington for the 2026 season. Above all else, flexibility was what Washington thrived at.

Kurt Suzuki’s decisions are bringing back old Angels frustrations

The truth in praising Suzuki for being open to all ideas is a glaring indictment of front office's decisions during the offseason. The Halos entered the offseason needing to build their bullpen back up, address the final two spots in the starting rotation, attend to the plan at second base and third base, and add to the outfield.

There are only two moves that can truly be circled in terms of Minasian trying to check those boxes. Trading for Grayson Rodrigez and trading for Josh Lowe. Each move came with inherent risks, but at least showed some form of direction--identifying controllable talent that could turn into building blocks for the major league roster.

It's a leap, which brings us back to why Suzuki's flexibility shouldn't be viewed as a good thing. He hasn't been provided with sufficient options at the positions of need, forcing him to choose between different levels of bad. That's not a sustainable model of success, which the Angels should know by now.