MLB execs just confirmed what Angels fans already knew about Kurt Suzuki

It would take impressive levels of dysfunction for a first-year skipper to appear to be on the hot seat without managing a single game. Yet, that is exactly what the Los Angeles Angels managed to accomplish when they hired former catcher Kurt Suzuki as their manager at the start of the offseason. While most candidates are handed multi-year deals when accepting the job, Suzuki only landed a one-year deal that included options.

Considering Suzuki's boss, general manager Perry Minasian, is without a contract after the 2026 season, it's very clear that short of a shocking run to the postseason, the 42-year-old first-time manager will be out of a job next offseason.

Suzuki is a lame-duck, and all of Major League Baseball knows it. The Athletic's (subscription required) Jayson Stark recently polled current and former MLB execs on the league's trending topics, and it included taking a look at managers on the hot seat ahead of Opening Day.

Kurt Suzuki is already on the hot seat and that isn't news to Los Angeles Angels fans

Naturally, New York Yankees' manager Aaron Boone, Philadelphia Phillies' manager Rob Thomson, and St. Louis Cardinals' manager Oliver Marmol all got a vote. Boone and Thomson are faced with the pressure of needing to find success in the postseason, while Marmol is entering a rebuild under new Cardinals president Chaim Bloom.

Any of those three would make sense as being the manager on the hottest of seats entering the season. Instead, it was Suzuki who was mentioned the most. Stark polled 36 people in total, and 5 of them specifically mentioned the Angels' manager when talking about managers on the hot seat. The only other manager with multiple mentions was San Francisco Giants' manager Tony Vitello, who is making the jump from the college ranks.

At least in Vitello's case, the doubt is because he's doing something no one else has done before. The doubt over Suzuki is simply due to Arte Moreno's preference to prove he is incapable of running a baseball organization.

For Suzuki, the hope should be that his run with the Angels this season doesn't tarnish his shine as a managerial candidate moving forward. Most sensible baseball people already realize the problems are above his head.