2 Angels coaches who won't be back next season, 1 who will barely keep their job

After it seemed like the Los Angeles Angels had a legitimate shot at breaking their near decade-long postseason drought, the chances they play meaningful October baseball are extremely slim. They're being given just a 2.4% chance to make the playoffs by FanGraphs even after winning their most recent series against the Giants.

At 58-58, the Angels trail the first place Rangers by 10.5 games in the AL West, and they trail the third Wild Card spot by seven games. They're back at .500 thanks to consecutive victories, but had lost seven straight prior to those wins to put them in the difficult situation they're currently in.

If the Angels fail to make a miraculous run at a postseason spot and miss the playoffs for a ninth consecutive season, especially after going all in on 2023, chances are some personnel will pay the price. The players and front office will certainly deserve portions of the blame, but coaches will be scapegoated as well. I don't believe the Angels would fully clean house, but some coaches will lose their jobs if this team has a bad ending.

LA Angels manager Phil Nevin won't be back next season

This is what most Angels fans want to hear, and I think if the Angels do miss the playoffs, they'll go in another direction at the manager position. Phil Nevin took over for Joe Maddon after Maddon was fired in the middle of last season. Nevin finished the year as the manager, but hadn't had another year guaranteed until the season ended.

The Angels decided to shed the interim tag and keep Nevin around, mainly because of the uncertainty revolving around the franchise. Arte Moreno was going to sell the team at the time until he got cold feet and took the team off the market. This left the Angels with an owner nobody wanted to be there, and a manager who hadn't proven to be qualified. I thought Nevin was fine last season, but the Angels also had nothing to play for by the time he took over.

2023 was a huge year for the Angels. It was a year they planned on making the postseason to try and convince Shohei Ohtani to stay long-term. Despite the huge year ahead, the Angels decided to have an inexperienced, unqualified manager lead them. Nevin isn't the only problem, but he's made it clear that he's not the solution.

While the Angels haven't had a 14-game losing streak like last season, they've had multiple 6+ game skids while showing virtually no consistency all year long. Basic fundamentals cost this team games early on this season, as did bad bullpen management. Those two things can fall on the manager, even with the players also needing to execute.

The second the Angels made a stand by buying, they completely collapsed. They lost each of their first seven games after the trade deadline including being swept in embarrassing fashion at home by the Mariners.

Are all of these things Phil Nevin's fault? Absolutely not. Will the next manager they hire be any better? I have no idea. What I do know is Nevin has done nothing to show anyone that he deserves to have his contract extended. He should be gone barring a massive turnaround.

LA Angels hitting coach Marcus Thames will barely keep his job

This isn't what I would do. Marcus Thames doesn't have an exciting track record, I wasn't excited about the hiring, and wouldn't be excited if they kept him. I just believe that's what will happen.

The Angels brought Thames aboard after boasting one of baseball's worst offenses last season. The Angels were 25th in runs scored last season despite a full season from Shohei Ohtani and a mostly healthy season from Mike Trout. They hit a good amount of home runs, ranking 11th in that category, but doing very little else.

This season, the improvement is most definitely there. The Angels are sixth in the majors in runs scored and third in home runs. They even lead the American League in long balls. They rank seventh in OBP and fifth in slugging. The team gets on base and they can also hit for a ton of power.

The problem is, this offense should be even better than they are. Obviously, having injuries never helps, but the Angels have struggled for most of the year with runners in scoring position. The Angels rank 27th in the majors with a .238 average with runners in scoring position. They're 21st with a 94 WRC+ in those same spots.

The Angels seem to lack an approach in those spots which I do believe falls on the hitting coach. Going up there with a plan is a whole lot better than just swinging at the first pitch you see, which this Angels team seems to do a lot in big spots.

I believe Thames stays because he's only been here for one season and because the offense has drastically improved overall. Going from 25th to sixth in runs scored is certainly a huge deal, even if I believe most of that is due to simply having a deeper roster and also having a guy in Ohtani who's having one of the best seasons of all-time.

When looking back at this season, the pitching was a much bigger issue than the hitting. It's possible Thames chooses to leave if his guy Phil Nevin isn't brought back, but it's hard to envision the Angels choosing to let Thames go.

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